CAMP works with institutions in Africa to build preservation and digitization capacity and to preserve valuable research resources for use by scholars in Africa, North America, and elsewhere. CAMP is supported in part through annual contributions from the Title VI National Resource Centers for African Studies.
Examples of previous and current projects supported by CAMP/Title VI African Archives Cooperative Projects include:
Project direction is provided by the Title VI NRC library liaisons of the the Africana Librarians Council [3] (ALC) and by the CAMP Executive Committee.
Title VI National Resource Centers for African Studies that have contributed to these projects include:
From 2004 to 2013, CAMP and the Title VI National Resource Centers for Africa supported projects led by Indiana University to restore and preserve several sets of material related to Liberia. These projects have preserved important documents for future use by scholars and have returned the content to Liberia for use in that country.
Verlon L. Stone, Indiana University (Project Coordinator)
D. Elwood Dunn, Sewanee: The University of the South
Daniel Reed, Indiana University
G. Narrison Toulee, Center for National Documents and Records/ National Archives, Liberia
Jacob Nadal, Indiana University
Philip Bantin, Indiana University
Approximately 30,000 documents of Tubman’s personal papers were retrieved from the library of his unoccupied mansion in Liberia and preserved in a 16-month grant project awarded by the British Library Endangered Archives Programme. The materials demonstrate the nearly complete integration between Tubman’s personal and political lives during his presidency from 1944 until his death in 1971. The bulk of the collection clusters at the beginning (1944–50) and end (1961–71) of his administration.
The papers were found in deteriorating condition and in need of immediate preservation efforts. Much of the collection required conservation; in 2003, rebel soldiers rummaged through the file cabinets in search of valuables, tossing folders and papers onto the floor, leaving them limp and damp in Liberia’s tropical climate (for a more detailed report, see “Assessment of Liberian Document Repositories: 2004”).
The project, with £48,810 in funding from Endangered Archives and additional conservation funding from CAMP/Title VI, followed a six-stage process to retrieve, restore, and microfilm the collection before returning it to Liberia. Containers of the damaged papers were sent to the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory at Indiana University for freeze-drying and conservation. Professional archivists sorted and created finding aids to the collection (Encoded Archival Description). Finally, the collection was microfilmed for preservation (and potential future digitization).
To give Liberians local access to the Tubman papers’ content, microfilm copies will be deposited with the University of Liberia, Cuttington University College, Center for National Documents and Records/National Archives, and the Tubman family. International access to the papers’ content are available via microfilms deposited at the Liberian Collections Project–Indiana University, the British Library, and with the Center for Research Libraries. The complete physical collection of the President W. V. S. Tubman Papers will be shipped back to Liberia. The collection will reside at a location in Liberia that is acceptable to the Tubman family and meets the Endangered Archives Programme’s conditions.
For more information and updates, see Indiana University’s page W.V.S. Tubman Papers Collection [4].
See also IU's “Cooperative Projects (African Studies) [5]” page.
In 2012 and 2013, CAMP and the Title VI Libraries allocated funding to support the digitization of a subset of the Liberian National Archives documents collected by Dr. Svend E. Holsoe. These photocopied documents are uniquely valuable, being the only extant evidence of the original materials, some of which were destroyed by poor storage conditions and others by wartime looting. Duplicate sets of images ingested into a Greenstone Digital Library will be shared via portable hard drives with the Liberian Center for National Documents and Records Agency and the University of Liberia and Cuttington University libraries.
The collection is divided into two parts.
Liberian Government Archives I contains five boxes of materials, 1828-1911, that range chronologically from Liberia’s colonial period under the American Colonization Society through the end of Arthur Barclay’s term as the fifteenth president of Liberia. LGA I consists of correspondence, reports, records, minutes, and other miscellaneous manuscript items. A finding aid for LGA I [6] is available.
