Program of African Studies Lecture Series Audiotapes 1965-1978
Descriptive Summary
- Collection Title
- Program of African Studies Lecture Series Audiotapes 1965-1978
- Identifier
- BMRC.NU.AFR-STUDIES_TAPES
- Identification
- 75/35/1
- Physical Description
- 13.00 Boxes
- Repository
-
Northwestern University Archives
Deering Library, Room 1101970 Campus Dr.Evanston, IL, 60208-2300URL: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archivesEmail: archives@northwestern.eduPhone: 847-491-3354
- Abstract
- The Northwestern University Archives’ audiotapes from Program of African Studies lectures date from the period 1965-1974. They include recordings from the Monday Night Lecture Series, which sponsored speakers to visit Northwestern’s Africa House and speak on some topic relating to Africa. Speakers ranged from academics to political figures to authors and artists and included members of Northwestern faculty and staff as well as faculty from other major universities and colleges around the world. Other Africa related lectures and events are also included, notably a group of radio broadcast feeds from The Voice of America’s “African Panorama” series.
Note
Other Information:
Tapes 5, 67, 87, 94, 99, 101, 115, 137, 143, 269, 294, 324-326, 334, 345, and 354 appear to be unusable. Either no sound is recorded or the sound quality is so poor as to render them inaudible. A note included with tape 101 states that the sound is poor and unintelligible. The assessment is correct. Tapes 20, 259, 260 and 277 are missing from the collection.
There are also a number of discrepancies between the tapes, the original labels on their containers, and the pertinent written records from the Program of African Studies. The information on the spreadsheet (located in the Inventory folder for this series located in the University Archives Reading Room) is based on both written and auditory information; it is the most definitive description of the recordings to date.
Information recorded on the spreadsheet includes, when available, the name of the speaker, the date of the lecture, the topic of the lecture, notes on the sound quality and physical condition of the recording, the recording speed used, and other information of potential use or relevance to listeners. In some cases categories of information may be missing. In other cases only estimates of the date of the lecture could be provided. Likewise, occasionally only a last or partial name for a speaker was available; that information has also been provided. When a formal title or topic or a lecture was not available, a brief topical heading based on an auditory review of the recording has been provided.
The series consists of 354 sequentially numbered open-reel audiotapes relating to Africa, African politics and government, and African culture. Most were made as part of a Monday night lecture series sponsored by Northwestern University’s Program of African Studies, circa 1965 to 1974. Also included with these are recordings of a few Program staff meetings, seminars, Voice of America radio feeds pertaining to Africa, and occasional lectures not part of the Monday night series. Lecturers featured on the recordings include not only academics from many disciplines within the field of African studies, but also government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and African political figures, writers, and musicians. Some of the academics recorded in the series were members of the Northwestern University faculty; others were from universities all over the world.
An additional Tape List gives basic information for each tape: Tape #, Date, Speaker, Topic, Sound Quality, and Notes.
More detailed information relating to these tapes has been added to a University Archives Microsoft Excel database. A printout of the database along with instructions on using it and directions for locating specific audiotapes is located in the Inventory folder for this series located in the University Archives Reading Room.
Indexed Terms
This Collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Indexed Terms
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Transferred to the Northwestern University Archives by the Northwestern University Library Herskovits Library of Africana on November 9, 1983 (Accession 83-156).
Processing Information
Nick Perry; August 10, 2006.
This collection was also included in the set of finding aids and accompanying website created by the University of Chicago's Uncovering Chicago Archives Project (UNCAP), funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation from 2007 to 2010.
Conditions Governing Access
None.
Scope and Contents
The Northwestern University Archives’ collection of audiotapes from Program of African Studies lectures dates from the period 1965-1974. Soon after its own establishment, the Program initiated a “Monday Night Lecture Series.” This series sponsored speakers to visit Northwestern’s Africa House (or another lecture hall if an unusually large crowd was anticipated) and speak on some topic relating to Africa. The variety of speakers is extremely wide, ranging from academics to political figures to authors and artists. The tape recordings found here date from the period when Gwendolen M. Carter was director of the Program of African Studies, with Ibrahim Abu-Lughod as her associate director. Carter became director of the program in 1964, just before the audio tapes of the lecture series begin. It seems apparent that the recordings in this collection do not represent all of the Program lectures held during the period 1965-1974. Some years hold considerably fewer lecture tapes than others. Program records (University Archives’ Series 35/13) also mention other lectures that do not seem to be part of the recorded series. It does appear, however, that the recordings of this series feature the majority of the lectures sponsored from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s.
