American Committee on Africa
The records of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) document its significant involvement in African liberation struggles in the twentieth century, including a wealth of rare materials illuminating key figures in African independence movements.
With a breadth of primary source material documenting US solidarity with liberation movements throughout Africa, the collection illuminates a wide range of intersecting themes, from social justice, civil rights, and decolonisation, to US anti-apartheid movements and Africa in the Cold War. Features such as biographies and a timeline will assist students in navigating and engaging with the resource, while the in-depth nature of the material will resonate with advanced researchers across a range of subject areas.
Based in New York, the ACOA’s mission was to support African liberation struggles and educate the American public about African affairs. The organisation played a key role in the campaigns against apartheid in South Africa, especially through economic sanctions and divestment, as well as promoting anti-colonial movements across the continent.
Highlights
- Correspondence, writings and speeches from numerous African political leaders including Kenneth Kaunda, Tom Mboya, Eduardo Mondlane, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo
- Rare publications, newsletters, and pamphlets from key African Independence movements, including Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, African National Congress, Zimbabwe African National Union, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, South-West Africa People’s Organisation, Tanganyika African National Union, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola and Polisario
- Collected materials related to activist campaigns against US corporations doing business with colonial regimes
- The George M Houser collection which includes over six hours of film taken by Houser during trips to various African countries through his association with the American Committee on Africa
- Interviews and music recordings primarily made by George Houser during his visits to Southern Africa
Included in
Modules include
| Module | Summary | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Liberation Movements, Solidarity and Activism |
Module I presents the first three decades of the ACOA’s work, tracing its evolution under George M. Houser’s leadership until his retirement in the early 1980s. It emphasises the organisation's commitment to inspiring grassroots activism through personal correspondence, flyers, and calls to action supporting African independence. The collection includes records of boycotts and divestment campaigns, like the Gulf Boycott Campaign and calls to withdraw funds from pro-apartheid banks, mobilising American citizens for global justice. |
1953-1981 |
| Anti-Apartheid Movements and Democracy (Publishing in 2025) |
Following on from module I, which explored ACOA’s role in supporting anti-colonial struggles in Africa, module II concentrates on the organisational campaigns and activities in support of anti-apartheid movements in South Africa from 1953-c.1994. It includes correspondence, reports, minutes, newspapers, and more. Key research themes include anti-apartheid campaigns, African Independence movements, US foreign relations, the Cold War, race relations, human rights, student activism, and congressional lobbying. |
1953-c.1994 |
Key data
Period covered
Source archive
- Amistad Research Center, New Orleans
- Activism
- African Independence movements
- Anti-apartheid campaigns
- Cold War politics
- Foreign policy
- Human rights
- Lobbying
- Race relations
- Audio
- Correspondence
- Ephemera
- Film
- Minutes
- Newspapers
- Pamphlets
- Periodicals
- Photographs
- Posters
- Reports
- Manna Duah, North Carolina Central University
- Amanda Joyce Hall, Northwestern University
- Richard Knight, African Activist Archive
- Zeb Larson, Independent
- Peter Limb, Michigan State University
- Elizabeth McMohan, Tulane University
- Aurora Almada e Santos, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
- Mélanie Torrent, Université de Picardie Jules Verne
- African Studies
- Communities, Peoples and Nations
- Ethnic and Indigenous Studies
- North American Studies
- Political History and Science
