Onuma Ezera papers.

Collection

Identifier: MSS 240

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

In addition to a small amount of material relating to Onuma and Kalu Ezera, the Ezera collection includes documents on Nigeria and the Biafra War (1966-1968), and on the University of Nigeria at Nsukka which was established under the sponsorship of Michigan State University through its International Programs Advisory Group. The materials in the collection consist of pamphlets, news clippings, maps, speeches, photographs, postcards, newspapers and bulletins, unpublished papers, reports, and posters.

Dates

Creation: 1962 - 1994

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the authors of the items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. For photocopy and duplication requests, please contact the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries.

Biographical / Historical

Onuma Uko was born in the village of Ohafia Bende, Nigeria, and educated first at mission schools. She received her B.A. from Bennett College (Greensboro, North Carolina) in 1958. In 1958, she married Kalu Ezera, a political scientist with a 1957 Oxford D.Phil. and a prominent figure in Nigerian and Biafran politics. After teaching history at St. Anne's Secondary School (Ibadan) and serving as principal at the University of Nigeria Primary School, Onuma Ezera joined the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. as a librarian in charge of Readers' Services, Circulation and Reference. She enrolled in 1967 in the masters program in librarianship at the University of Washington, earning her MLS. Her return home was interrupted by the worsening of the Biafran War, and her four sons joined her in East Lansing where she took a "temporary" job at Michigan State University, the institution that had helped set up the University of Nigeria. The tragic disappearance of her husband at the end of the Biafran War prolonged her stay at MSU where she had a distinguished career.

Extent

8 Linear Feet (9 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collected by Onuma Ezera, MSU Librarian.

Varying Form of Title

Onuma Ezera papers.

Processing Information

These materials represent the papers of Onuma Ezera, Africana Bibliographer and Africana Librarian at Michigan State University, 1971-1997. It includes a collection of materials about the Biafran conflict and Eastern Nigeria, material on MSU's relationship with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and various other materials, including photographs, scrapbooks, posters, and newspapers. The original outline of its contents was prepared by Mary Mwiandi & Joseph Lauer in 2000-2001. The final collection was processed by Peter Limb and revised in 2019 by Jessica Martin.