George M. Houser collection

Overview

Scope and Contents

Biographical Note

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

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Title: George M. Houser collection, 1954-1999

Creator: Houser, George M.

Extent: 2.8 Linear Feet

Arrangement: The Super 8mm films were arranged in general chronological order with the numbers in brackets having been assigned by George M. Houser. The slides are arranged geographically by country.

Date Acquired: 05/16/2002

Languages: English

The George M. Houser collection consists of 1634 slides and approximately nine hours of film taken by Houser during trips to various African countries due to his association with the American Committee on Africa. The trips spanned a period of time from 1954 to 1999. Some of the notable events and personages included in the collection are: the first election of an independent Ghana (1954); three All African Peoples Conferences in Ghana (1958), Tunis (1960), and Cairo (1961); the founding of the Organization of African Unity (1963); Self-Government Day in Kenya with pictures of Jomo Kenyatta (1963); a hiking trip in Angola during the war against Portugal (1962); independence celebrations in Malawi and Zambia (1964); Houser's flight into Namibia in keeping with a United Nations resolution, but without a South African visa (1957); two weeks in the Sahara desert with the liberation group Polisario (1979); the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the African Party for Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde; the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the struggle for Algerian independence; elections before independence in Zimbabwe after the civil war (1980); and the elections and independence in Namibia (1989-1990).

The collection provides a capsule view of Africa during and following independence movements across the continent. Houser's close association with many African leaders is seen in images and footage of Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe, Tom Mboya, Patrice Lumumba, Albert Luthuli, Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Haile Selassie. Organizations include: National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), Mouvement Populaire Rassemblement (MPR), Uniao das Populacoes de Angola (UPA), African National Congress (ANC), United National Independence Party (UNIP), Organization of African Unity (OAU), Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), African Party for Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique (FRELIMO), Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), Zimbabwe Democratic Party (ZDP), and South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO).

George M. Houser is a Methodist minister, whose pacifist beliefs were coupled with decades of work as a civil rights activist and supporter of various African independence movements. Houser was a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and a co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality and the American Committee on Africa.

George M. Houser was born in 1916 to parents who were Methodist missionaries. He studied at the Chicago Theological Seminary, during which time he became a pacifist. He, himself, was ordained as a Methodist minister following college. Houser joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the War Resisters League during the 1940s and was arrested for resisting the draft.

In 1942, Houser founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), along with James Farmer, Bayard Rustin, and other members of FOR. Utilizing tactics of non-violent resistance, CORE participated in numerous civil rights protests and sit-ins. The organization announced plans in early 1947 to send a group of African American and White men into the South to test interstate travel segregation laws. The Journey of Reconciliation, which included Houser, began in April of that year; the group faced physical assaults and arrests several times during the trip.

In the early 1950s, Houser turned his attention away from FOR and CORE and began focusing his interests on the struggle against colonialism in Africa. In 1952, Houser, along with Reverend Donald Harrington of the Community Church of New York and Reverend Charles Y. Trigg of Salem Methodist Church in Harlem, established Americans for South African Resistance (AFSAR), which supported the African National Congress's Defiance Campaign Against Unjust Laws in South Africa.  The organization later evolved into the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), which broadened its activities to support anti-colonial and nationalist efforts throughout the African continent. Houser served as Executive Director of ACOA from 1955-1981 and of its sister organization The Africa Fund from 1966-1981.

Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions: Copyright to these papers has not been assigned to the Amistad Research Center. It is the responsibility of an author to secure permission for publication from the holder of the copyright to any material contained in this collection.

Technical Access Note: The Super 8mm films in this collection have been transferred to DVCAM tapes and VHS tapes. Researchers are required to view the VHS tapes. The slides have been filmed and transferred to VHS tapes. Researchers are allowed to view the VHS tapes and original slides.

Acquisition Source: George Houser

Acquisition Method: Gift

Appraisal Information: The George Houser collection consists of 1634 slides and approximately nine hours of film taking by Houser during various trips to various African countries, spanning a period of time from 1954 to 1999. The collection provides a capsule view of Africa during and following independence movements across the continent. Houser's close association with many African leaders is seen in the images and footage.

Related Materials: The Amistad Research Center also holds the records of the American Committee on Africa and The African Fund. In addition, the Center's library holds a number of Africana-related books and serials.

Preferred Citation: George Houser Collection, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

Processing Information: The collection was processed by Laura Beechen in March 2003.

Other Note: Typescript guides for this collection were prepared by George Houser and are attached to this finding aid as PDF files.

Other URL: http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/pdfs/Archon/Guide to George Houser Collection.pdf