Using the White Fathers Archive: An Update

Abstract

Nearly a decade has passed since Carol Dickerman wrote about the high points and practical considerations of working in this most important archival collection. With some recent changes at the Archives and the mere passage of time, an update is warranted.In August 1991 the longtime archivist, Father René Lamey, stepped down after decades of dedicated stewardship over a vast and growing collection of materials generated by the White Fathers since their founding in 1868. His encyclopedic knowledge and willing assistance to scholars will be missed by those who know him. Yet he has been replaced by Father Francois Renault, a scholar and archivist who knows the collection extremely well. Father Renault is more than familiar with the methods of African social scientists. He took a Doctorat d'Etat in history from the Sorbonne in 1971 and has spent some 12 years teaching at the Université d'Abidjan. He has published five books with foci on the Arab slave trade and is working on a sixth, which is to be a biography of the Order's founder, Cardinal Lavigerie. The fact that Father Renault is himself a productive scholar makes the task of explaining research strategies that much easier.