Collections

E. Reginald Townsend (1917-1980) is best known as the man who built Liberia's Information Service. He served as Press Secretary and Chief of the Bureau (now the Department of Information, Culture and Tourism) to William V.S. Tubman, President of Liberia from 1944 to 1971, and as Minister of State for Presidential Affairs to William R. Tolbert, President of Liberia from 1971 to 1980. Townsend's wife, Evelyn Diggs Townsend (1932-2004), was involved in and led several church and women's organizations. After a coup brought down the Tolbert government and resulted in her husband's execution in 1980, she worked to attain peace in Liberia. The materials in this collection include papers from the years of Reginald Townsend's service during the Tubman and Tolbert presidencies and those from Evelyn Townsend's work in many service organizations, as well as personal correspondence and memorabilia from the Townsend family