Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. We are funded by members and people like you. We are independent of any political ideology, economic interest or religion. No government is beyond scrutiny. No situation is beyond hope.

Human rights change starts with the facts. Explore Amnesty's ground-breaking research from around the world.

The Office of the Historian is staffed by professional historians who are experts in the history of U.S. foreign policy and the Department of State and possess unparalleled research experience in classified and unclassified government records. The Office’s historians work closely with other federal government history offices, the academic historical community, and specialists across the globe. The Office is directed by The Historian of the U.S. Department of State.

The Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. Users can search within the volumes, or browse volume titles by presidential administration. For more information about the series, consult this page. For an account of the history of the series itself, consult this page.

Since its creation in 1789, the Department of State has carried out a series of reorganizations and has created new offices and bureaus to deal with new diplomatic challenges. This portion of our website contains an Administrative Timeline of the Department of State, biographies of the Secretaries of State, a database of Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, and a history of the buildings of the Department of State.

The Office of the Historian has for many years provided researchers a guide to the accessibility of diplomatic archives around the world. This current list is based on information received from American diplomatic posts abroad, as well as web sources and communication with the archives themselves. The information provided here is subject to change so researchers are advised to contact the government or archive ahead of any planned visit.

Our digital collections repository, Pearl, provides access to a growing number of digitized and born digital objects from our collection, such as images; publications; manuscripts; audiovisual materials, including oral histories; and websites of presbyteries, synods, national agencies, and related ecumenical organizations. The digital collections are particularly focused on themes related to overseas and national mission work, ecumenical and interfaith activities, education, and social and political issues and activism.