In April 1919 the Helping Hand Club for Native Girls was established by a small group of women presided over by Mrs. Clara Bridgman. They purchased a small house in Fairview where there were no restrictions on African residents.

The Club intended to provide domestic Servants working in the District with accommodation as well as instruction and recreation for others. It also attempted to find suitable work for women who resided at the hostel.

In 1930 the Helping Hand committee decided to provide training in domestic service, and atraining school was built. Lessons in cooking, dressmaking, laundry and general housework were given as well as courses in English, reading, arithmatic, first aid and home nursing. After 1940 however, the hostel side of the Club developed increasingly, while the training aspect decreased.

In 1974 the Helping Hand Club changed its constitution. Accordingly, the Helping Hand trust was formed whereby 50% of the Club's funds were to be used for black educational purposes, while the remaining 50% would take the form of donations to other black welfare organisations.

In 1990, R 84 000 was donated to the Department of Bursaries and Scholarships at the Universty of Witwatersrand for black women. The Residue of the Helping Hand Trust Funds, R10, 000 was donated to the Family Planning Association of South Africa.

At the meeting on 20th February 1990 the Helping Hand Trust was finally terminated.

The IRTC began its work in February 2018, following the student protests at the University of Cape Town (UCT), namely #RhodesMustFall, #FeesMustFall, Shackville protest (Shackville TRC). Members of the Commission included Mr Mosibudi Mangena (Chair of the Commission), Judge Zak Yacoob, Dr Yvette Abrahams, Dr Malose Langa and Ms Yasmin Sooka. The Final Report was submitted in March 2019.

The Market Theatre in Newtown, Johannesburg, was founded in 1976 by Mannie Manim and Barney Simon. It was housed in what used to be Johannesburgs Indian Fruit Market, built in 1913. The Market Theatre became an icon of the struggle against Apartheid since its inception in 1976. The practitioners that worked there between the years 1976 and 1994 were actively involved in the struggle against Apartheid, and much of the work that was developed and performed then was Struggle Theatre. This then in its entirety forms a very important part of South African history, and documents work that was written and performed in the light of cultural boycotts at the time. Any archive that exists on The Market Theatre that includes activities over these years serves as both theatre archive and Apartheid archive.
The Market Theatre is now administered through The Market Theatre Foundation, together with The Market Laboratory, The Market Photo Workshop and the Windybrow Arts Centre.

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), today the largest teachers' union in the country was launched on the 6th of October 1990 in Johannesburg. Its launch was attended by 1500 delegates from 13 teacher organisations. The delegates present were united in the firm belief and commitment to place teachers at the forefront of policy development for an envisaged future South Africa.

Joseph Barnett was born in 1861(?) in Brynmawr, Wales as one of 6 children of Barnett and Ellen Isaacs. He came to Johannesburg around 1888/9, where he started a photographic business in 1895, later joined by his brother David. Both brothers obtained contracts with periodical publications like the illustrated London journal "Black & White". Joseph Barnett died while on holiday in Wales and was buried at his birthplace on the 23 July 1897.

His brother David not only continued with the business Barnett & Co., but also took over Joseph's appointment as special correspondent of "Black and White", taking the photographic work of the brothers further. In the years to follow he contributed many of his pictures of the South African War (1899-1902), published by 'Black and White', and later launched a series of postcards in about 1902.By the time he decided to sell his photographic business, he was approached by Mr C.D. Don, Editor of The Star from 1915 to 1938, persuading him to sell the collection to The Star, which he did in the 1920s. David Barnett died at the age of 90 in 1964.

The photographs of Joseph and David Barnett cover the early years of Johannesburg, its buildings and streets; gold mining, mainly on the Witwatersrand, but also as far as Barberton; events like the Jameson Raid in 1895, the Matabele Rebellion in 1896, the Queen Victoria Jubilee in 1897, and the South African War (Anglo Boer War) in 1899-1902; as well as personalities like Cecil Rhodes and Paul Kruger.

Having appeared for the first time in Johannesburg as "The Eastern Star", the daily newspaper was to be published on the Witwatersrand from 1889 under the name "The Star".

In the 1920s, the photographer David Barnett, brother to the late photographer Joseph Barnett, was approached by Mr C.D. Don, Editor of "The Star" from 1915 to 1938, persuading him to sell the collection of photographs to "The Star", which he did.

In 1966 the photographs of the Barnett brothers were published by "The Star" as "The Barnett Collection: a pictorial record of early Johannesburg". But the more than 2100 photographs, made by the Barnett brothers between the 1890s-1913, not only cover early Johannesburg, but a wide range of topics and locations in Southern Africa, thereby offering a rich historical glimpse through the lenses of these photographers.

