LibGuides: African Studies: African Colonial Documents

Digital Primary Source Collections

Many of these sources are colonial documents related to West Africa, as curated for a 2022 course guide. Stay tuned as we expand the regional scope of colonial documents and identify access points for post colonial African government documents.

Empire Online
Unlimited users.
Provides full text access to primary source documents from the British Empire (the Empire encompassed Africa, the Americas, Australia, Oceania, and South Asia). Documents include travel accounts, the literature of Empire, photography and illustration, religious material, and records on issues of race and class in the colonial context.
Search across Adam Matthew primary source databases using AM Explorer
The material is divided into 5 sections
1. Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969
2. Empire Writing and Literature of Empire
3. The Visible Empire
4. Religion and Empire
5. Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism c1607-2007
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
Unlimited users.
Includes digital versions of the U.K. House of Commons Sessional Papers.
Access provided to the following collections:
- 18th century (1688-1834)
- 19th century(1801-1900)
- 20th century (1901-2003/04 session)
Nineteenth (19th) Century Collections Online
Unlimited users.
A multi-year global digitization and publishing program focusing on primary source collections of the nineteenth century. The content is sourced from the world's preeminent libraries and archives. It consists of monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other kinds of documents in both Western and non-Western languages.
Access to this resource is partially funded by the Emily Knauss Library Endowment for the Liberal Arts.
African Newspapers
Unlimited users.
Updated monthly. Includes Series I and Series II, and provides more than 50 fully searchable newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries from in a variety of African countries. Covers the people, issues and events that shaped this vital region.

Africana Historic Postcard Collection
Afriterra
Maps. Browse by region and country
Endangered Archives Programme
Digitized material from British Library. Search or browse collections using the filters on the left (ex. Project country or Related placaes)
Images of Colonialism
Digitized photographs from Harvard Library
International Mission Photography Archive
ca. 1850-1960.
National Archives (UK)
Images from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office photographic collection

Ghana

British Documents on the End of Empire Project: Ghana
1941-1957. This collection of documents is intended to illuminate some of the processes which led to the end of British colonial rule in the Gold Coast on 6 March 1957.
Public Records and Archives Administration (PRAAD) in Tamale, Northern Ghana
PRAAD's holdings in Tamale now include colonial reports, recording colonial disputes, administrative tasks, boundary discussions, court proceedings, land tenure and chieftancy affairs, as well as correspondence with the missionary church in the Northern Territories.

Nigeria

British Documents on the End of Empire Project: Nigeria
1943-1960. The book series of this name (London, 1992–) consists of multiple volumes of selected source material from the UK National Archives dealing with British decolonization in Nigeria.

Sierra Leone

Nineteenth Century Documents of the Sierra Leone Public Archives
Collectively, these volumes provide information on the identities, origins and experiences of enslaved Africans forcibly relocated to the British Crown Colony in the nineteenth century. Other volumes relate to the inward migration of people from the colony’s hinterland, including registers of slaves who had escaped from the interior to Freetown.
Sierra Leone Public Archives: Records of Colonial Governors, Police and Court Officials in Freetown and Neighbouring Villages‎ (1818-1901)
Records from the formation of the British Crown colony of Sierra Leone to the formation of the Sierra Leone Protectorate. Includes census records, police records, court records, military records, school records and demographic records of births and deaths.

Central Africa

American Museum Congo Expedition 1909-1915
Scientific texts, maps, and images relating to the expedition.
British Documents on the End of Empire Project: Central Africa
“This volume traces British policy towards Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and Nyasaland (Malawi) from the end of the Second World War to Southern Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) in November 1965. The principal focus of the volume is the rise and fall of the Central African Federation, which from 1953-1963 brought these three territories together in an unhappy and ill-fated marriage.”
Journal officiel de la République du Congo.
1958-1969. French.
Livingstone Online
A digital museum and library that allows users to encounter the written, visual, and material legacies of David Livingstone (1813-73).

