South African History Archive, Historical archive in Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa
The South African History Archive is a repository of documents, photographs, and recorded interviews that track how South African society developed over time. The collection is housed at the University of Witwatersrand and brings together materials from many different periods of social change.
The archive was established in 1988 to protect and collect records from organizations facing political pressure and restrictions at that time. It grew from the need to save materials about social movements before they could be lost.
The archive holds collections from social movements and community projects that show how different groups have documented their own experiences. Visitors can see how important it is for everyday people to preserve and share their stories.
You need to arrange a visit ahead of time by contacting staff directly or reaching out to the Education Library. The archive is located at the Education Library on St Andrews Road within the Wits Education Campus and does not welcome walk-in visits.
The archive created a tracking system to help groups request and access documents that might otherwise have remained hidden under information laws. This system shows how an archive can do more than preserve - it can help make government and institutional records more open.
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