The archives of the women movement in Sudan

The project ” The archives of the women movement in Sudan, 1940-2010 (Modern Endangered Archives Program-UCLA)”  is coordinated by Mahassin Abd al-Galil (PhD candidate in History, EHESS Paris; Associated Professor in History, University of Bahri) and Elena Vezzadini (Research Fellow IMAF, CNRS) in collaboration with Luisa Arango, Head Coordinator of the CEDEJ-Khartoum. This project is co-sponsored by the CEDEJ-Khartoum.

The researchers taking part in the project are: Safa Kheir Osman (History, Political sciences, Bahri University), Eiman Othman, (History, Bahri University).

The aim of this survey project is to preserve the history of feminine and feminist movements that developed from the 1940s in the capital and in three of the major urban centers of the current Republic of Sudan, known as being historical hubs of political activism (El Obeid , Wad Medani, Atbara), by working to create an archive of the women movement. 

Starting from the reflection that the lack of accessible archives on the women movements has contributed to the invisibility of women in the historiography of the country, in spite of their continuous presence in the political and militant social life, in this survey project two researchers will seek to find and give a preliminary descriptions of possible archives left either by women’s associations, or by women activists and/or their families. We consider that this material is in great danger of being destroyed, because many factors undermine its survival, going from climatic conditions, to political volatility, to personal life events like the passing away of the first generation of women activists. Such preliminary description will include information such as the history of the collection, the material type and main contents, its sub-collections, the conservation status, its copyright issues and overall size. As an outcome of this project, we hope to have collected a number of relevant pieces of information about different private and associational archives, in order to apply for a larger funding scheme to organize the digitization of this endangered material.

This survey program is being carried thanks to the generous grant of the Modern Endangered Archives Programs , connected to the UCLA Library and the Arcadia Foundation . 

For any enquiry, please contact in English, Arabic or French: 
Elena.vezzadini@cnrs.fr or  mahasinyousif@hotmail.com

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