Name/Title
The Falkland Islands PapersEntry/Object ID
MSS-98-002-Rec. Group 2-Series 1Context
Taunton has a distinguished connection to the history of The Falkland Islands just off the southeastern coast of South America. Francis Baylies, a Taunton native, lawyer, and former Congressman, was named the American Chargé d’Affairs in 1832 and was sent by President Jackson to Buenos Aires that year. His task was the determination of whether a British move on the Falklands would breach the Monroe Doctrine, an international policy limiting European intervention in the Americas. During his stay, Baylies kept a journal and numerous correspondences, some of which are included in this series in photocopies or transcriptions.
A century and a half later, Dr. Jordan Fiore, a professor of history at Bridgewater State College and President of Old Colony Historical Society at the time, uncovered some of Baylies’ papers in the vault of OCHS. Dr. Fiore published these papers, as well as his own research on the subject, and placed them on display on June 8, 1982 at the society amidst the Falklands crisis. Included the series are some of Fiore’s personal notes, and an extensive collection of newspaper articles over the course of the 1982 Falkland war that may have been part of Fiore’s research.
This two-fold relationship between Taunton’s regional history and international affairs makes this series a unique contribution to OCHS’s collection.Archive Details
Archive Size/Extent
This series contains one box with seventy-three envelopes of newspaper articles organized by date and five folders, the majority of material being photocopies or original material from the 1980s.
