CASBAH Project - ICS Survey report

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Research resources for Caribbean Studies and the

History of Black and Asian people in the UK

CASBAH SURVEY REPORT

by Mairi Robertson

CASBAH Project Archivist

CONTENT

Collections strengths/weaknesses

Appendix: Targeted collections

General Summary

The aim of the CASBAH survey of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICS) archive collections was to identify and select collection-level archival records which would indicate the potential range and extent of archive material relevant to Caribbean Studies and the history of Black and Asian peoples in the UK. The Library's printed collections were not included in this survey and are dealt with elsewhere. This survey report provides a summary of the findings.

Overview of ICS Archives

The ICS Library holds some 230 archive collections accrued since the Institute was established in 1949. Records are collected so that they may support present and future research and teaching activities at ICS and as such may contribute to the preservation of the cultural heritage of society. ICS is concerned with the study of - and ICS Library collects in the fields of - history, politics, economics, international relations, and other social sciences, relating to all Commonwealth nations and dependent territories, as well as to former British colonies that are not Commonwealth members. In collecting archive material, ICS Library gives priority to the strengths of its existing record holdings in the Caribbean (18th-21st centuries), southern Africa (20th-21st centuries), Sri Lanka (late 19th-20th centuries), material from Commonwealth Political Party, Trade Unions and Pressure Groups, and any declared new initiatives. Though acquisition has focused on the Caribbean, Sri Lanka and southern Africa, there is material relevant to most regions of the Commonwealth. ICS has also started to develop its sources in a fresh direction by collecting the records of Commonwealth-wide bodies, such as the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and the Commonwealth Press Union. An overview of the holdings, with a regional guide and alphabetical listing, is available at: http://www.sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies/archives/archives.html. The ICS archives form part of the larger ICS Library which is a major research resource for those with interests in the Commonwealth as a whole or in any of its member states in the fields of history, politics, economics and international relations and related, social science, subjects. It has a growing collection of over 175,000 volumes and over 9000 periodical and annual publications. It specialises in providing material which is unavailable elsewhere in the UK: 70% of printed materials is published in non-UK countries of the Commonwealth, and 40% are government publications.

Further information about ICS Library is available at http://www.sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies/library/library.html

Methodology

The ICS archive collections are catalogued on a CALM 2000 database which is currently accessible in the Library's Reading Room but this will soon be accessible online. The methodology used in this survey involved an examination of a printout of each collection level description in the CALM database. In addition, keyword searches were also carried out on CALM using the terms: West Indies, Caribbean, Windward Islands, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, decolonisation, independence, revolt, rebellion, abolition and combinations of theses terms with geographical names. Though this failed to identify any further relevant collections than had already been identified but it was useful for uncovering relevant lower level records. Lower level descriptions have not been collated into the CASBAH database. All relevant records which were identified were exported by Julie Evans from CALM to Notepad, to be edited and transferred into Microsoft Access by MR. Indexing of the collection-level descriptions drew on previous work done on ICS collections by Mr Alan Kucia for the AIM25 Project, but involved augmenting and tailoring the indexing for the CASBAH database and removing what would be considered inappropriate terms such as Blacks, Coloureds, that had been taken from existing thesauri.

Data collation

The ICS pilot archive survey took place during the period January 2002-February 2002. The main aim was to: Identify and collate archive collections for inclusion in the CASBAH database. Collation involved editing and re-indexing of the ICS archive collection descriptions. · Accumulate terms for thesaurus and authority lists. Relevant records were transferred from the ICS Calm database into text documents to summarise, edit and html tag, then transferred into Microsoft Access.

Finding Aids

The ICS web pages at http://www.sas.ac.uk/commonwealthstudies/library/library.html contain general overview descriptions of the archive and library collections. A CALM database is accessible in the Library Reading Room. It is intended that this will be available via the internet in 2003, if not before. The AIM25 database at http://www.aim25.ac.uk contains most of the ICS archive descriptions.

Keywords and access points

The key themes investigated in the ICS records were:

Labour
Trade
Slavery
Plantation economy
Transition from colonisation to independence
Decolonisation
Indentured labour ·
Welfare
Education
Race/Interethnic relations in Britain

Subject terms

There are a number of terms used in the ICS records and contained in the Aim25 database, such as Blacks, Coloureds which were considered to be inappropriate and a decision has been made not to use these terms in the CASBAH database.

For example:

ICS 1: African National Congress Papers;

ICS 2: ABDURAHMAN, Abdullah (1872-1940).

For material where no suitable terms were available in the UNESCO thesaurus, subject terms were created based on the nature of the archive material. These terms were shared and considered with project colleagues before being entered onto the database and prepared for possible submission to the UNESCO thesaurus maintained by the PRO. For example, the term anti-apartheid movements. Any new, non-UNESCO, terms are based on the current sample of CASBAH collection-level descriptions in the CALM database and form a starting point from which to develop further terminology as further subjects are uncovered within the ICS holdings.

