Amistad expands research on Africa

Thanks to a $238,200 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University is beginning a three-year project to inventory and catalog two archival collections that document efforts to end apartheid and colonial governments in Africa.

The Cataloging Hidden and Special Collections Program of the Council on Library and Information Resources awarded the funds to Amistad to support “Increasing Access to Africana Collections: The American Committee on Africa and The Africa Fund Records.”

The American Committee on Africa (1953–2001) and The Africa Fund (1966–2001) worked to educate Americans on the legitimacy of African liberation movements and to assist victims of colonial oppression in Africa.

The collections consist of 520 linear feet of publications and records dating from 1966-2001. The processing of these records will expand access to materials that document human rights and political activities within many African countries, U.S. relations with African governments, divestment campaigns, and anti-apartheid and pro-African liberation movements, says Christopher Harter, director of library and reference services at Amistad.

Originally established in 1966 at Fisk University, Amistad has been housed on the Tulane uptown campus as an independent research center since 1987.

Amistad's holdings include the papers of artists, educators, authors, business leaders, clergy, lawyers, factory workers, farmers and musicians. Inside the collections are more than 15 million documents, 250,000 photographs, 25,000 books, 2,000 periodicals and 400 original works of art and artifacts dating from the 18th century to the present.