AODL is an open access digital library of African cultural heritage materials created by Michigan State University in collaboration with museums, archives, scholars, and communities around the world.
Collections of AODL
African Oral Narratives
7 collections of oral and life histories, folklore, and songs from Ethiopia, Ghana and South Africa. These audio and video resources capture the voices and experiences of ordinary men and women. In more than a half a dozen African languages, these materials can be used for conducting historical research and to learn about many African cultures and languages.
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'Forgotten' Voices in the Present: alternative, post-1994 oral histories from South Africa
18 photographs and 55 oral interviews with residents in three poor communities in South Africa, exploring experiences of the South African transition, and the realities of life for the oppressed and marginalized majority in post-1994 South Africa.
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Saint-Louis: Religious Pluralism in the Heart of Senegal
Handwritten texts, images and audio interviews dealing with the interactions of Saint Louis's French Catholic communities, Muslim majority, the French administration, and Freemasons in the late 19th and 20th centuries
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South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy
A multimedia online curriculum resource that includes 45 video interviews with first-hand accounts of this important political movement
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Archive of Malian Photography
Archive of Malian Photography provides access to preserved & digitized collections of six important photographers in Mali.
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Slave Biographies
Slave Biographies: The Atlantic Database Network is an open access data repository of information on the identities of enslaved people in the Atlantic World. It includes the names, ethnicities, skills, occupations, and illnesses of individual slaves.
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African e-Journals Project
Full-text articles of back issues of 11 humanities and social science journals published in Africa plus a database of journals published in and about Africa
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The Kropp Dakubu Collection of Farefari Discourse
Interviews in the Farefari language of northern Ghana, with English translations, on chieftaincy, migration and dispute resolution. There are also several samples of oral art in the language.
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Diversity and Tolerance in the Islam of West Africa
Archival and research materials that explore Islamic practices in the West African countries of Senegal and Ghana. Presented in six galleries of audio and video interviews, transcripts, photographs, maps, documents, and multimedia presentations, these resources shed much-needed light on how Muslims in West Africa accept religious difference and create productive interactions among Christians, Muslims, and practitioners of other faiths.
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Pauline H. Baker Collection: South Africa Forum 1986-1994
A unique record of over 90 original presentations by prominent South Africans and influential international leaders, from the time the apartheid government imposed a state of emergency through the critical transition leading to the first democratic election based on majority rule.
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Public Face of Islam in Kumasi
Video footage, interviews, and slideshows of public events and street life in Kumasi's Muslim neighborhoods feature annual festivals, family celebrations, schools, and work life. Materials in this gallery show a wide variety of acceptable dress styles and occupations for men, women, and children.
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African Activist Archive Project
Digital archive of documents, photographs, posters, interviews, and video footage of the U.S. movement in solidarity with the anti-apartheid and liberation struggles in Southern Africa from the 1950s to the 1990s
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Community Video Education Trust
More than 90 hours of video documenting political activities during the 1980s and 1990s in South Africa, mostly in Cape Town
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West African Online Digital Library
Galleries of photographs, audio interviews, and documents contributed by scholars, with research about best practices for international, multilingual digital repositories
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Transformations in Islamic Education in Ghana
Images, audio interviews, and transcripts explore both contemporary and historical Muslim responses to secular education in Ghana.
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Contemporary Dynamics of the Buh Kunta Qadiri Community
This collection features the vibrant branch of the Qadiriyya founded by Cheikh Bou Kounta in Ndiassane, Senegal. Interviews, photos, videos of public events, and news articles document aspects of the order’s history; continuity and change; the engagement of Qadiri youth; and aspirations for education and development.
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Mara Cultural Heritage Digital Library
A collection of primary resources from the Mara Region, Tanzania, including over 360 interviews - many with translations, 1,230 photographs, 13 videos of cultural performances or events, maps, and documents.
