The Endangered Archives Programme is funded by Arcadia and managed by the British Library, and offers a number of grants every year to individual researchers world-wide to locate vulnerable archival collections, to arrange their transfer wherever possible to a suitable local archival home, and to deliver copies into the international research domain via the British Library.
NB The specific focus of this Programme is upon archives relating to the pre-industrial stages of a society's development, whether in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, or even Europe.
These grants will be the primary means by which Arcadia will contribute to the urgent task of identifying, preserving and making accessible such archival collections before they are lost to international scholarship forever.
How to Apply
Applications are now invited for the Pilot Project Grant and Major Research Project Grant schemes. All applicants must initially submit a preliminary application.
The deadline for submission of preliminary applications is 4 November 2011.
After assessment of the preliminary applications has taken place, only those subsequently invited to do so may submit a detailed application.
The deadline for submission of detailed applications is 24 February 2012.
Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their applications by the end of May 2012.
All the application documentation can be found here.
Applicants must read carefully the Guidelines for Applicants (PDF format 52KB) and Terms and Conditions of Award (PDF format 49KB) and refer to these documents for details on how to submit an application.
An August Accession
During August material was received from a number of projects including:
EAP279: A rescue programme for the Matsieng Royal Archives, Lesotho
Mrs Celina Qobo, National University of Lesotho
2009 award - Major project
£13,956 for 12 months
The Royal Family of Lesotho has been based in Matsieng since just after the 1858 war, when Matsieng was established by the second Lesotho king, Mohato (Letsie 1). Matsieng is near Morija, the original missionary settlement in Lesotho dating from 1843, where King Letsie 111 was born. The royal family has been based at Matsieng continuously since the founding of Matsieng, which has been a 'royal hub' of the Basotho kingship and chieftainship. The documents that have accumulated at Matsieng cover material dating from the early 19th century. The collection includes records of historical, political, legal and economic significance:
•records on chieftainship and succession to high office
•court proceedings and judgements
•boundary disputes and resolutions
•traditional marriage systems and records
•inheritance documentation and disputes
•official speeches
•correspondence (of national and international significance, as it includes official communications between Lesotho and the UK, and diplomatic contacts with many other countries)
•books and serials
•official administrative records covering the colonial period
•records of public works
•financial records of governmental divisions
Most of this material is unique. Repatriation of the Royal Archives material will allow a much more comprehensive, complete and coherent record to be established, documenting the national history of Lesotho from the early 19th century.
The material was in poor storage at the Royal residence in Matsieng, Lesotho. The ceiling then collapsed leaving the materials exposed to rain. The University Archives arranged 'emergency repatriation' in December 2007 and January 2008. The material is all paper, though in a range of physical formats: papers in folders, paper assembled with treasury tags, ledgers and other bound record books, and many stacks of individual papers.
The University has fumigated the material and re-boxed it, with box-level content listing. About 20% of the material may be too damaged to scan; about 40% is damaged but copying should be possible. This project will scan all the documents from Matsieng that can be scanned. The files will be organised by a database, with detailed cataloguing in the archive's existing system. Additionally, each document will exist as a PDF of one or more scans, accessible from a digital library using the Greenstone (open source) software. The University will host one copy of the digital library, the Internet Archive will also host the collection, and the full data will be available to the British Library.
Showing posts with label Lesotho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lesotho. Show all posts
Monday, 19 September 2011
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
New archives list - Gallagher papers on education and Lesotho
Continuing to highlight collections for which we have added detailed handlists to the ULRLS archives catalogue this post introduces the Gallagher collection.
Jack Gallagher worked as a teacher and education adviser in Lesotho during the 1980s and 1990s. He accumulated the material in this collection during this time: some relates directly to his work and personal interests, while other items were collected by him. Gallagher also donated a substantial collection of printed material on Lesotho to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library.
The Gallagher collection (ICS114) includes papers relating to the Univeristy of Lesotho and education in Lesotho, 1984-1991; records of the Teyateyaneng Centenary Committee, 1985-1986; photographs and slides for exhibitions, c.1985; papers concerning Basutoland law, 1951-1952; a copy of a published history of Basutoland, written in Sotho, 1917; and other miscellaneous items including personal correspondence.
Jack Gallagher worked as a teacher and education adviser in Lesotho during the 1980s and 1990s. He accumulated the material in this collection during this time: some relates directly to his work and personal interests, while other items were collected by him. Gallagher also donated a substantial collection of printed material on Lesotho to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library.
