Terence A. Todman became one of the most senior Black members of the Foreign Service during his four decades in diplomacy. (© Frank Johnston/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
WASHINGTON DC – Ambassador Terence A. Todman paved the way for nonwhite diplomats at the U.S. Department of State during his four decades in diplomacy. Todman was one of the first Black Americans designated a career ambassador, a classification appointed by the president for distinguished service. The Department of State honored Todman’s legacy during Black History month on Tuesday. The State Department renamed the Harry S. Truman cafe located inside its Washington DC building headquarters as the Ambassador Terrence A. Todman Cafeteria.
“I was considered a troublemaker,” Ambassador Terence A. Todman one said of his time at the State Department, “and that was all right.”
Todman began his State Department career in 1952, more than a decade before the Civil Rights Act. At the time, there was only one other Black diplomat at the State Department. Todman was born in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to a laundress and a grocery store clerk — one of 13 children. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945, where he served for four years. “I remember people coming to my office for meetings, and they’d come and say, ‘We’re here to see Mr. Todman,’” he recalled, “And I’d say, ‘Well, I’m Mr. Todman, come on in.’ And it was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ It took them a little while, several people, to accept the fact that I could be the person responsible for some activities. It was a different world.”
Black Diplomats Could Not Eat With White Colleagues
Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, a 30-year diplomat, is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the U.S. Department of State. Ambassador Abercrombie-Winstanley delivers remarks at a cafeteria renaming ceremony at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., on February 1, 2022. [State Department Photo by Freddie Everett ]
“We are gathered here in the cafeteria, and if it wasn’t for a pandemic this place would be buzzing with activity, filled with people breaking bread with colleagues from all backgrounds, and exchanging ideas on the latest in foreign policy. But just over six decades ago, this was not the case. It couldn’t be. At the Foreign Service Institute across the river, black diplomats could not eat with their colleagues due to Virginia’s segregation laws. In 1957, a young American diplomat named Terence Todman would go on – who would go on to become a six-time ambassador, decided to speak up. Because of Ambassador Todman’s courage in the face of injustice, the department eventually leased a dining facility so that black Foreign Service officers could be treated equally and with dignity. This kind of courage was a thread throughout his career, and in his interview with Professor Krenn, who is here with us today, he described himself as a troublemaker, in a good way. For Ambassador Todman, desegregating the cafeteria was more than just having a place to eat. It was about fundamentally changing our institutional culture.”
-Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley
Diplomat Ambercrombi-Winstanley said that as the department’s first chief diversity and inclusion office, she is proud to follow in Ambassador Todman’s steps. “Without his work and the work of countless others, including former Assistant Secretary Phyllis Oakley, I would not be standing here today in my current role. To honor Ambassador Todman’s legacy and the other good troublemakers who came before me, I am committed to making trouble by taking action to further advance diversity and inclusion,” Ambassador Ambercrombie-Winstanley said.
When Todman raised the issue of not being able to eat a full lunch with his white colleagues, he met with resistance. He pursued the issue within the department until it reached the office of the undersecretary for management.
The State Department finally agreed to lease half of the restaurant and erect a partition. The same kitchen and staff were used for all customers, but half of the restaurant was leased by the State Department — which meant it wasn’t segregated and Todman could eat a full lunch there — while the other half remained a private restaurant.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivers remarks at a cafeteria renaming ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on February 1, 2022. [State Department Photo by Freddie Everett ]
“To try to grasp all that Ambassador Todman achieved, it’s important to understand the State Department where he made his indelible mark. In 1926, when Terence Todman was born to a laundress and a grocery store clerk – one of 13 siblings – the department was almost entirely white and entirely male,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Todman started in the Foreign Service in 1957. From 1969 to 1993, Todman served as the U.S. ambassador to six different countries: Argentina, Chad, Costa Rica, Denmark, Guinea and Spain. The Carter administration also appointed Todman as the assistant secretary of state for Inter-American Affairs in 1977.
Terence Todman, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, died August 13, 2014 at 88.
