Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1970-1983 (Creation)
- 1967-1993 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
43 boxes of transcripts, 198 sheets of microfiches in 83 envelopes, 201 tapes, cassette and 1/4 inch and 29 sets of additional notes found within tape boxes, 114 slides
Context area
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Oral interviews related to the history of Swaziland and neighbouring regions, mostly taken from oral accounts of events passed down through clans. Mainly in SiSwati with English translations in some cases.
The bulk of the material dates from 1970, collected by Philip Bonner, and 1983, collected by Carolyn Hamilton, working with a number of SiSwati-speaking researchers and assistants. Some of the interviews were undertaken at the behest of Bonner and Hamilton. Others were undertaken at the behest of the Swazi King, Sobhuza II, or by the Swaziland Broadcasting Corporation and others were collected by or given to the Swaziland Oral History Project in the early 1980's.
The description of this collection is mainly based on the written information available on the outside of tapes and tape boxes, microfiche pockets, and on the covers of the 'jotters'. It was not possible to establish the exact content on the tapes, the microfiches and slides.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
The digital items from this collection were used in the curation of this project for the 500 Year Archive, a project of the NRF Chair in Archive and Public Culture, based in the History Department, University of Cape Town. https://fhya.org/fhya-curation-of-a-selection-of-the-swaziland-oral-history-project-from-historical-papers-university-of-the-witwatersrand-johannesburg
Notes area
Note
The digitisation of the audio recordings in this collection was made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation in 2012.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2019
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
This inventory was re-compiled by Ruth Muller in 2015 as part of the Five Hundred Year Archive Project with funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the National Research Foundation.