Kenya historical photographs collection.

Collection

Identifier: MSS 638

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Oblong quarto with ten green stiff card stock leaves. 117 original gelatin silver photographs. Photographs were likely taken by a British member of the King's African Rifles and are images taken on a trip from Nairobi to the south-west of Kenya. Within the images are twelve of Nairobi at the street view, including an image of the Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi memorial monument. There are several photographs of Kariokor, Kenya's first horse tracks. There are photographs of Nakaru, Nyeri, Londiani, Kitale, Lubwa, Eldoret, Toga, Thika, and Nanyuki. Images include that of askaris, or local soliders recruited by the colonial administration, as well as hunting, trips, the railway station at Londani, the main street of Kisumu, and native peoples.

Dates

Creation: 1939

Biographical / Historical

In 1939, Kenya was under the colonial administration of Great Britain and Nairobi had a large white settler population (appx. 30,000). Photos in this album include images of this Nairobi, including horse racing at Kariokor, which was Kenya's first horse track, and of the Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi memorial monument, erected to honor the man who pioneered automobile races across Kenya and East Africa.

During the Second World War, a large number of Kenyan soldiers were recruited for the British Army in Africa. During the War, almost 100,00 Kenyans were recruited as askaris into the King's African Rifles.

Extent

117 Photographic Prints (1 box) : Oblong quarto with ten green stiff card stock leaves. 117 original gelatin silver photographs including two larger ones - all are mounted with red corners. Most are captioned in ink on beige paper labels pasted on mounts. Period patterned full soft sheep album, with a pictorial front cover color-embossed with an image of the Egyptian pyramids, bound with leather string and leather stitching on the cover's edges. ; Oblong quarto 21 x 28.5 cm. Most photographs are 6 x 8.5 cm with two at 7.5cm x 10.