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Senegal Archives Project
Background
Senegal Archives Project, 1995-2000
(Justice Indigene)
Senegal Archives Project, 2000-2004
(Affaires politiques et administratives...Serie
D)
Statement on the importance of legal
records
Background
The National
Archives of Senegal (Direction des Archives du Sénégal),
is one of the premiere archival institutions in the region.
Its collection contains many important resources for colonial
Senegal (1816-1958), Afrique Occidentale Française (1895-1959),
and independent Senegal (since 1958). The material is organized
by funds relating to these three periods and are separated
into series and sub-series according to broad subject categories
(administration, military affairs, correspondence, etc.).
The Archives also possesses a library of secondary and periodical
sources on Senegalese and French colonial history.
As a region of interest, Senegal is a particularly "target
rich" area, one with institutional and technological
infrastructure sufficiently in place to undertake a regional
filming project. The National Archives operates a microfilm
lab that included two microfilm cameras and a film developer.
The archives also had a functioning air conditioner in their
microfilm stacks, which indicated an awareness of need to
preserve the results of their work. The region also has
significant ties and linkages to Title VI institutions and
to individual librarians and faculty. Finally, Dr. Saliou
Mbaye (Directeur des Archives Nationales du Sénégal at the
time) was very open and forthcoming about cooperation with
CAMP and the Title VI libraries.
In July 1995, Dr. Joseph
Caruso (Columbia University) traveled to Senegal to
carry out a trip on behalf of the Title VI libraries. The
primary goal was to assess the potential for cooperative
preservation and acquisition projects. Dr. Caruso toured
various archives and research libraries in Dakar and Saint
Louis. He met with archivists, library directors, other
librarians, film technicians, researchers, and others. The
trip resulted in the identification and selection of the
National Archives as a partner to preserve a collection
of French colonial court records. [See full
site visit reports]
Senegal Archives Project,
1995-2000
Justice Indigène, 1838-1954: sous-série 6M
By November 1995, the "pilot" material for the
cooperative archives project was identified as the already
well organized, film-ready "Justice Indigène, 1838-1954:
sous-série 6M." The original pilot phase was to
preserve 2/3 of this collection, though subsequent decisions
and continued funding from Title VI Centers led to the preservation
of the entire corpus.
| Justice
Indigène, 1838-1954: sous-serie 6M
The National Archives possesses a series of documents
entitled "Justice Indigène, 1838-1954: sous-serie
6M." This collection consists primarily of
statistics of judgements, 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 as part of a process of legal oversight and
review. It is organized as follows:
- 6M/001-6M/034
: Organisation Judiciare : administration du personnel
(CAMP reels 1-10)
-
6M/035-6M/272 : Pieces périodiques (reels 11-117a,
117b-158)
-
6M/273-6M/293 : Libération conditionnelle: interdiction
de sejour (reels 159-167)
-
6M/294-6M/333 : Jugements: affaires (reels 168-184)
-
6M/334-6M/349 : Jugements: affaires homologuées
(reels 184-192)
-
6M/350-6M/354 : Conventions (reels 193-195)
-
6M/355-6M/357 : Naturalisations (reels 195-196)
-
6M/358-6M/363 : Prison (reels 196-197)
-
6M/364-6M/393 : Correspondance (reels 197-205)
Click
here for the full catalog record |
The National Archives of Senegal arranged to receive film
supplies from France, and necessary equipment including
a densitometer and light meter was purchased by CAMP and
shipped to Dakar. After training and sampling, the film
sample was deemed of sufficient quality to merit full production.
Over the course of the next four years, the National Archives
staff diligently worked to preserve the 160,000 pages of
material (323 boxes) in the series. The collection, now
held in its entirety by CAMP, was preserved on 206 reels
of film.
The project was not accomplished without challenge. The
National Archives had difficulty acquiring film stock, and
equipment malfunctions slowed the process of production.
Manuals accompanying the new equipment were in English,
which caused some difficulties for the technicians. The
light meter stopped functioning early in the project, requiring
replacement. The densitometer was missing crucial apertures
(which control the size of the opening used to measure densities)
which also required replacement.
