Shhhh…It’s a Secret!

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.

Timeline

• 1923-1965. Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony.
• 11 November 1965. Alarmed by the decolonization in Africa and hoping to delay majority black rule, the Southern Rhodesian government issued its own Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom.
• 1965-1979. A United Nations resolution called upon countries not to grant recognition to the new nation of Rhodesia and imposed economic sanctions. Internally, the white government also fought an armed guerilla Bush War against black nationalists.
• 1978-1979. A combination of economic, diplomatic, and military pressures resulted in an Internal Settlement on 3 March 1978 between the Rhodesian government and those moderate African nationalist parties not involved in the war, resulting in a power sharing arrangement between majority blacks and minority whites. Bishop Abel Muzorewa became the country’s first black prime minister following elections in April 1979 and the country’s name was changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia. This government did not receive international recognition and the Bush War continued.
• 1979-1980. Britain invited all parties to negotiations in London. Under the Lancaster House Agreement, Rhodesia temporarily returned to British colonial status, a ceasefire occurred, and an internationally monitored general election in February 1980 elected Robert Mugabe the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (Mugabe remained in power until 2017).

Featured in this display:

• The New Environment. Rhodesian Information Office, 1973.
• Rhodesia: Independence: Historical and Legal Factors. Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Federal Department of Information Services, 1966.
• Rhodesian Viewpoint, 31 May 1976
• Focus on Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Vol. 1, No. 1, Special Edition. (1979)
• Letter to Secretary for External Affairs (stamped "secret"), 17 November 1965, re: "events as they have affected this office"
• Letter to Kenneth H. Towsey from L. S. Hawkins (stamped "confidential"), 22 July 1970, re: production of chrome
• Letter to L. S. Hawkins, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (stamped "secret), 18 December 1970, re: recent appointment of George (H. W.) Bush to United Nations