The Worker's Party of South Africa was formed in 1935 after the merger of the Communist League of South Africa and the Bolshevik Leninist League. The collection contains minutes, correspondence, articles and other records of this organisation. Also included are records of the Independent Labour Party and the League of International Communists.

From 1904 onwards many attempts were made to bring about unity in the trade union movement by forming federations. The most successful of these early federations was the South African Trades and Labour Council (SATLC) which existed from 1930-1954, having been reconstituted in 1949. It did not, however, include all trade unions; some remained independent and some were members of other federations. Its existence as a multiracial organisation was threatened by the government's decision to segregate the trade union movement. SATLC strongly objected to the statement by the Minister of Labour, Mr B. Schoeman, on 13 March 1953 that "The policy of the government is that there should be no intermingling of Europeans and Non-Europeans in trade unions". The government then amended the Industrial Conciliation Act in such a way that trade unions would be divided according to race and certain jobs be reserved for Whites.
In reaction to this legislation and, realising that individual protests would be ineffective, a Trade Union Unity Committee was formed in February 1954 which called a Unity Conference in Cape Town for May. Representatives of more than 230,000 workers of all races met and gave the Unity Committee a mandate to set up a national trade union coordinating body. At the second Unity Conference held in Durban in October agreement was reached on a constitution and on 4 October 1954 the South African Trade Union Council was born with 61 unions representing 223 741 members. SATLC dissolved leaving the field to the new federation which, in 1962, changed its name to Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUC SA).
Unity had been achieved but at the expense of excluding Black unions from the new federation, although the constitution made provision for them to join at a later date. This in fact happened twice in 1962 and 1968 when TUCSA resolved to include Black unions but was forced to reverse the decision by pressure from the government and its own conservative White unions. It was 1974 before Black trade unions were finally admitted by which time they had become disillusioned with TUCSA. By steering a middle course TUCSA had pleased neither the conservative right nor the radical left.
In 1958 TUCSA briefly joined an all-embracing federation, extremely conservative in character, called the South African Confederation of Labour but from the beginning differed greatly from other members on important issues such as the recognition of Black trade unions. Matters came to a head when the Confederation decided to seek registration under the Industrial Conciliation Act and at a special conference held in September 1958 TUCSA resolved to withdraw from the Confederation.
Over the years TUCSA continued to work for Black advancement, encouraging the growth of Black trade unions and the formation in 1959 of the Federation of Free African Trade Unions of South Africa (FOFATUSA) for those Black unions which did not wish to join the radical South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), formed in 1955 when TUCSA ceased to be multiracial. TUCSA representatives served on various public bodies. TUCSA maintained international links with the International Labour Organisation and with the trade union movements in Britain, Germany, America and elsewhere.
TUCSA's chief executive was its General Secretary, with considerable freedom to speak on TUCSA's behalf. During the 32 years of its existence, TUCSA had only three General Secretaries,
Dulcie Hartwell 1954-1962
Terence O'Donoghue 1962-1964
James Arthur Grobbelaar 1965-1984
Conferences were held annually, delegating power to the National Executive Committee (NEC) to implement Its resolutions. In turn the NEC, which met quarterly, delegated responsibility to the Officers Committee which met monthly. The NEC also appointed committee: for specialist subjects such as African Affairs, education, housing and human rights. Head Office had a library, an Economic Research Bureau, a training department and a centralised public relations service. To help affiliates, Head Office issued memoranda and pamphlets on various subjects and published a Newsletter, in turn named Saamtrek, Unitas and Labour Mirror. The country was divided into five regions, Western Province, Eastern Province, Border, Transvaal and Natal, to coordinate the activities of workers in these areas.
At the height of its power in 1983 TUCSA had 57 affiliated unions with a membership of 478,420 but, when it dissolved three years later, there were only 32 unions representing 170,000 members. There were several reasons for this dramatic drop in membership, financial as well as political. The increase in affiliation fees and the withdrawal of some of the services offered by TUCSA owing to financial stringency caused some affiliates to feel that there were no benefits in retaining membership. TUCSA was attacked for its conservatism, its failure to support the call for May 1 and June 16 to be statutory holidays and to condemn detention without trial, its alleged cooperation with the government and its opposition to sanctions on South Africa by other countries. It was condemned for its lack of leadership, exacerbated by the death of its General Secretary, J.A. Grobbelaar in 1984, leaving a vacuum at a critical time. There were several efforts to find a successor which proved fruitless.
In 1985 TUCSA initiated discussions with affiliates and others to try to find the reasons for its failure but, during 1986, it became clear that the Council could no longer continue as a viable organisation. At a special conference on 2 December 1986 it was formally dissolved.

The Transvaal Education Department was first formed in 1876 as a unit within the independent Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). The Department endured through all subsequent annexations, wars and vicissitudes until the end of white minority rule in 1994. In December 1994, the Transvaal province was abolished and split into four new provinces.