Hidden voices of Empire - MA History internship 2022

Internet publication : Blog

A country is much in the same boat as a shop. A visitor searches for something to represent its shop window; to tell him what its inhabitants are like, what is their attitude to life[?]…How easier to discover these secrets than by a study of the country’s newspapers and magazines! There, in cold print, lies the whole story.

These words from the editor’s foreword to the 1958 edition of the West African annual neatly encapsulate this year’s history internship project at the Foyle Special Collections Library. The West African annual is one of around 350 rare periodicals from the historical library collection of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which was transferred from the government department’s longstanding library to King’s College London in 2007. It is fitting then, that this collection should be studied now, to uncover ‘hidden’ voices of the colonies where the periodicals were produced. My project uses these sources to explore themes of empire and colonialism, seeking African opinions on the colonial policy of development in the 1950s.

Authors: Mitchell, T

• Publisher: Blogs at King's
• Place of publication: London, UK
• Publication date: 2022-03-16
• Language: English
• Keywords: empire & commonwealth; development; foreign; behind the scenes; Commonwealth and Development Office historical library collection; Foyle Special Collections Library; hidden voices
• Subtype: Blog