Historic papers of Black visionary Solomon Plaatje return to South Africa
SOAS Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib has delivered the historical papers of politician and activist Solomon Plaatje to the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
The papers, which include notebooks, press cuttings, rare publications, and photographs, have been under the care of SOAS Library since 1977.
Solomon Plaatje [1876-1932] is described by the South African Presidency as “one of the most gifted and versatile Black South Africans of his generation.” A “pioneer of Black press in South Africa”, Plaatje founded several Setswana/English newspapers, alongside making regular contributions to English-language papers.
Plaatje was a founding member of the South African Native National Congress (later to become the African National Congress or ANC) and was elected as its first Secretary General in 1912. He travelled extensively throughout Europe, Canada and the US to draw attention to the plight of black South Africans, meeting with prominent civil rights leaders such as Marcus Garvey and W.E.P Du Bois.
Bringing these papers back to South Africa now – as a South African citizen, as Vice-Chancellor of SOAS and former Vice-Chancellor of Wits, is particularly special.
A prolific writer, publishing several books on South African society and linguistics in his lifetime, he was the first Black South African to publish a novel in English - Mhudi: An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred Years Ago.
Since 1977, some of Solomon Plaatje’s historical papers have been housed at SOAS Library, where they were available to SOAS students and researchers. In 2019, it was agreed that the papers be transferred to the Historical Papers Research Archive at the University of the Witwatersrand, which holds a substantial body of material related to Plaatje. This week, their delivery has been finalised, coinciding with Vice-Chancellor Professor Adam Habib’s visit to the university.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Professor Habib said: “When South Africa’s great leaders were not welcome in this country, they had to turn to the world, and left a series of heritage items there. A donor gave [Sol Plaatje’s papers] to us, with the intention that they would one day be returned to South Africa.
“Bringing these papers back to South Africa now – as a South African citizen, as Vice-Chancellor of SOAS and former Vice-Chancellor of Wits, is particularly special."
SOAS Digital Library will continue to host the digitised items from Plaatje’s papers, which can be used by staff, students and visitors to the SOAS Library.
