WELCOME

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg established Historical Papers in 1966. We are a unique, and accessible hub for human rights research situated in the William Cullen Library of the University of the Witwatersrand serving civil society as well as scholars and researchers.w in order to retrieve the rich historical heritage belonging to all South Africans.

Today we house over 3000 separate collections of historical, political and cultural importance. Historical Papers is one of the largest and most comprehensive independent archives in Southern Africa. More here...

NEWS

 OUR HISTORY REVEALED   

Historical Papers has published 544 inventories of collections of papers on the new Historical Papers web site. Many of these collections have rarely, if ever, been viewed by researchers or members of the public.
 "Technologies such as the Internet combined with funding from Atlantic Philanthropies have made this possible," says curator, Michele Pickover. "Now anyone can find original material which belonged to the makers of history, political and labour figures and also the recorded experiences of ordinary people". The inventories cover a wide range of subjects. There are 19th century travel writings in the Burchell papers, letters by immigrants, officials and their families. The Plaaitje papers and extensive records of the pre-Apartheid and Apartheid era, and records of significant court cases are also included. More recent collections include oral history interviews. These published inventories reveal all these sources."

SEARCH FINDING AIDS

• GUIDES
  • Historical Papers
  • Anglican Church
• DATABASES
  • Collections Database
  • Photos Database
  • Interviews Database

TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC) PROJECT


Historical Papers (Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) and the South African History Archive (SAHA) have undertaken a joint digital archive initiative, sponsored by the Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation, to develop a non-commercial digital and electronic archive of material from assorted media relating to the work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), available over the Internet. Our aim is to make available to scholars and researchers worldwide TRC material, which would otherwise be difficult to locate and access.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE 'TRACES OF TRUTH' SITE