Browse Primary Sources

Locate primary sources, including images, objects, media, and texts. Annotations by scholars contextualize sources.

A page of the 1891 census, showing columns filled with handwritten names, ages, and other census information.

Census of England, 1891

The census of the United Kingdom was the tenth census and was taken on April 5, 1891.

A newspaper article titled big business banishes the flapper. On the left is a woman dressed as a flapper, and on the right is a woman dressed modestly in black.

“Big Business Banishes the Flapper"

The “flapper” craze overtook the western world in the early 1920s and was spearheaded by young women intent on bucking cultural norms of the time.

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Mandate for Palestine

The Mandate for Palestine was a legal document that established the United Kingdom as a Mandatory in charge of Palestine and Transjordan following its occupation of the territories during World War I and their eventual concession

A image of a kasai velvet textile, woven in a diamond pattern in cream and black

Kasai Velvet, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite its name, Kasai velvet, or velours du kasai, is not actually a velvet. Rather, it is embroidery on a finished piece of raffia cloth.

A woodblock print of Tomoe Gozen dressed in samurai armor, seated on a horse

Tomoe Gozen

Tomoe Gozen was a Japanese female samurai that lived during the late twelfth century, or late Heian period, in Japan. Tomoe Gozen was known for her skill in archery and swordcraft.

A detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting two horsemen in battle

The Bayeux Tapestry

Most likely commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, the Bayeux Tapestry depicts William the Conqueror’s conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings.

Thumbnail of a propaganda poster that features two Black men, one with his arm raised and the other resisting a baton wielded by a white gloved hand

"Resolutely support the just struggle of the American Blacks!" Propaganda Poster, 1963

The title of this Chinese propaganda poster is “Resolutely support the just struggle of the American Blacks!” (Jianjue zhichi Meiguo heirende zhengyi douzheng!). Dated September 1963, the poster was designed by Chinese artist Cao Youcheng and published by the Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House.

Thumbnail of a propaganda poster that features a black man dressed in robes holding up a gun against a backdrop of flames

“Drive the old and new colonialists out of Africa!” Propaganda Poster, 1964

This Chinese propaganda poster, dated August 1964, was designed by Chinese painters Wang Datong and Du Yongqiao and published by the People’s Fine Arts Publishing House in Beijing. The poster’s text reads “Drive the old and new colonialists out of Africa!” (Ba xin lao zhimin zhuyi zhe ganchu Feizhou qu!).

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Speech by U.S. Civil Rights Leader Robert Williams, 1966

American civil rights leader Robert Williams delivered this speech on August 8th,1966 at a demonstration in Beijing commemorating the third anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s “Statement Supporting the American Negroes in Their Just Struggle Against Racial Discrimination by U.S.

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Mao Tse-tung's Statement Regarding Racial Discrimination in the United States, 1963

Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Tse-tung delivered this speech on August 9th, 1963 prior to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In it, he expresses support for Black Americans’ struggles against racial discrimination and calls upon peoples of the world to unite against U.S. imperialism.

1844 Business contract between Richard P. Waters and his Omani-Zanzibari trading partner, Esau bin Abdul Rahman

Business contract between Richard P. Waters and his Omani-Zanzibari trading partner, Esau bin Abdul Rahman

This contract represents how business was typically transacted in Zanzibar and throughout the Omani Empire. It reflects how merchants throughout the region relied upon forging deals with each other, but it also serves as a lens through which we can peer to see how this space allows us to see just how tightly connected the world was becoming. This contract stipulated that Richard P.

First page of a letter from President Andrew Jackson to the Senate in 1834 on the expansion of US trade.

A letter from U.S. President Andrew Jackson to the Senate Dated Washington, May 30, 1834

A letter from President Andrew Jackson to the Senate where the President discusses the possibility of extending US trade. Jackson was particularly interested in the potential trade connections with areas around the Indian Ocean. 

Large spreadsheet documenting each foreign vessel that arrived in the port of Zanzibar which kept track of things such as the origin, size, and cargo of each visiting ship.

List of Foreign Arrivals in the Port of Zanzibar from the 16th September 1832 to 26th May 1835

This is an ostensibly mundane document that contains a tremendous amount of information for interpreting the global dynamics of this period of history, all while peering out into the world from the tiny island of Zanzibar.

Album cover shows people marching on the left. On the right is the shape of Ghana with the colors of the Ghana flag. Text below it reads "United We Build a Strong Nation".

Lord Kitchener, “Birth of Ghana,” 1957

On March 6, 1957, the Gold Coast Colony declared its independence from Britain and became Ghana, the first West African nation to break from European colonial rule. The calypso musician Lord Kitchener (birth name Aldwyn Roberts) recorded his song titled “Birth of Ghana” to celebrate independence.

Image of newspaper. Transcription in folder.

George Browne “Freedom for Ghana”

While living in London in the early 1950s, the Trinidadian calypsonian George Browne (whose stage name was Young Tiger) penned a calypso called “Freedom for Ghana” that caught the attention of George Padmore, the Trinidadian pan-Africanist intellectual and journalist, who wrote about it in the Ghanaian newspaper The Morning Telegraph (Sekondi) in this article from February 5, 1952.

Construction drawing of a social housing high-rise in La Duchère, 1960.

Construction drawing of a social housing high-rise in Duchère

This image shows the standardized framework of a social housing high-rise, dubbed une cité.  These manufactured housing units were constructed quickly in French suburbs to accommodate a rapidly growing population.  Between 1960 and 1980, more than nine million housing units were constructed throughout France.

Les Minguettes in Vénissieux, south of Lyon, 1969.

Social Housing development in France

In addition to La Duchère, other social housing developments in greater Lyon included Les Minguettes in Vénissieux, where 9,200 units for 35,000 residents were constructed between 1966 and 1973, and the 8,300-unit Mas du Taureau, built between 1970 and 1980 (in addition to La Grappinière, with a population of approximately 30,000) in Vaulx-en-Velin, east of Lyon.

Djida Tazdaït in Lyon, France, 1989.

Picture of civil rights activist, Djida Tazdaït

One of the realizations of the 1983 March for Equality and Against Racism was the election to the new European Parliament the Lyon-based civil rights activist, Djida Tazdaït (1957- ).  In 1989, she was elected as the first woman of North African descent to serve in that capacity until 1994.

Plans for La Duchère, in western Lyon, c. 1960.  Lyon Municipal Archives, Lyon, France.

Plans for Social Housing in France

Most of the new housing was constructed on cities’ fringes, or on adjacent farmland just outside the central city, by a quasi-public company known by its French initials SCIC (Société central immobilière de la Caisse des dépôts, or Central Real Estate Company of the Deposits and Consignments Fund).

The mayor of Lyon, France, Louis Pradel, drives a bulldozer to initiate construction of social housing in La Duchère, in the city’s western edge, 1958.

The mayor of Lyon, France drives a bulldozer to initiate construction of social housing

The headline reads, in English, “Aboard a bulldozer, Mr. Pradel officially opened the site of the future city.”  In October 1958, Lyon Mayor Louis Pradel was seen riding a bulldozer to break ground for a new social housing development called “La Duchère” in the city’s western-most ninth arrondissement.