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American Black Journal: Africa and African-Americans
Shows from this decades long program on Detroit Public Television that focus on Africa and commentary by African-Americans
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Farmers' Voices in Ethiopian Agriculture
7 oral interviews primarily in Amharic and over 60 photographs explore the landscape, agriculture, and the livelihood practices of small-scale farmers in Ethiopia's Lake Region during the contemporary period.
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Pluralism and Adaptation in the Islamic Practice of Senegal and Ghana
Four multimedia galleries that demonstrate how innovative Africans have been in the history of Islam and Islamic practice and how they continue to live and experience Islam. Through maps, images, multi-lingual audio, video, and textual materials, these galleries shed light on ways diverse Muslim communities in West Africa cooperate with one another and with followers of other faith and indigenous traditions.
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Northern Factors in Asante History
Audio interviews, transcripts, photographs, and 4 brief essays explicate the northern factor in Asante history and the importance of Islam and trade on this history.
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Exploring Africa
A curriculum divided into Units, Modules, and Learning Activities for middle school and high school. Each Unit covers a major topic or theme in the study of Africa
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South African Film and Video Project
Project to preserve and make accessible moving images from the years of struggle against apartheid in collaboration with African partners
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Everyday Islam in Kumasi
A growing collection of video interviews with Muslim men and women who live and work in Kumasi, Ghana
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Military Intelligence in Apartheid-Era South Africa
20 audio interviews, transcripts, and translations of individuals involved in military intelligence operations in South Africa during the apartheid era. Collection includes related photographs by South African news photographer Doug Lee.
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Discourses of Muslim Scholars in Colonial Ghana
13 poems of al-ḥājj 'Umar ibn Abī Bakri of Kete-Krachi, the leading Muslim scholar of his era. It includes annotated English translations of Arabic and Hausa documents written during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It reveals one Muslim's views about the era and offers assessments and advice that are relevant to Muslims in Ghana today. Al-ḥājj 'Umar's poems, written for recitation, are very sophisticated examples of classical Arabic literature.
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Failed Islamic States in Senegambia
In the 18th and 19th centuries, several determined reformers sought to extend the breadth and depth of Islamic practice in Senegambia and neighboring areas by using the 'jihad of the sword.' In each case their military efforts failed in the medium and long term, and sometimes more quickly, and did little to extend the faith. Their failure led Senegambian Muslims to think more of Sufi forms and practices of the faith, in which the political domain was much less important than the religious, social and economic realms, and to accept various forms of accommodation with the new political authorities, in this case the administrators of French West Africa.
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Life Stories of Women Traders From Kumasi Central Market
50 interviews in Twi focused on women traders in from Kumasi Central Market in Ghana.
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African Media Program
A searchable database of films and videos about Africa. Some records contain reviews and synopses
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Ajami in the Senegambia
Over 20 handwritten ajami manuscripts produced by West African scholars. The texts (Arabic scripts of African languages) contain insightful discussions on mutual understanding between people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds in Senegambia
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Qadiri Community of Buh Kunta
Interviews, photos, documents and newspaper articles focusing on the Buh Kunta branch of the Qadiriya sufi order. Short essays in English and French outline the history and contemporary dynamics of this religious community.
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Banjul Muslims and the Islamic Court
11 court cases created by the Bathurst (Banjul) Muslim court between 1927 and 1954.
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Collaboration, Modernity and Colonial Rule: Sidiyya Baba and Mauritania
20 images, 6 documents, 4 maps, and 9 essays tell the story of Sidiyya Baba in French Mauritania at the turn of the 20th century
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Islam and Modernity: Alternatives in Contemporary Senegambia & Ghana
5 galleries showing West Africans as resourceful, original and "modern" practitioners of Islam. Materials are important examples for teachers and students of world history, emphasizing Senegambia, a Muslim majority area set in the Sahel, and Ghana, a Muslim minority country set in the forest region
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Africa Past and Present
Podcast about history, culture, and politics in Africa and the diaspora. Highlights interesting and significant people, ideas, and discussions in African Studies; over 130 episodes and counting
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