Dumbarton Oaks

In the late summer and early fall of 1944, at the height of the Second World War, a series of important diplomatic meetings took place at Dumbarton Oaks. Their outcome was the United Nations charter that was adopted in San Francisco in 1945. At these meetings, officially known as the Washington Conversations on International Organization, Dumbarton Oaks, delegations from China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States deliberated over proposals for the establishment of an organization to maintain peace and security in the world. Among the representatives were Soviet Ambassador to the United States, Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989); US Secretary of State Cordell Hull (1871–1955); Wellington Koo (1887–1985), Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom; and Edward Wood (the Earl of Halifax) (1872–1959), British Ambassador to the United States, each of whom chaired his respective delegation.