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African Studies

Germany. Reichskolonialamt

Records of the German Ministry for Colonial Affairs (Reichskolonialamt). CRL holds the complete set of the Reichskolonialamt microfilm set “R1001.” This set covers Akte 1-9788 of the archives, and contains information on colonial policy, affairs relating to the African colonies, economics and trade, land and forestry, foreign affairs, and command of the colonial force.

African Studies

Collecting for African Studies has advanced considerably since the development of the scholarly field in the 1950s. Many established vendors now supply books, serials, and newspapers published in Africa (or relating to Africa from other countries). The African Books Collective represents more than 120 independent African publishers from 21 countries, distributing African-published works to North America and worldwide.

African Newspapers

African newspapers in microform
1800-2010

CRL and CAMP have collected more than 1,400 African newspapers on approximately 12,000 reels of microfilm. Coverage includes every country of Sub-Saharan Africa and spans from 1800 to the present. CRL subscribes to current newspapers on microfilm, acquires backfiles on demand, and engages in original microfilming of selected titles. For additional details, consult the CRL catalog scope for newspapers and search by country.
World Newspaper Archive – African Newspapers
Readex
1800-1922

Part of the World Newspaper Archive (a partnership of CRL libraries and Readex, a division of NewsBank), African Newspapers currently provides digital access to more than 40 fully searchable African newspapers published between 1800 and 1922. This collection is available to CRL institutions for an additional fee. See the project Web site for more information.


Census Reports and Statistical Publications

African Census Reports
Library of Congress
1911-1955

This set includes about 26 census reports of various dates for Botswana, French West Africa, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rhodesia (Northern and Southern), Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zanzibar.
African official statistical serials on microfiche.
Chadwyck-Healey (ProQuest)
1867–1982

Includes statistical yearbooks, bulletins, and other statistical sources published by African national governments (43 countries represented). Topics cover demography, administration, finance, commerce, industry, labor, agriculture, education, law, and public health. Titles are cataloged separately: click here to browse by series.

Colonial Documentation

Germany. Reichskolonialamt
Bundesarchiv (Germany)
1867-1945

Records of the German Ministry for Colonial Affairs (Reichskolonialamt). CRL holds the complete set of the Reichskolonialamt microfilm set “R1001.” This set covers Akte 1-9788 of the archives, and contains information on colonial policy, affairs relating to the African colonies, economics and trade, land and forestry, foreign affairs, and command of the colonial force. The Bundesarchiv hosts an online guide and a useful introduction to the collection.
Irish University Press series of British parliamentary papers : Colonies: Africa.
Irish University Press
1801-1899

Papers included are selected from House of Commons sessional and command papers for 1801 to 1899. The papers provide important source material for the history of the African continent during the period.
Justice indigène, 1838-1954
Archives du Sénégal
1838-1954

Contains statistics of judgments, reviews of court decisions, and administrative reports on divisional courts ("tribunaux des cercles") and sub-divisional courts regularly sent from interior posts to the colonial administration in Dakar, Senegal as part of a process of legal oversight and review.  Part of the CAMP/Title VI National Resource Centers for Africa collaboration with the National Archives of Senegal.

Government Publications

Annual departmental reports relating to African countries prior to independence

See: Government Publications relating to African countries prior to independence.
Government Publications relating to African countries prior to independence
Microform Academic Publishers
1808-1965

Covers departmental reports, Blue Books, government gazettes, and other reports relating to colonial rule in Africa. Reports feature topics such as colonial administration, law, commerce, finance, transportation and public works, social services, and more. CAMP has acquired nearly every available set of “Annual Departmental Reports” and “Government Publications,” including: Basutoland; Cape of Good Hope; Gambia; Gold Coast and British Togoland; Kenya and the East Africa High Commission; Nigeria and British Cameroons; Northern Rhodesia; Nyasaland; Sierra Leone; Southern Rhodesia; Tanganyika; and Uganda. Each set has a related catalog record, with selected reports cataloged individually.

