Seeking State Department records dated 1883

The records of the Department of State are at NARA in College Park, MD.

Dear Mr. Baron,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Notes from Foreign Missions, 1789 - 1906 in the General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59) that includes the “Notes from the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906.” While some documents from this series have been digitized, the records pertaining to Korea have not been digitized yet. These records in this series pertaining to Korea have been microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Pub M166: Notes From the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906. M166 is available at the National Archives at College Park, the National Archives at Riverside, the National Archives at Denver, the National Archives at Chicago, the National Archives at Boston, the National Archives at Kansas City, the National Archives at Seattle, the National Archives at San Francisco, and the National Archives at Atlanta.

We also located Despatches from Diplomatic Officers, 1789 - 1906 in Record Group 59 that  includes M133 - Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Japan, 1855-1906. The records pertaining to Japan have been microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Pub M133 Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Japan, 1855-1906. A document from 3 August 1833 should be on Roll 49. M133 is available at the National Archives at College Park, the National Archives at Riverside, the National Archives at Denver, the National Archives at Chicago, the National Archives at Boston, the National Archives at Kansas City, and the National Archives at Seattle.

Under normal circumstances, it would be possible to view these microfilm publications at facilities listed above. Also, there would be an option to order a digital reproduction of one or more rolls of a publication, for a fee, using the online Microfilm Catalog.

However, as a public health precaution, due to COVID-19 all National Archives research rooms nationwide are closed to the public until further notice. The National Archives and Records Administration has also suspended non-emergency reproduction and digitization services until further notice due to COVID-19. A number of product options have been temporarily disabled, to include the option to place orders for microfilm reproductions. We apologize for any inconvenience. For the latest information on NARA’s operating status in regards to the current pandemic, see https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus.

Some NARA Microfilm Publications are available through other institutions. For example, we located a guide to microfilm publication from the National Archives available at Berkeley Library, University of California that lists both publications. We also located results on WorldCat for M166 and M133. WorldCat may not be comprehensive as not all library systems participate. We suggest that you check with local public, university, and state libraries to inquire about their holdings and operating status.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!