The recordings do not encompass only the events of the Monday Night Lecture Series. Other Africa related lectures and events are included as well. Numbered as part of this series is a group of radio broadcast feeds from The Voice of America’s “African Panorama” series. These recordings pertain to the Matebele tribe of what was then Rhodesia (audiotapes 271-276). Some other audiotapes record Program staff meetings or conferences. However, the majority of the recordings document events scheduled as part of the Monday Night Lecture Series.
The principal speakers recorded in this series come from many backgrounds and areas of academic study. They include members of Northwestern faculty and staff as well as faculty from other major universities and colleges around the world. Frequent speakers include Carter and Abu-Lughod themselves, Frank Willett, Remi Clignet, George Shepperson, Klaus Wachsmann, Richard Wilson, and Ronald Cohen, among others. Many of the speakers at Africa House during this lecture series were prominent figures in politics, academics, or literature. Prominent among the speakers were: Chinua Achebe (novelist), Oliver Tambo (South African leader and politician), Dean ffrench-Beytagh (anti-apartheid religious leader), Ali Mazrui (public intellectual), C.L.R. James (radical historian), Thurston Shaw (English archaeologist), Aidan Southall (English anthropologist), Ernest Gellner (philosopher and anthropologist), A. Ado Boahem (Nigerian historian), Nadine Gordimer (South African writer), Malcolm Guthrie (linguist), Eqbal Ahmad (Indian academic and radical activist), Ezekiel Mphalele (South African writer), Akin Mabogunje (Nigerian historian), Janheinz Jahn (authority on African religion), Dennis Brutus (Northwestern professor and South African poet and activist), and Shula Marks (South African historian). Speakers from out of town (or out of the country) usually stayed at Evanston’s Orrington Hotel with their travel and hospitality expenses paid by the Program of African Studies. Guest speakers typically received a $100-150 honorarium.
The audio tapes vary in both sound quality and physical condition. Some are perfectly audible, others difficult to hear at all. General notations on quality and condition are found on the appended spreadsheet. Recording identifying numbers, speaker names, presentation dates and topical references also are included. A few of the audiotapes included this series appear to be blank; whether they were erased or just too damaged or physically degraded is unknown.
Addition, Boxes 10-13
The addition includes 105 sequentially numbered open-reel audiotapes relating to Africa, African politics and government, and African culture, dating from the period 1967-1978 and supplementing the recordings found in the main body of the series. The majority of the tapes record lectures and conferences presented through the Program of African Studies. Lecturers featured on the recordings include academics, government officials, artists, and authors.
An additional Tape List gives basic information for each tape: Tape #, Date, Speaker, Topic, Sound Quality, and Notes.
More detailed information relating to these tapes has been added to a University Archives Microsoft Excel database. A printout of the database along with instructions on using it and directions for locating specific audiotapes is located in the Inventory folder for this series located in the University Archives Reading Room.
Detailed List of Contents
Robert Carlton; October 31, 2006
None
Transferred to the Northwestern University Archives by the Northwestern University Program of African Studies on August 15, 2006 (Accession 06-108)
The addition includes 105 sequentially numbered open-reel audiotapes relating to Africa, African politics and government, and African culture, dating from the period 1967-1978 and supplementing the recordings found in the main body of the series. The majority of the tapes record lectures and conferences presented through the Program of African Studies. Lecturers featured on the recordings include academics, government officials, artists, and authors. An additional Tape List gives basic information for each tape: Tape #, Date, Speaker, Topic, Sound Quality, and Notes. More detailed information relating to these tapes has been added to a University Archives Microsoft Excel database. A printout of the database along with instructions on using it and directions for locating specific audiotapes is located in the Inventory folder for this series located in the University Archives Reading Room.