Northwestern University's Africana Collections

Extract

Northwestern University's interest in Africa South of the Sahara dates back to 1927 and was originally centered in the field of Anthropology. By 1948 the need for greater knowledge of Africa and its inhabitants had become so increasingly apparent that the Anthropology Department announced the establishment of an African research program to be guided by an interdisciplinary committee. At approximately the same time, the University Library acquired a large collection of African newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets, and monographs as a gift from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. The report in the Northwestern Library News for December 17, 1948describing the gift concluded with these words:

“Not the least significant aspect of this acquisition is the demonstration of inter-university cooperation and division of labor it gives. The University of Pennsylvania is now placing emphasis on studies of North Africa, while Northwestern will specialize on Negro Africa. Between the two, American resources in training and research in the field of African studies will, for the first time, afford coverage of the entire continent.”