Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1909 - 1974 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
1637 items
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
James Arthur Calata was born at Debe Nek, near King William's Town in the Cape Province in 1895 and later trained as a teacher at St. Matthew's College, 1915-1920. In 1921 he left teaching to become an Anglican priest. He was ordained in 1926 as a Deacon in the Anglican Church in Port Elizabeth and, after a short spell at Somerset East, proceeded to Cradock where he served as minister from 1928 until his retirement in 1968.
The Rev. Calata, however, was also a central figure in African social and political life being involved in, amongst others, the Pathfinders Movement, the African Parents Association, the Society of Saint Ntsikana, and the African National Congress in 1930. In 1935 he acted as Chaplain of the A.N.C. and as Secretary General between 1936 and 1949 when he resigned because he was not in favour of the Programme for Action. He was instrumental in getting A. B. Xuma elected President of ANC as he saw he was able to attract more educated people within the movement.
He was held and tried for treason in 1956 and acquitted. He was banned in 1962 for having 2 twenty-year-old photographs of an ANC deputation on his wall.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The papers were deposited by the African Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The Calata Papers consist of 1636 items covering the period 1909-1974 and include diaries, correspondence, notebooks, notes, sermons, addresses, minutes, memoranda, map, printed items, photographs and music.
The papers describe Calata's work in the church in the Eastern Cape, his role of schoolmaster, riots at St. Matthew's College, Keiskammahoek, and Lovedale, his notes on his ban and treason trial, education, and official records of several of the associations in which he was involved: the Cape African Parents Association, the Board of Missions, the Cathedral Chapter, the International African Ministers Federation, Pathfinders and Wayfarers Scouts.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
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Language of material
- English
- Xhosa
Script of material
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,
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Notes area
Note
Alternate title: Calata, Rev. James Arthur
Note
Preferred citation: Copyright Historical Papers Research Archive, The Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Archivist's note
Compiled by J. Knoesen