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Creation Date
2-28-2025
Description
The Kenneth H. Towsey Collection offers a very rare glimpse at the confidential internal correspondence of a foreign government. Towsey ran the Information Office of Rhodesia in Washington, DC after the United States denied diplomatic recognition to the white minority regime in 1965 until 1980 when the United States resumed diplomatic relations with the black majority government of the newly renamed Zimbabwe. Regular, almost weekly, correspondence occurred between Towsey, his counterpart in London, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rhodesia. Most of these documents carry classified markings. Within these letters Towsey not only shared information from public sources but also tidbits elicited directly from Washington insiders. In addition, the collection documents the Information Office's efforts to influence American opinion by lobbying Congress, distributing literature, and making speeches to groups and organizations.
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