Program of African Studies Records
-
No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
The Program of African Studies Records consist of correspondence, memos, proposals, reports, and related administrative material pertaining to the organization, special projects, and routine activities of the Program of African Studies Office. The files date mainly from the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Dates
- 1955-1991
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is stored off-site and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection. Administrative records (Boxes 26-41) may contain sensitive materials; consultation with University Archivist required prior to use.
Extent
60.00 Boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Northwestern University's Program of African Studies, founded in 1948, was the first program on Africa in the nation and the first multidisciplinary program at Northwestern. Developed by anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits to train a corps of scholars maintaining African interests across disciplinary lines, the Program grew to include core and associated faculty from such diverse disciplines as African-American studies, art history, history and literature of religions, law, management, medicine, music, and technology, as well as anthropology, history, political science, and sociology.
The addition to the Records of the Program of African Studies fills thirty-one boxes and spans the period 1960-1981.
Arrangement Note
The files are arranged alphabetically by subject, and fill 25 boxes. Many of the larger subject files, especially those consisting primarily of correspondence, are organized chronologically.
Method of Acquisition
Most of the Program of African Studies Records were transferred to the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies from the Program offices around 1974 and transferred to the University Archives in 1983 (Accession #83-154). Additional material was added after being separated from the Herskovits and Carter Papers.
Addition The Program of African Studies records were transferred to the University Archives in three separate accessions. The bulk of the records, consisting of forty-eight archival boxes, were received on June 10, 1985 from the Program of African Studies via Hans Panofsky, Curator of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies (Accession #85-106). The two other accessions were received on November 9, 1983 (Accession #83-160) and February 2, 1984 (Accession #84-27) and were comprised of five archival boxes and two folders, respectively. Both were transferred to the University Archives by the Herskovits Library.
Addition 2 The addition to the Records of the Program of African Studies were transferred to the University Archives by the Africana Library on November 9, 1983, as Accession # 83-160.
Separated Materials
One inch of duplicates were discarded.
Addition 2 Four inches of duplicate and extraneous material were discarded.
Processing Information
Lisa B. Williams, July 1982
Addition Jyotika Virdi and Timothy J. Waltz; June-November, 1990.
Addition 2 Rehana Khan, Summer 2006.
Scanned and Reformatted by: Francine Keyes, February 2005
Formerly designated as Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies manuscript collection 13
- Title
- Guide to the Program of African Studies Records
- Author
- Lisa B. Williams
- Date
- 01/07/1982
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Library Details
Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635
specialcollections@northwestern.edu