Madeleine Albright to Speak at National Archives Naturalization Ceremony
Press Release · Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Washington, DC

September 14 Ceremony to Celebrate Constitution Day

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will speak during a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives on Wednesday, September 14, at 10 a.m. The ceremony is closed to the public, but will be webcast live on the National Archives YouTube channel.

The press is invited to cover the ceremony. Accredited media representatives should use the Constitution Avenue special events entrance, at 7th Street, NW, and set up by 9:45 a.m., as the ceremony begins promptly at 10 a.m. RSVP to public.affairs@nara.gov.

To honor the 229th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, 30 petitioners will be sworn in as new citizens in front of the original “ Charters of Freedom” (The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights) in the Rotunda of the National Archives Museum. The ceremony includes a welcome from Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero.

The Honorable Beryl A. Howell, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, will preside as the petitioners for United States citizenship take the oath of citizenship at the National Archives. The new citizens are from 20 nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Iraq, Kyrgyz Republic, Mali, Nigeria, Panama, Sierra Leone, and Venezuela.

Madeleine K. Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. In 1997, she was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Albright served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and was a member of the President’s Cabinet. She is a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Dr. Albright chairs the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. She is also the president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation and a member of an advisory body, the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board. In 2012, she was chosen by President Obama to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of her contributions to international peace and democracy. Dr. Albright was born in Prague, immigrated to the United States at the age of 11, and became a U.S. citizen in 1957.

The Use of Flash and Additional Lights is Prohibited in the Rotunda.

The National Archives Museum in the National Archives Building is located at Constitution Ave. and 7th Street, NW, in Washington, DC. Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.

This program is presented in partnership with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Please note: due to the ceremony, the Rotunda and the National Archives Museum will open to the public at 11:30 a.m. and remain open until 5:30 p.m. Regular hours of 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. resume on September 15.

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For press information contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

Follow the ceremony using the hashtag #newUScitizen

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