The collection contains materials related to the Central American country of Nicaragua collected by Rita d’Escoto Clark. Born in the United States and raised in Nicaragua, Rita Clark worked at the Nicaraguan embassy from 1985-1990 as liaison for U.S. and Nicaraguan solidarity groups. In 1990, the embassy transitioned when Daniel Ortega lost the presidential election.

In 1991, Ms. Clark and Leonor Arguello Huper, former embassy Chargee d’Affaires, founded the nonprofit organization Nicaragua-United States Friendship Office with the intent to continue the work they had been doing in the embassy to develop relationships between Nicaraguan and U.S. citizens and organizations with a focus on advocacy, social justice, and economic development. The Friendship Office worked in collaboration with many other non-governmental organizations based in the United States and Nicaragua. As of 2016, the organization is still in existence under the name The Friendship Office of the Americas with an expanded focus to include issues in Honduras. The organization maintains the website: http://www.friendshipamericas.org/

Materials in the collection reflect topics related to the work of Rita Clark at the Nicaraguan embassy and Nicaragua-United States Friendship Office which include but are not limited to debt, democratic elections, globalization, Iran-Contra, peace activism, property issues, religion, trade and labor issues, and U.S. policy toward Nicaragua and other countries.