The Gallagher collection (ICS114) includes papers relating to the Univeristy of Lesotho and education in Lesotho, 1984-1991; records of the Teyateyaneng Centenary Committee, 1985-1986; photographs and slides for exhibitions, c.1985; papers concerning Basutoland law, 1951-1952; a copy of a published history of Basutoland, written in Sotho, 1917; and other miscellaneous items including personal correspondence.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Jack Halpern Papers - Catalogue available
The Jack Halpern Papers were donated to the Institute of Commonwealth Studies by Jack Halpern’s widow. We're pleased to announce that a PDF version of the list for this collection has been added to the collection level description on the ULRLS Archives database: PDF list
Jack Halpern worked primarily as a journalist, writer and editor and this collection largely consists of Halpern’s writing on Southern African affairs and race relations in the period between 1958 and 1970, as well as personal correspondence for this period.
Jack Halpern was born in 1927 in Berlin. Because of the Nazi persecution of the Jews, his parents emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was educated. His interest in the problems of developing countries was stimulated by two and a half years spent in Israel. Returning to South Africa he became a journalist and married. After editing technical and industrial journals he became Editor and Publications Officer of the South African Institute of Race Relations. In 1960 he was appointed editor of the 'Central African Examiner' in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, and became the Central African correspondent of the 'Observer', the 'New Statesman', 'Dagens Nyheter', and 'Politiken'. In September 1963 with the Rhodesia Front in power, he and his wife were arbitrarily expelled from the disintegrating Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by the Prime Minister, Sir Roy Welensky. After arriving in Britain, Halpern served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International, 1964-1965, and, writing under his nom-de-plume of James Fairbairn, as Africa Correspondent of the 'New Statesman'. He died on 11 May 1973.
The collection includes correspondence and papers on South African politics, the High Commission Territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland), Lesotho, Botswana, the Central African Federation, Malawi, Zambia, Rhodesia; material on the Pearce Commission, 1971-1972; statements, correspondence and cuttings on Halpern’s expulsion from Rhodesia; and correspondence and papers relating to his work in exile in the United Kingdom ,for Amnesty International and other organisations, as well as drafts and notes for Halpern's book South Africa's Hostages. Material in the collection includes drafts of articles by Halpern and press cuttings; notes; correspondence; political party material; photographs; and family and personal correspondence.
The papers include correspondence with Baruch Hirson, Commonwealth Press Union, Colin Legum, Ruth First, Julius Lewin, all of whom also have collections deposited in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Archive.
Jack Halpern worked primarily as a journalist, writer and editor and this collection largely consists of Halpern’s writing on Southern African affairs and race relations in the period between 1958 and 1970, as well as personal correspondence for this period.
Jack Halpern was born in 1927 in Berlin. Because of the Nazi persecution of the Jews, his parents emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was educated. His interest in the problems of developing countries was stimulated by two and a half years spent in Israel. Returning to South Africa he became a journalist and married. After editing technical and industrial journals he became Editor and Publications Officer of the South African Institute of Race Relations. In 1960 he was appointed editor of the 'Central African Examiner' in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, and became the Central African correspondent of the 'Observer', the 'New Statesman', 'Dagens Nyheter', and 'Politiken'. In September 1963 with the Rhodesia Front in power, he and his wife were arbitrarily expelled from the disintegrating Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by the Prime Minister, Sir Roy Welensky. After arriving in Britain, Halpern served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International, 1964-1965, and, writing under his nom-de-plume of James Fairbairn, as Africa Correspondent of the 'New Statesman'. He died on 11 May 1973.
The collection includes correspondence and papers on South African politics, the High Commission Territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland), Lesotho, Botswana, the Central African Federation, Malawi, Zambia, Rhodesia; material on the Pearce Commission, 1971-1972; statements, correspondence and cuttings on Halpern’s expulsion from Rhodesia; and correspondence and papers relating to his work in exile in the United Kingdom ,for Amnesty International and other organisations, as well as drafts and notes for Halpern's book South Africa's Hostages. Material in the collection includes drafts of articles by Halpern and press cuttings; notes; correspondence; political party material; photographs; and family and personal correspondence.
The papers include correspondence with Baruch Hirson, Commonwealth Press Union, Colin Legum, Ruth First, Julius Lewin, all of whom also have collections deposited in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Archive.
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