Work

The Ruth First Papers Project: digitising the Ruth First archive

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Soon after Ruth First was murdered in 1982 an appeal went out for funds to create a Trust in Ruth's name. In the 1980s the Trust found a home for Ruth's papers and documents at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) in London under Shula Marks' directorship. The hope was that the archive would be part of a centre that would study southern African liberation, continuing work that had been brutally cut short by Ruth's murder in Maputo. In 2012 the ICwS launched the Ruth First Papers Project, which aims to digitise the archive of Ruth's papers. A dedicated website was established where the first selection of documents has been made available for anyone (anywhere) to consult. In this brief introduction, Rockel and Mahon – researchers on the project – describe the process of selecting documents for digitisation and the experience of encountering Ruth in the archives.

Source: Review of African Political Economy

DOI: 10.1080/03056244.2014.878073

Authors: Vanessa Rockel, Matt Mahon

Institutions: University of London, School of Advanced Study, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Digital and Traditional Archives Management

Subfield: Conservation

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

OpenAlex ID: W2093827488

FWCI: 8.524

Cites:

Cited by: 2

Related to: 10