Records of the Scottish Council for African Questions

The unsorted records of the Scottish Council for African Questions includes, in MS 2495, typescript and manuscript documents on Central Africa, copies of theNewsletter. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and newspapers and newspaper clippings. In MS 2496 there is a selection of journals, government reports, parliamentary debates, and colonial reports, for exampleNorthern Rhodesia1951,Nyasaland1957,Northern Rhodesia. Proposals for constitutional changeCmnd 530. 1958, andReport of the Nyasaland commission of enquiryCmnd 814. 1959. In MS 2497 there are bundles of correspondence, newspaper cuttings, typescript and manuscript documents on southern Africa, Rhodesia, and other parts of Africa.

The Scottish Council for African Questions was founded in 1952 at a time when many countries administered by Britain were achieving independence. The Council was a secular body and was not affiliated to any political party. Anyone resident in Scotland or with a Scottish connection was entitled to become a member. The aims of the Council were to strengthen and further the best traditions of Britain's policy in relation to Africa, to promote in Scotland a fuller understanding of the aspirations of the people of Africa, and to promote in Britain policies ensuring the economic and social development and the equitable political rights of all communities in Africa. Honorary Presidents of the Council have been Sir John Boyd-Orr (1880-1971), Nobel Peace Laureate, and Sir Jo Grimond (1913-1993). The Scottish Council for African Questions was wound up on 6 November 1976.

Generally open but some material requires a data protection form to be signed before access can be give.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.