Sixty Years of African Studies at IU

Exhibit Overview

Beginning in 1961 with a Ford Foundation grant, Indiana University’s African Studies Program has been one of the most influential of its kind in the country. The program has been one of the principal ways the university has engaged with the rest of the world since the middle of the last century, and supports teaching and research across various disciplines. Using documents and photographs from the Indiana University Archives, the aim of the exhibit is to provide a broader understanding of when and how IU came to be the unlikely site of one of the pre-eminent centers for the study of Africa in the United States.

HIghlights of the Exhibition

  • IU’s 1965 contract with the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare to create an African Language and Area Center, signed by Herman B Wells
  • Images of early IU African Studies faculty including George Herzog, George Brooks, Gus Liebenow and Alan Merriam
  • Letters of interest in new African Studies teaching positions
  • Correspondence around U.S. Department of Defense offers of funding support
  • Invitation to help plan the African Studies Association (ASA)
  • Patrick O'Meara's 1982 Christian Science Monitor commentary
  • African Studies discipline enrollment rosters
  • ASP Directors’ annual reports