Benson, Mary (1919-2000)

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): ICS 6

Title: Benson, Mary (1919-2000)

Date(s): 1948 - 1999

Level of description: Fond

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 7 boxes

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): Dorothy Mary Benson, 1919-2000, anti-apartheid campaigner

Administrative/Biographical history: Mary Benson was born on 8 December 1919 in Pretoria, South Africa and was educated there and in Great Britain. Before the Second World War she was a secretary in the High Commission Territories Office of the British High Commission in South Africa. Between 1941-1945 she joined the South African women's army, rising to the rank of Captain and serving as Personal Assistant to various British generals in Egypt and Italy.

After the war she joined UNRRA and then became personal assistant to film director David Lean. In 1950 she became secretary to Michael Scott and first became involved in the field of race relations. In 1951 she became secretary to Tshekedi Khama, and in 1952, together with Scott and David Astor, she helped to found the Africa Bureau in London. She was its secretary until 1957 and travelled widely on its behalf. In 1957 she became secretary to the Treason Trials Defence Fund in Johannesburg. She became a close friend of Nelson Mandela, and assisted with smuggling him out of South Africa in 1962. In February 1966 she was served with a banning order under the Suppression of Communism Act and she left South Africa for London later that year.

In London she continued to work tirelessly against apartheid, writing to newspapers and corresponding with fellow activists in South Africa. In April 1999 Mandela visited her at her home during his state visit to Britain and later that year an 80th birthday party was staged for her at South Africa House.

Mary Benson died on 20 June 2000.

Among her writings are 'South Africa: the Struggle for a Birthright', 'Chief Albert Luthuli', 'The History of Robben Island', 'Nelson Mandela: the Man and the Movement', the autobiographical 'A Far Cry' and radio plays on Mandela and the Rivonia trial.

Archival history: ICS 6/1-6 were presented as a gift to the ICS by Mary Benson in the mid 1970s. ICS 6/7-19 were presented as a gift to the ICS by Mary Benson in the 1980s (1984 and 1989?). ICS 6/20-28 were deposited at the ICS on 27 Sep 2000 in accordance with her will, which gave this material to the Ruth First Memorial Trust, who therefore own this part of the collection.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: Mainly correspondence between Benson and fellow South African activists, and large amounts of newspaper cuttings collected by Benson, relating to South Africa and the struggle against apartheid.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement: The filing system used by Benson has been retained as far as possible, although items have often been placed into date order within particular files.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access: Access may be granted for scholarly research to non-embargoed materials. Users of the papers are required to sign for access. Personal correspondence is embargoed for a period of 15 years from the date of the correspondence. This embargo may be waived in writing by the authors of individual items or the Archivist of the ICS in consultation with the Director.

Readers wishing to consult ICS 6/20-28 require the permission of the Archivist of the ICS in conjunction with the Chairman of the Ruth First Memorial Trust, since this part of the collection is owned by the Trust rather than by ICS.

Conditions governing reproduction: Usual conditions apply. No photocopying or quotation from personal correspondence shall be allowed. Quotation is permitted for no-embargoed items. The source of such quotation must be acknowledged.

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: A list of ICS 6/1-6 was in use by 1989. The references which were used are given here in the AltRefNo field. This catalogue was produced by Matti Watton in Feb-Mar 2001.

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description: Published items donated by Mary Benson previously have been added to the ICS library in the normal way.

There are other Mary Benson archive holdings at Rhodes House (Tshekedi Khama and Africa Bureau papers), the Munger Library, Boston University (personal papers) and UCLA (ANC material).

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2002

Interest: Black

Specific group:

Subjects

Racial discrimination

Civil and political rights

Human rights

Interethnic relations

Racial segregation

Apartheid

Anti-apartheid movements

Personal/Corporate names

ANC

African National Congress

South African Native National Congress

Ayob, Ismail Mahomed, b 1942, South African lawyer

Benson, Mary, 1919-2000, anti-apartheid campaigner

Buthelezi, Mangosutho Gatsha, b 1928, Chief, South African politician

First, Heloise Ruth, 1925-1982, journalist, author and anti-apartheid campaigner

Goldberg, Dennis Theodore, fl 1964-2001, political prisoner

Hassim, Nina, fl 1971, political prisoner

Healey, Denis Winston, b 1917, Baron Healey of Riddlesden, politician

Luthuli, Albert John, [1898]-1967, South African politician

Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla, b 1918, President of South Africa

Paton, Alan Stewart, 1903-1988, South African politician and author

Sisulu, Walter Max Ulyate, b 1912, South African politician

Suzman, Helen, b 1917, South African politician

Tambo, Oliver Reginald, b 1917, South African politician

Tutu, Desmond Mpilo, b 1931, Archbishop of Cape Town

Places

Southern Africa

South Africa