Collections strengths and weaknesses

The main subjects covered in the ICS sample include:

Anti-apartheid struggle
Interethnic relations and politics in Britain
Caribbean political history · Black and Asian political history in the UK
Employment and trade unionism
Criminal justice/injustice
Imperialism
Colonisation
Decolonisation

A number of the records selected contain information about Britain's historic, colonial links with the Caribbean region, for example:

ICS 101 Castle Wemyss Estate papers, Jamaica 1802-c1990

ICS 70 Sandbach Tinne and CompanyY (1807-1882)

ICS 96 West India Committee: Acquired Papers, 1750-1988

ICS 97 West India Committee: Official Archives, 1899-1998

ICS 56 Moyne papers on West India Royal Commission 1938-1945

Other papers convey information about Caribbean political history, for example,

ICS 40 James, Cyril Lionel Robert (CLR) (1901-1989)

and labour relations in the Caribbean,for example:

ICS 138 Barbados Workers' Union

Some records convey information about race relations and immigration relating to the history of Caribbean, Black and Asian peoples in Britain, for example:

ICS 87 Tinker, Hugh Russell (1921-2000)

ICS 50 McAdam, Anthony L P (fl 1964-1979)

A sizable proportion of records are concerned with the anti-apartheid struggle and South African politics. A number of these have been included due to their significance in relation to the role of activists and the ANC in exile in the UK during the anti-apartheid era, for example:

ICS 52 Mandela Trials Papers

ICS Turo Turok, Benjamin (b 1927)

ICS 117 First, (Heloise) Ruth (1925-1982)

Other records have been included for similar reasons and because some collections were created by activists and/or lecturers who worked and lived in Britain whether in exile or in permanent residence for example:

ICS 6 Benson, Mary (1919-2000)

ICS 20 Friedmann, Marion Valerie (1918- c1975) ICS 28 HALPERN, Jack (1927-1973)

Also, a number of political party papers have been included which contain information about colonial links to ex-British Crown Colonies other than those to the Caribbean such as:

ICS 43 Kenya: Legislative Council Election 1957

Collections that are relevant but do not contain keywords mentioning race or ethnicity have been included, for example:

ICS 85 Committee on Training in Public Administration for Overseas Countries

ICS 121 Commonwealth Press Union

ICS 89 Commonwealth Secretariat: Senior Officials Meeting

ICS 118 Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

Summary

The aim of the survey was to identify key records relating to Caribbean Studies, and Black and Asian history in the UK in the ICS archives at collection level. The survey has resulted in a total of 50 ICS records being collated for inclusion on the CASBAH database (see Appendix for detailed listing).

Appendix

Targeted collections

ABDURAHMAN, Abdullah (1872-1940)

African National Congress Papers

Barbados Workers' Union BASNER, Hyman M (1905-1976)

BBC African Telex Collection BENSON, Mary (1919-2000)

BIKO, Bantu Stephen (1946-1977)

Buganda Constitution, 1954 CapricornAfrica Society

Castle Wemyss Estate papers, Jamaica

CAYGILL, Marjorie L (fl 1970-1998)

CHIGWENDERE, Ignatius (b 1939)

Colonial Office Petitions, 1933-1950

Committee on Training in Public Administration for Overseas Countries, Commonwealth Library Centre, 1950

Commonwealth Press Union Commonwealth Secretariat: Senior Officials Meeting

Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

Crowder, Michael (1934-1988)

First, (Heloise) Ruth (1925-1982)

Friedmann, Marion Valerie (1918- c1975)

Granada Television: World in Action transcripts: Guyana Election, 1968

Grant, Willard G (fl 1968)

Hall, Richard Seymour (fl 1964-1975)

Hart, Richard (b 1917)

Hayman, Ruth (d 1981)

Hirson, Baruch (1921-1999)

International Transport Workers' Federation: Reports on Africa, 1952-1975

Isbell, Henry B (1858-1930)

James, Cyril Lionel Robert (CLR) (1901-1989)

Jebb, Richard (1874-1953)

Jennings, Sir (William) Ivor (1903-1965)

Kenya: Legislative Council Election 1957

Mandela Trials Papers

McAdam, Anthony L P (fl 1964-1979)

Morris-Jones, Wyndraeth Humphreys (b 1918)

Moyne papers on West India Royal Commission

Mutasa, Didymus Noel Edwin (b 1935)

Mytton, Graham (fl 1966-2001)

Roux, Edward Rudolph (1903-1966)

Royal Institute of International Affairs: Commonwealth Conference, Nigeria, 1962

St Kitts-Nevis Independence (1982-1983)

Sandbach Tinne & Company

Tallents, Sir Stephen George (1884-1958)

Taylor family of Jamaica (1770-1835)

Tinker Hugh Russell (1921-2000)

Turok, Benjamin (b 1927)

West India Committee: Acquired Papers, 1750-1988

West India Committee: Official Archives, 1899-1998

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Mr Robert Baxter (AIM25) and Mr Alan Kucia (Aim25); Dr Frances Blomeley (ULCC);CASBAH project staff; ICS Library staff

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Created: April 2002 by Mairi Robertson CASBAH Project Archivist