Peggy Blackford

{{Short description|American diplomat (1942–2024)}}

Peggy Blackford (1942 – March 30, 2024{{Cite web |title=Peggy Blackford Obituary (2024) - New York, Ny, NY - The Times, Trenton |url=https://obits.nj.com/us/obituaries/trenton/name/peggy-blackford-obituary?id=55022308 |access-date=10 May 2024 |website=Legacy.com}}) was an American diplomat who spent 28 years in the American Foreign Service. Blackford was the American Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau from 1995 until relations were suspended in June 1998{{cite web |title=Peggy Blackford (1942-) |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/blackford-peggy |website=Office of the Historian |access-date=12 October 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Reuter’s |title=Rebels and Loyalists In Guinea-Bissau Exchange Shellfire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/16/world/rebels-and-loyalists-in-guinea-bissau-exchange-shellfire.html |access-date=12 October 2020 |work=The New York Times|date=16 June 1998 }} and she fled to Senegal to escape the rebellion in Guinea-Bissau.{{cite news |title=US nationals flee Guinea Bissau |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/112638.stm |access-date=12 October 2020 |publisher=BBC News |date=June 15, 1998}}{{cite web |date=28 November 2016 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR PEGGY BLACKFORD |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Blackfod-Peggy-1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015090124/https://adst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Blackfod-Peggy-1.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2020 |access-date=11 July 2024 |website=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Blackford was raised in nearby Ewing Township, New Jersey and attended Ewing High School.

Blackford graduated from Syracuse University in 1963 with a degree in international relations and a master's in business administration from Pace University.