Early communications from to ministers and consuls in foreign countries can be found in the Papers of the Continental and Confederation Congresses. These papers are available on microfilm.
Letters of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and of Robert R. Livingston, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 1776-83 Reel 105
Transcripts of the Foreign and Domestic Letters of Robert R. Livingston, 1781-83 Reel 139
The microfilm has been digitized at Fold3. Fold3 provides brief descriptions of each section, but does not include corresponding reel numbers. Reel 105 is listed as "Ltrs of Secy of Foreign Aff Livingston" and Reel 139 is listed as "Foreign Ltrs of Robert R. Livingston." To navigate this digital collection, you should consult this guide to the microfilm.
Foreign Letters of the Continental Congress and the Department of State, 1785-1790 is available on microfilm, which has been digitized at Fold3.
To view the images at Fold3, you must register for a (free) account. The images are of handwritten documents and are not searchable.
All of the communications in "Foreign Letters" and most of the correspondence in the Papers is available in print in The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, available in the Gardner Stacks or online at HathiTrust. Another compilation is The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, From the Signing of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, 10th September, 1783, to the Adoption of the Constitution, March 4, 1789, available at HathiTrust.
From 1791-1801 Department of State foreign correspondence was filed as "Diplomatic and Consular Instructions" and can be found on microfilm (M28). A guide is available at HathiTrust.
The State Department had different record-keeping systems between 1789-1906, 1906-1910, 1910-1963, 1963-1973, and 1973-1979. In its organization of the files it received, the National Archives maintained the original divisions of years: 1789-1906, 1906-1910, 1910-29, 1930-39, 1940-44, 1945-49, 1950-54, 1955-59, 1960-63, 1963-73, 1973-79. The microfilm publications of the records reflect these periodic divisions and the original arrangement of the records. Some of the records from 1973-79 are accessible online at the NARA site. Central file records dating 1980 and later remain in the custody of the Department of State.
See U.S. Foreign Relations and the Department of State for more information about the records.
Lists included in the regional history guides show US State Department records from the National Archives holdings in Washington, DC currently held in the Main and Bancroft libraries on microfilm (and in a few rare cases, in print), available online, or available on loan from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Where available, the call number and location of guides have been listed together with the call number for the microfilm.
These lists are works in progress and not comprehensive; if you do not see the item you need, check UC Library Search or the CRL catalog.
Africa
Asia
United Kingdom & Ireland
Europe
Latin America