Women’s History Month 2015: Papers of Diane Noakes

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|8th March 2015|Collections & Research|0 comments

To celebrate Women’s History Month 2015, the campaign to raise the profile of women’s history and to champion women of the past, we will be highlighting a number of historical collections held by SOAS Archives which reveal the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. To mark International Women’s Day, we look today at the personal papers of Diane Noakes (1911-1983), anticolonialist and labour movement activist. Mary (Diane)

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‘India: A People Partitioned’ – using oral archives at SOAS

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|2nd March 2015|Collections & Research, Teaching & Learning|0 comments

This week’s blog looks at the ‘India: A People Partitioned’ Oral Archive (ref: OA3) held at SOAS Archives – a significant collection of oral histories relating to the Partition of India in 1947. The 205 interviews in the collection were compiled by the broadcaster and historian Andrew Whitehead for the BBC World Service radio series India: A People Partitioned (1997; 2000) and his later radio and historical work on Kashmir, 1947. The oral archive represents an important social history

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Black History Month 2014: Papers of Sol Plaatje

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|21st October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

As SOAS marks Black History Month we continue to hi-light historical collections held by SOAS Archives, which reveal the long-standing Black presence in the UK, as well as the contributions and achievements of Black peoples in local, national and international arenas. This week we look at the papers of Sol Plaatje, South African writer, linguist, politician and activist . Born on 9 October 1876, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was a descendant of the Barolong royal house. His

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Black History Month 2014: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o manuscripts in the Heinemann African Writers Series collection at SOAS Library

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|14th October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

Today we continue our celebration of Black History Month 2014 by taking a closer look at some of the manuscripts by the leading Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, which are available at SOAS Archives as part of the Heinemann Educational Books Ltd collection. These include prepublication annotated typescripts of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s famous novels ‘Weep Not, Child’, ‘A Grain of Wheat’, ‘Devil on the Cross’ [translated version of Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ],

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World Indigenous Day: Survival International Papers on Resettlement in Ethiopia

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|12th August 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples – which took place on the 9th August – we are today highlighting the Survival International collection of research papers on resettlement and villagisation in Ethiopia which are available at SOAS Archives. Survival International & Resettlement and Villagisation in Ethiopia Survival International is a global human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) which campaigns for the protection of the rights of tribal, indigenous,

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World Refugee Day: The archive of the Western Sahara Campaign

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|20th June 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To coincide with World Refugee Day (20th June), today we are highlighting the archive of the Western Sahara Campaign available to the public at Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library. World Refugee Day is a yearly event dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world. Background The Western Sahara conflict is a longstanding dispute in North Africa between the state of Morocco (which views the disputed-territory

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The Movement for Colonial Freedom & Liberation archive

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|1st May 2014|Collections & Research|1 comments

In celebration of May Day or International Workers’ Day we are today highlighting the archive of the Movement for Colonial Freedom and its successor Liberation available to researchers at Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library. A brief history of the Movement for Colonial Freedom & Liberation The Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF) was a leading anticolonialist campaign group and civil rights advocacy organisation. Founded in 1954, as an amalgamation of

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