British

Britain and Africa Series
Colonial correspondence and documents related to British government administration in Africa
British Colonial Office Annual Reports
Blue Books for various countries contain statistics, facts on colonial employees & their salaries, lists of the missionary societies and other topical information related to areas like transportation, education, trade, etc.
Cambridge Digital Library - Royal Commonwealth Society
Over 1000 photographs of the Gold Coast and Ghana (1900-1970),
Photographs of the British Cameroons (Nigeria and Cameroon) 1937-1942

French

Collaboration, Modernity and Colonial Rule: Sidiyya Baba and Mauritania
Website in English; documents in French.
Centre des Archives d'Outre-mer
Images of French colonial empire in Africa. Website in French only.
Gallica - Publications officielles d'Afrique occidentale française
National Library of France hosts official publications related to French West Africa (Website and content in French only)

German

Sources on German Colonial History Online
Website in English; Materials in German

Portuguese

Memórias de África e do Oriente
This collection consists of digitized books and journals relating to Portugal’s colonial history, as well as photographs and postcards. Website and content in Portuguese.

Europeans in West Africa, 1540-1560: Documents to illustrate the nature and scope of Portuguese enterprise in West Africa, the abortive attempt of Castilians to create an empire there, and the early English voyages to Barbary and Guinea by John William Blake (Editor)
Texts dealing with Portuguese and Castilian enterprise, translated into English

There are some valuable print primary sources related to colonial Africa in the library. These types of sources include correspondence, government administration records, statistical reports, colonizer travel diaries and missionary organization reports. UT Libraries has some of these collections scattered throughout the PCL stacks and in our off-campus storage facility. Here are some recommended ways and places of finding these valuable but sometimes hard to identify texts!

Browsing Stacks In Person

There are two sections in the PCL that have a concentrated collection of print books with colonial sources. Visit these sections and call number ranges to browse the collections. These sections contain a mix of primary and secondary sources, so you might want to flip through the book to determine if it is a collection of primary sources or secondary source/scholarship about the colonial era.

Call Number: 966.5-966.9 / PCL Floor 5, Section 5E

These are primarily older titles about West Africa cataloged using the Dewey Decimal System, the original call number system UT Libraries used before the Library of Congress. This is why many of these titles in this section are from the 19th century or early 20th century.

Call Number: DT 470-671 / PCL Floor 3, Section 3R

This call number section specifically covers primary and secondary sources related to the history of West Africa. This is a much larger section to browse, and somewhat more difficult to easily distinguish between primary and secondary sources. However, there is a greater depth of resources and clearer organization by country.

Also, view the library catalog records for print collections of primary sources in this series:

Fontes historiae Africanae (Sources of African History)
Primary source collections of materials related to African history. Most titles are not digital copies.

Library Catalog - FAQ

How long can I check out a book?

As a UT student, you can check a book out for the entire semester.

How do I check out a book I found in the stacks?

Bring the book and your UT ID card to the front desk of the library. A staff member will help you get checked out. Forgot your ID? No worries! You can use your virtual ID by logging in with your EID at the front desk.

Pick it Up button

Recalls an item that is checked out by someone else (don't feel bad about requesting the things you need!)
Recalls an item from storage (we have more books than we can store onsite -- don't limit yourself to what you see in the stacks)
Allows you to pick up a book at the PCL (even if it is from another library)

Renew Online

Use the My Account tab at the top right of the library home page or catalog to renew materials

Don't see what you need?

Use interlibrary loan to request a copy of the print book from another library for free.

Oxford Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies Online
Unlimited users.
These Bibliographies provide an authoritative guide to the current scholarship, expert recommendations and authoritative commentary on the best works available in the discipline covered, making them particularly useful for anyone beginning research.
UT Austin has access to the all bibliographies in all subject areas.

See the volume on African Studies, or search the whole collection via the search box at the top of the page by keyword/country.

There are entries on countries that have sections listing primary sources/colonial archival sources. For example, see this entry on Benin (Dahomey) and scroll down to see "Primary Sources" section. Search these sources directly in our library catalog.

Anti-Imperialism in Africa

Anti-Imperialism in Africa
Digitized collection of archival material related to anti-imperialism movements in Africa. Users can browse individual figures' archive of works, including works by Walter Rodney, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, among others. There are also a number of scanned articles from political periodicals and papers related to liberation movements.