The original proposal called for a positive
copy to be sent to CAMP, but in 1997 a decision was made
to ship the master negative to CAMP for duplication of a
duplicate negative and positive service copy. The National
Archives purchased equipment necessary for film duplication
in 1998, but unfortunately had difficulties in achieving
satisfactory results for film duplication. For this and
other reasons, in 1999 the project funded a four-day training
workshop on preservation for the personnel of the preservation/reproduction
unit of the National Archives of Senegal. Dr. Caruso and
Robert Mottice (UMI/Bell and Howell) traveled to Africa
to assess the Senegalese personnel abilities to microfilm
and to run through the process of producing and making copies
of film. The training session went very well with the technicians
very much engaged in what was being taught. Mottice evaluated
all the equipment, the film lab and film storage area. Subsequent
training for the staff was arranged through France's Ministry
of Cooperation in 2000-2001.
While the costs of the pilot phase of the project seems
high in relation to the amount of material produced, a large
portion of the funding has gone to items such as travel,
shipping, infrastructure, and training. The actual cost
of film production (including filming and duplication) averaged
about $309 per reel, a price not inconsistent with U.S.
filming charges. The importance of building capacity
for the African partner cannot be overstated, however.
The commitment of funds to improve preservation efforts
and support for training are critical elements in considering
the successful outcomes of this project.
Archives Project, 2000-2004:
Affaires politiques et administratives de Sénégal, serie
D
As follow-on to the successful cooperation in filming "Justice
Indigène," CAMP and the Title VI libraries (with Northwestern
University) embarked on a second phase of cooperation with
the National Archives to film "Affaires politiques
et administratives de Sénégal, serie D." "Serie
D" is a major collection on the history of Senegal
and early French colonial rule in West Africa. This material
is complementary to "Justice Indigène," though
it is much larger in scope and size. It is located in the
National Archives of Senegal and most of which is not held
at le Centre des archives
d'outre-mer (Aix-en-Provence, France) or in any other
location.
| The
material provides valuable insight into political
and administrative life (treaties and conventions,
reports on native administration and justice, military
recruitment, finances, electoral operations, demography),
economic life (agriculture, breeding and fishing,
public works, mines, transportation infrastructure),
and social life (ceremonies, health, and education).
As
of September 2004, The complete collection of
sous-serie 10D was filmed. This collection
encompasses 272 boxes (~100,000 pages) and was
preserved on 171 reels.
View
original proposal to film Serie D. |
Affaires
politiques et administratives de Sénégal, serie
D : 1785-1964 Sous-Serie
10D: Administration centrale de la colonie du
Sénégal
This
sub-section of "Serie D" contains information
on the central administration of the colony. Originating
from the office of the Governor and other central
departments (including Director of Political Affairs,
Dir. of the Interior, Attorney General, Controller,
and Commander of the Military), this material
contains valuable historical documentation including
a large body of correspondence between the Governor
(variantly titled Lieutenant-Governor and Head
of the Territory of Senegal), his ministries,
and the Governor-General.
10D1:
Affaires politiques et administratives
- Généralités
- Réclamations et plaintes
- Traités et conventions
10D2: Consulats
10D3: Correspondance
10D4: Notes et rapports
10D5: Notices et monographies
10D6: Tournées, voyages et missions
Click
here for the full catalog record. |
| Sous-serie
11D is substantially larger (1,573 boxes) and will
require an infusion of outside funding to complete
preservation. |
Sous
Serie 11D: Administration territoriale de la colonie
du Sénégal This
larger body of material contains rich resources
on colonial Senegal outside of the Four Communes
and some material on 19th century French colonial
policies in West Africa (beyond Senegal). It includes
correspondence, circulars, judgements, political
mission and tour reports, public works reports,
economic and commerce reports, and more.
11D1:
Circonsciptions Administratives
Baol-Diourbel
Bambey
Diourbel |
|
Ndiambour-Djolof
Kébémer
Louga-Linguére |
Casamance
Bignona
Kolda
Oussouye
Sédhiou
Vélingara
Ziguinchor |
|
Nioro-Niani
ouly
Kédougou
Nioro
Tambacounda |
Fleuve-Bas
Sénégal
Bakel
Bas Sénégal
Dagana
Matam
Kaédi-Gorgol
Podor |
|
Sine
Saloum
Foundiougne
Kaffrine
Kaolack
Thiès-Gorée-Dakar
Cayor-Tivaouane
Gorée-Dakar
Thiès |
11D2:
Gardes de cercle
11D3: Généralités |
Acknowledgements for this summary go to Joseph
Caruso, Dennis Galvan, Nancy Schmidt, and Gretchen Walsh.
Return to CAMP Related Projects page.
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