NJM Party Documents
Scope and Contents note
The Grenada Documents Collection contains copies of some of the documents which were captured on Grenada by the United States Defense Department when the U. S., at the urging of many of the smaller Caribbean nations, joined a rescue mission to end the rule of the Revolutionary Military Council which had taken control of the country when Maurice Bishop, formerly head of the PRG (People's Revolutionary Government), was assassinated along with many of the people at Fort Rupert in October, 1983, as a result of internal factions and power plays in the NJM (New JEWEL Movement) and PRG. The Documents "provide insight into the extensive nature of the nation's bond with Cuba, the Soviet Union...and the growing dissatisfaction of the Grenadian people with its government." [Document Exploitation Interim Report No. 1, 1 Nov 1983]
The copies contained in this collection were given to the Special Collections Division by Gregory Sandford, a State Department diplomat and co-author (with Richard Vigilante) of Grenada: The Untold Story, a fascinating examination of the formation of the New JEWEL Movement, its takeover of power from the Gairy government and the formation of the PRG, its policies, and eventual downfall. Sandford collected this material while researching and writing his book. The collection is arranged in five series : NJM Party Documents Series, NJM Subject Series, International Relations Series, Manuscripts Series, and Gregory Sandford Series.
The audiocassette recordings of interviews conducted by Sandford in April and May 1984 have been digitized. Please contact a staff member for access to these recordings.
Dates
- From the Collection: 1979 - 1988
Conditions Governing Access note
Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.
Extent
From the Collection: 3.77 Linear Feet (5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Container Summary
The NJM Party Documents Series contains copies of material referring to the formation of NJM and the takeover of Gairy's government, as well as minutes of Central Committee, Political Bureau, Economic Bureau, Organizing Committee, and Workers Committee meetings and related correspondence, resolutions, and agreements. This series, the largest in the collection, comprises 93 folders in Boxes 1 and 2 and is arranged chronologically. Copies of letters by Teddy Victor, former head of JEWEL (Joint Endeavour for Welfare, Education, and Liberation), explain how MAP (Movement for Assemblies of the People), with Maurice Bishop and other PRG members at its head, merged with and then took over JEWEL to form the New JEWEL Movement. This series also contains information on NJM's assumption of power, including the "People's Laws", and general party structure. The most fascinating part of this series are the minutes of meetings which "portray an ideological movement divorced from reality and in the process of disintegration." [Grenada: The Weapons and Documents by Nestor D. Sanchez, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Inter-American Affairs] The minutes show the internal state of the party and its struggles to force Marxist-Leninism on a people who clearly were uninterested in it. They refer to internal party disputes, trips made to various countries to request financial assistance or further international relations, and the NJM's plans for and problems with the economy, education, propaganda, and the "mood of the masses."
Some of the most illuminating minutes are those for the last Central Committee meetings in the last days of the PRG's rule in October, 1983. These minutes, notes, and reports give a particularly enlightening account of the deaths at Fort Rupert and takeover of the country by the Revolutionary Military Council.
Repository Details
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057
speccoll@georgetown.edu