THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2023 53 ONCE UPON A TIME FS HERITAGE Sébastien Perrot-Minnot, Ph.D., is an archaeologist, a lecturer in the Department of History at the University of the French West Indies, and a member of the Guadeloupe Historical Society. In addition, he is the honorary consul of Guatemala in Fort-deFrance, Martinique, and an associate member of AFSA. The author would like to thank Ambassador (ret.) John HennesseyNilan (acting consul in Fort-de-France in 1989), Lili Reineck Ott (daughter of Walter S. Reineck, U.S. consul in Fort-de-France from 1925 to 1929), Henry Ritchie (U.S. consular agent in Fort-de-France from 1993 to 2015), and Frédéric Vigouroux, curator at the University of the French West Indies Library, for their greatly appreciated help in the preparation of this article. After a storied history of nearly two centuries, the consulate in Fort-de-France closed its doors in 1993. BY SÉBASTIEN PERROT-MINNOT Thirty years ago, the U.S. consulate general in Fort-de-France was closed by decision of the State Department, evoking some emotion in Martinique and beyond: the United States had developed a special relationship with this territory of the French West Indies, where it had consular representation for more than two centuries. The U.S. consulate in Fort-de-France was located in the heart of the city. In 1949 the U.S. government acquired a beautiful art deco villa in Didier, in the heights of the city, for the residence of the heads of mission. The U.S. Consulate in Martinique The U.S. consulate in Fort-de-France in 1902. CHARLES W. BLACKBURNE/INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
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