CHENNAI: US Ambassador to India, Kenneth I Juster honoured Chennai’s famed chronicler S Muthiah, dedicating a collection of his books for permanent display in the American Centre in the City, which turned 50 on Tuesday, according to a consulate statement.
The US Consulate General in Chennai, Robert Burgess, invited the public to visit the American Centre and tour its 50th-anniversary historical photo exhibit and the new ‘S Muthiah Collection’. Held on the eve of the 380th founding of Madras, the event celebrated the longstanding cultural, educational, and commercial ties between the United States and South India.
“As we mark five decades of operating the Consulate and American Centre at this location in Gemini Circle, we celebrate not only our iconic building, but the people - students, dignitaries, American Centre patrons, exchange participants, business people, scholars, and staff - who have brought special meaning and great substance to the relationship of the United States of America with this city and the larger South India region,’’ said Juster, according to the statement.
He was joined by K Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture; Chennai historian, V Sriram; US Consul General Robert Burgess; and distinguished guests and patrons of the American Centre.
Official US presence in Chennai stretches back to 1794 when President George Washington appointed US businessman William Abbott as the first Consular Agent to Madras. The current US Consulate building located at Gemini Circle, was dedicated on January 3, 1969, by then US Ambassador Chester Bowles, Madras Governor Sardar Ujjal Singh, and Minister VR Nedunchezhian.