Browse Primary Sources
Locate primary sources, including images, objects, media, and texts. Annotations by scholars contextualize sources.
"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.
“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!).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 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.
SOS Avenir Minguettes President Toumi Djaïdja in Lyon, France
Toumi Djaïdja (third from right) in Lyon, 1983. Source: Le Progrès photo archives.
Pittsburgh News Coverage of the Community Reinvestment Group
"PCRG challenges financial institution lending practices,” Pittsburgh, Dec. 22, 1993.
Pittsburgh Newspaper Article “Bank Gives Boost to Black Areas”
“Bank Gives Boost to Black Areas,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Pittsburgh, July 2, 1988.
Edward Waring on Borax as medicine in India
Waring published the book in several Indian languages and another publication Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia of India, written by Moodeen Sherriff, an Indian doctor working for the colonial administration, provided the translations and medical plant knowledge in 14 different languages.
Edward Waring on Assafœtida as medicine in India
Medical publications appealed to a medical and popular audience in the hopes of providing surgeons with tips on how to obtain similar drugs and medicine in local bazaars which could not be obtained elsewhere. Waring compiled local and indigenous medical knowledge and provided the Latin and local name of each medicine found in markets in southern India.
Veritable Records of the Chosŏn Dynasty
In the twenty-first century, we are used to post-Westphalian norms of inter-state equality and noninterference. These norms, however, did not apply to interstate relations between the Qing empire and its tributary states.