Liberian Government Archives II contains twelve boxes materials that range chronologically from 1911-1968, though the bulk of the material focuses on three presidents: Dennis E. Howard, C.D.B. King, and Edwin Barclay. There are also a few materials from William Tubman's presidency, mostly as correspondence dealing with international boundaries after World War II. The collection is divided into three main sections to reflect the three branches of Liberian government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. A finding aid for LGA II [7] is available.
Bai T. Moore (1920? - 1987) was a renowned poet and author whose work was greatly influenced by his experiences growing up in Liberia. In addition to Moore’s career as a writer, he served as a government official for several years, first as Chief of the Liberian Bureau of Agriculture, and later, as Deputy Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism. This collection consists of government papers, ethnographic materials, published works, manuscripts, and drafts of his writings. The Title VI libraries supported the cost of archival processing and the organization of this collection. A finding aid [8] is available.
William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (1895-1971) was Liberia’s longest-serving president, in office from 1944 to 1971. During his presidency Tubman travelled extensively, visiting many African countries both pre- and post-independence, Haiti and Trinidad as well as other Caribbean countries, the United States and many European countries. In turn Liberia received frequent return visits by Heads of State and other high-ranking officials. The William V. S. Tubman Photography collection contains over 5,500 photographs, most documenting official functions such as trips, inspection tours, formal receptions and inaugurations. Tubman family member appear in many of the photographs in an official capacity, but the collection also includes family photographs. Most photographs were taken by official photographers for Liberia or the host governments. The collection is available online via Indiana University Liberian Collections [9].
Remaining funds from other projects were used to acquire and begin processing the personal papers of Father Christopher. K. Kandakai, who was a well-known Liberian linguist who specialized in the Vai language and its indigenous script. Father Kandakai (1928-2011) became an ordained Episcopal priest in 1951 and was Liberia's longest serving Episocpal priest. A finding aid [10] for this collection is available.
Background
Senegal Archives Project, 1995–2000 (Justice Indigene)
Senegal Archives Project, 2000–04 (Affaires politiques et administratives...Serie D)
The National Archives of Senegal [11] (Direction des Archives du Sénégal), is one of the premiere archival institutions in West Africa. Its collection contains many important resources for the study of 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 subseries 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 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. Yuusuf Caruso [12] (Columbia University) traveled to Senegal 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. 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 [13].]
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 [14].” The National Archives of Senegal arranged to receive film supplies from France, and CAMP purchased the necessary equipment and shipped it 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.
Archives Project, 2000–04:
Affaires politiques et administratives de Sénégal, serie D
As follow-up 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.” The material in Serie D, a major collection on the history of Senegal and early French colonial rule in West Africa, complements “Justice Indigène,” though it is much larger in scope and size. It is located in the National Archives of Senegal, most of which is not held at le Centre des archives d'outre-mer [15] (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 “Administration centrale de la colonie du Sénégal : Sous-Serie 10D [16]” was filmed. This collection encompasses 272 boxes (~100,000 pages) and was preserved on 171 reels. This subsection 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, Director of the Interior, Attorney General, Controller, and Commander of the Military).
Sous-serie 11D is substantially larger (1,573 boxes) and its preservation will require a significant infusion of new funding.
Links
[1] https://www.crl.edu/area-studies/camp/related-projects/african-archives/senegal
[2] https://www.crl.edu/area-studies/camp/related-projects/african-archives/liberia
[3] http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/amed/9asa.html
[4] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?brand=general&docId=VAB6923.xml&doc.view=entire_text
[5] https://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/africanstudies/liberia
[6] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?brand=general&docId=VAB6927&doc.view=entire_text
[7] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?brand=general&docId=VAB6928.xml&doc.view=entire_text
[8] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?brand=general&docId=VAC1412.xml&doc.view=entire_text
[9] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/images/splash.htm?scope=lcp/tubman
[10] http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/findingaids/view?brand=general&docId=VAC4953.xml&doc.view=entire_text
[11] http://www.archivesdusenegal.gouv.sn/
[12] http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/staff.html
[13] http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/SGproject.html
[14] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1483510~S1
[15] http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/caom/fr/
[16] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1794804~S1