Letter from Richard Strong to Mr. W.R. Castle, State Department

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

November 1926

Transcription

(Copy of letter sent to Mr. W. R. Castle, State Department, Washington, D. C.)

Monrovia
November 1926

My dear Mr. Castle,

I have just returned to Monrovia from Cape Mount and find that there is a mail out today which gives me an opportunity to write you briefly with reference to the cablegram which Mr. Clark transmitted to you for me a few days ago. I realize that my cablegram most probably merely reiterates information of which the Department of State has full knowledge. At the same time it seemed to me and to a number of Americans here that it was my duty to communicate this expression of opinion to you. Obviously the whole matter is not one that can be discussed in a short note. The original purpose of my visit to Liberia was solely to make a biological and medical survey of a little known country. The distressing conditions found to exist here, particularly in the interior, where we have been for nearly four and a half months have been a very great surprise to me, and I feel that it has become my duty upon my return to take up with the Department of State a discussion of the situation. I realize that little if any good results can be obtained by sensational press reports about conditions here and since it is my sincere purpose to try and be of at least some slight assistance in benefiting this very backward country, I shall endeavor to treat the matter in as discreet and as effective a manner as seems practicable on my return.

I have only just time to get this letter into the (State Department) pouch.

With kind regards and renewed thanks for all the assistance you have given us, I am
Yours very sincerely,

Richard P. Strong

P. S. Our scientific investigations have been very successfully completed here. R.P.S.

Type

Diary

Citation

Richard Pearson Strong, “Letter from Richard Strong to Mr. W.R. Castle, State Department,” A Liberian Journey: History, Memory, and the Making of a Nation, accessed March 29, 2024, https://liberianhistory.org/items/show/1167.