Liberation Movements

Records of the American Committee on Africa
University Publications of America
1952-1985

The American Committee on Africa (ACOA), formed in 1953, supported campaigns of nonviolent protests against apartheid led by the African National Congress as well as other anticolonial struggles throughout the continent. Records in this series summarize the entire range of ACOA activities in America and abroad, including its lobbying, educational work and foreign student exchange programs, organization of boycotts, sponsoring of conferences, and development of an antiapartheid network within America. The Series consists of two parts: 

  • Part 1. ACOA Executive Committee minutes and National Office memoranda, 1952-1975 (6 reels)
  • Part 2. Correspondence and subject files on South Africa, 1952-1985 (45 reels)

Missionary Archives and Records

Church Missionary Society: Records, 1803?-1914.
1799-1914

The Church of England formed the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1799 by the to support European missionaries traveling to Africa and the East. CAMP’s collection covers Committee of Correspondence minutes, 1799–1880, as well as incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and papers from the CMS missions in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Yoruba, Niger, South Africa, East Africa Kenya, Nyanza, Uganda, Tanganyika, Northern Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritius and Madagascar, and Palestine. This set closely parallels the commercially produced collection by Adam Matthew Publications, but contains unique material.
Paris Evangelical Missionary Society Archives, 1822-1947
IDC
1822-1947

This collection from the archives of the Société des missions évangéliques (founded 1822) includes incoming correspondence (1827–1947) from the missionary fields in Algeria, Cameroun, Congo-Gabon, Lesotho, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo and Zambia. This collection also contains the "Home Files" from the archives. These files contain outgoing correspondence, minutes (1822–1935) and reports (1833–1986) of the Society, including its Auxiliary Committees. It also contains records of the various Consultive Conferences (1900–31). CAMP collection.

Politics and Government

Karis-Gerhart Collection - South African Political Materials 1964-1990
Cooperative Africana Microform Project
1964-1990

Collected reports, interviews, political and trade union documents, and biographical files of important individuals and organizations in South Africa for the period 1964–90. Examples include the African National Congress, the Pan Africanist Congress, Inkatha, black consciousness organizations, and the United Democratic Front. Assembled in the process of writing From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1990.
Wallerstein Collection of Political Ephemera of the Liberation Movements of Lusophone Africa and Anglophone Southern Africa
1954-1975

Includes serials and other materials from political organizations in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa (1954–75). Serials cataloged individually.

Slavery, Slave Trade & Abolition

Irish University Press series of British parliamentary papers : Slave Trade.
Irish University Press
1801-1899

This reprint edition is part of the Irish University Press series of British parliamentary papers. Selected from House of Commons sessional and command papers for 1801–99, these papers provide source material for the history of Africa of the period.
Slave trade book and pamphlet collection, 1680-1865
World Microfilms Publications
1680-1865

Collection of pamphlets at the Royal Commonwealth Society. 
The Slave trade, 1858-1892 : British Foreign Office : collection 541, confidential print series
Great Britain. Foreign Office
1858-1892

Correspondence and reports regarding the slave trade from British slave trade commissioners and naval officers worldwide. Files are divided chronologically and by category.
Slavery and Manumission Manuscripts of Timbuktu
Bibliothèque Commémorative Mama Haidara
1500-1599

Digitized versions of approximately 200 19th-century manuscripts (in Arabic) relating to slavery and manumission in Timbuktu. These provide documentation on Africans in slavery in Muslim societies.


See also the CRL resources below related to Africa:
All Topic Guides

Church Missionary Society: Records, 1803?-1914.

The Church of England formed the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1799 by the to support European missionaries traveling to Africa and the East. CAMP’s collection covers Committee of Correspondence minutes, 1799–1880, as well as incoming and outgoing correspondence, reports, and papers from the CMS missions in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Yoruba, Niger, South Africa, East Africa Kenya, Nyanza, Uganda, Tanganyika, Northern Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritius and Madagascar, and Palestine.