Historian hopes photos survived fire
OMAR Badsha, a South African historian, hopes priceless artefacts that he stored at UCT’s library were saved from the fire.
More than 70 000 items were destroyed after a wildfire spread from the slopes of Table Mountain to UCT’s Jagger Reading Room. The room contained the African Studies Collection which dates back to 1953.
Some of the artefacts that were destroyed included pieces from the African Studies Published Print Collection and the entire African Studies Film Collection on DVD. Government publication documents, manuscripts and archives that were awaiting digitisation, as well as administrative records, were also burnt.
Badsha, who is also a documentary photographer and artist, said that in the 1980s he created a photography archive at UCT. This was where his photographs were stored. He said from what he knew, most of the material was digitised but he was uncertain if the prints and the negatives survived the fire.
“At the moment, I, as well as fellow photographers and artists, are concerned about the preservation of our contemporary archives. I remember putting this together 40 years ago. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it was not destroyed.”
Badsha also has historical collections stored at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the KZN provincial archives. He said the fire was a wake-up call for priceless documents to be digitised. But, he said, the lack of funding prevented this.
“This is where the government and the private sector need to play their part. The fire is just one tragic example of the slow erosion of archives. They need to come on board to assist in helping historians conserve significant pieces of history so that it is available for generations to come. We now have the technology to digitise everything. We have specialised facilities to make rooms that are fireproof to make sure archives are preserved,” he said.
Badsha said the lack of funding prevented him from digitalising his own archives and that of SA History Online, which he founded.
“I have hundreds of boxes filled with artefacts dating back to the 1900s, kept in a storeroom. Only a 10th of it is digitised due to the lack of funding.”
As part of his collection, Badsha has books written about and by Indians on the liberation Struggle. He also has a collection of literature including arts and culture journals, and political journals of the 1970s.
“I began collecting material with some of my colleagues on the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) and politics. We were given a collection by an NIC member just before the State of Emergency was announced in the country. He felt that the NIC items might be confiscated, so he put them into boxes and gave it to us. We catalogued some of it and handed it over to the Unisa library.”
Some of the material, he said, was also used at the 1860 Heritage Centre in Durban. He said before the fire at UCT, he and a colleague were uploading material at the university’s campus.
“It was a huge archive of newspaper cuttings of the 1970s.”
Badsha is working on a project with the Simon’s Town Museum, where he is speaking to people who settled there during the Group Areas Act.
“When we talk about archives, it is not just artefacts but memories of what people lived through in the past.”
Safeguarding UKZN archives
Thiru Munsamy, a senior librarian who oversees the Gandhi Luthuli Documentation
OMAR Badsha in a photography darkroom during his early days as a historian.
Centre at UKZN’s Special Collections, said the university had taken every precaution should a fire or flood take place. He said UKZN viewed digitisation as important and made sure documents were safeguarded.
“Our digitisation process includes identifying a collection and scanning it through scanners or an audio-visual store,” he said.
In addition, Munsamy said, fire sprinklers were installed.
“Most libraries have fire sprinklers but it all depends on the intensity of the fire. You could have a state-of-the-art system but if an inferno hits, very little will help.”
Munsamy said they recently had a C02 fire suppression system installed and were currently preparing a disaster prevention plan document.
“The best thing to do is to capture it in digital format and the safest place to keep it is on a server or a cloud which is what we are doing now,” he said.
UKZN’s special collections consist of four departments: the Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, the Killie Campbell
Africana Library, the Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archives, and the Centre for African Literary Studies.
“All the departments are unique. We basically have compositions of archives, including colonial documents, photographs, posters and artefacts.”
He said his department had fireproof shelving.
“We have a compact shelving (system) in case of a fire. It runs on a rail and once the shelves are locked, it becomes fireproof. It is not 100%, but it safeguards the material to a certain extent.”
Munsamy said he could not begin to imagine losing priceless artefacts in a fire, the way UCT did.
“We are busy digitising the Phyllis Naidoo collection, an estimated page count of 100 000 pages, with every piece of it so valuable.”
1860 Heritage Centre
Selvan Naidoo, the curator at the 1860 Heritage Centre, said they were in the process of cataloguing the collections of more than 10000 pieces.
He said the digitisation process was halted due to a lack of funds.
“The centre is under-resourced and it depends on public funding to purchase equipment for the documentation process. We have started to digitise our collections but we require new equipment for the purchase of up-to-date scanners and equipment to continue with the process. We have written proposals for funding in this area,” Naidoo said.
He said some documents had rare stamps and that a 158-year-old Kanjivaram sari, donated by a descendant of an indentured labourer, was one of the oldest artefacts in their possession.
“We also have rare items of jewellery, musical instruments and cooking utensils that are well over 100 years old. We have original bound copies of the Indian Opinion, a newspaper that was started by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa,” he said.
The centre also holds the full collection of the Leader newspaper.
“It is a precious reservoir of information and research of the Indian community in South Africa in the 20th century. We also house the precious SS Singh collection that is the most comprehensive collection on all matters from indenture to Indian involvement in the Struggle in South Africa,” he said.
Naidoo said the centre followed standard museum policy as stipulated by the Department of Arts and Culture in ensuring that documents and artefacts were safely stored and securely exhibited.
“We take great care in ensuring that our artefacts, rare documents and archival photography are stored carefully in acid-free folders to mitigate termite damage. The rare documents are handled with acid-free gloves and under strict control.
“The centre is in the process of building temperature-controlled storage and viewing booths for the public in the coming month. Part of this facility will ensure that the most rare items are stored in fireproof rooms,” Naidoo said.
He said in compliance with museum policy, the building and its contents were periodically treated to prevent insect infestation.
Nothing beats a book
Kiru Naidoo, a public servant, historian and author, said when a library burnt down, a chunk of civilisation disappeared in ashes.
“The UCT tragedy reduces one to tears. In the various archival projects I work on, we digitise as much as possible, both to protect and to share. Nothing beats an original book, document, or artefact. Even though I have donated most of my valuable material to universities and public collections over the years, I fear that my precious items at home are at great risk of fire or another calamity,” he said.
Naidoo recalled his collection of signed first editions by Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer.
“It is likely one of the few of its type anywhere in the world. It would break my heart if that were to be lost. The same for my collection of Indiana, documenting the history of indenture and the working class in South Africa,” Naidoo said.