Yale University Library Research Guides: African Studies Primary Source Guide: Visual Resources

Other Yale collections hold materials of interest to African studies! For example:

YUAG 1954.28.1

The African art collection of the Yale University Art Gallery comprises nearly 2,000 objects, representing 3,000 years of African history, with masks, figures, utilitarian objects, jewelry, ceramics, and textiles from throughout the continent. Highlights include ritual figures and masks from West and Central Africa, jewelry from North Africa, and terracotta antiquities from the Sahel area.

Divinity IMP-YDS-RG101-005-0000-0031

The Yale Divinity Library Special Collections hold many interesting images of late 19th- and early 20th-century life in Africa.

Yale Manuscripts & Archives hold many fascinating collections of posters, photographs, and more, such as this example from the Immanuel Wallerstein Collection of African Liberation Posters.

African Collection Online Exhibits

David E. Apter Collection

Photo by David E. Apter
Hausa headman in Ashanti, Kumasi, Central Gold Coast, 1952-1953

Casimir Zagourski Postcard Collection

Photo by Casimir Zagourski
M'Bouaka child in Province de l'Equateur

Zagourski Postcard Collection

Selected Visual Resources on Africa in Yale Libraries

James J. Ross Archive of African Images, 1590-1920
The archive presents approximately 5000 pictures of African art published before 1921. RAAI is the result of an eight-year collaboration between James J. Ross and Susan Vogel, the project's co-directors, assisted by an editor, researchers, a software developer and others. The archive aspires to include all the figurative African objects in books, periodicals, catalogues, newspapers, and other publications appearing in 1920 and earlier--the oldest dates to 1591. The archive does not include postcards or pamphlets of limited distribution, and focuses exclusively on figurative art. It is based mainly on the James J. Ross library augmented by publications from the libraries of Yale University and a few other institutions.
Land of Zenj photograph collection, 1869-2006 (Beinecke)
The collection, assembled by the rare book dealers Jenny Allsworth and Humphrey Winterton, brings together photographs, photograph albums, glass lantern slides, and a lantern projector, which document the Sultanate of Zanzibar and European colonial expansion in East and Central Africa from 1870 to 1914. Also documented are early Arab and Portuguese coastal settlements at Kilwa, Mafia, Pemba, Sofala, and Zanzibar.
Frank Kellogg Smith travel photographs and memorabilia, 1898-1959 (Beinecke)
The collection consists of photograph albums, loose photographs, and memorabilia documenting Smith's travels, predominately in western and central Europe, southern and eastern Africa, and the southern Pacific region.
Gordon James collection, 1900-1905
The collection consists of three photograph albums: photographs of game animals taken in South Africa and/or Namibia, 1900; souvenir album of the Otavi Mining Expedition, German S.W. Africa, 1901; and photographs of Namaqualand, Cape Province, South Africa, 1905.
African Postcard Collection, ca. 1900-2004
One of many collections of postcards held in MSSA and elsewhere at Yale.
David Ernest Apter Papers, 1920-2002
The collection consists of photographs taken by David E. Apter from 1951 to 1960 in the African countries of Ghana (formerly known as the Gold Coast), Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Benin (formerly known as Dahomey), during the buildup of nationalism and the start of independence. The photographs portray scenes of everyday life in these countries. The collection also includes two photographs of David Apter, taken by Eleanor Apter in 1953 in Achimota, Gold Coast, and by Larissa Leclair in 2002.
Casimir Zagourski African postcards, 1924-1941
The collection consists of approximately 250 postcards made from photographs taken by Casimir Zagourski which formed a part of his overall project, "L'Afrique Qui Disparait" (Disappearing Africa). The photos are set in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (formally known as Belgian Congo), Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Congo Brazzaville.
African, Afro-Caribbean and African American, Native American, and Pacific Rim arts lantern slide collection, chiefly 1950s (Arts Library)
Collection consists of black and white glass lantern slides of the arts of African, Native American, and Pacific Rim cultures, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Haitian, Afro-Mexican, Afro-Portuguese, Afro-Surinam, and Afro-American arts.
African Liberation Movement Posters (Immanuel Wallerstein Collection), ca. 1960-2008
The collection consists of posters acquired by Immanuel Wallerstein which document liberation movements in numerous African countries.
South African Poster Collection, 1969-2009
The collection consists of over three hundred posters and related oversized material which document the government and politics of South Africa, primarily from the era of apartheid to the first democratic elections open to all races in 1994.
South Africa Now Collection, ca. 1978-1994
The collection consists of approx. 2600 videotapes and selected paper files relating to the production of the television program, "South Africa Now."

About African postcard collections in MSSA

The Manuscripts and Archives Department has a large collection of about 13,000 postcards from Africa. The postcards are arranged by country or region, and date from the beginning of the 20th century. Many were produced during the period of European colonization, and many were even printed in Europe—mostly France, Germany and Italy.

While many postcards were used for correspondence and thus reproduce Western ideas of Africa and Africans (in addition to their philatelic interest), others, such as the famed Zagourski postcards, were never mailed but collected for other reasons. Many of the card images were taken and/or produced by skilled photographers/publishers such as Ern. Thill, G. Lerat, Peter Freres, and Rene Moreau. Themes cover a wide spectrum of topics, providing a fascinating resource for students of ethnography, historical geography, environmental history, and cultural practices.

African Studies Primary Source Guide: Visual Resources

Additional guides to visual resources for African studies

Other Yale collections hold materials of interest to African studies! For example:

African Collection Online Exhibits

Selected Visual Resources on Africa in Yale Libraries

About African postcard collections in MSSA

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