Briggs, Ellis, 1899-1976
Dates
- Existence: 1899 - 1976
Biography
Ellis Ormsbee Briggs was born on December 1, 1899 in Watertown, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1921 and travelled to Constantinople, where he became an instructor of geography and English at Robert College. From 1923-1925, Briggs did freelance writing for newspapers and magazines. In 1925, he joined the Foreign Service, attended Foreign Service School and in 1926, was posted to Callao, Lima and Peru as Vice Consul. Briggs rose steadily through the ranks of the Foreign Service, becoming an expert on Latin American affairs. His first assignment as a full ambassador was to the Dominican Republic in 1944. The following year, Briggs was sent to Chungking, China, where he spent six months as Minister-Counselor to Ambassador Patrick J. Hurley, after which he was reassigned to the State Department in Washington, DC as Director of the Office of the American Republics Affairs. From 1947-196-, Briggs was ambassador to Uruguay, Czechoslovakia, South Korea, Peru, Brazil, and Greece. After retirement, Briggs moved to Hanover and became chairman of the Alumni College in 1964 and acted as "Diplomat in Residence," speaking to individual students and classes about the Foreign Service and America's foreign policy. He died on February 22, 1976.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Ellis Briggs papers
Ellis Ormsbee Briggs (1899-1976), career diplomat. Dartmouth College Class of 1921. The collection contains correspondence, diplomatic commission, photographs, printed material newsletters and clippings, chronicling Briggs' life as a diplomat in the foreign service.