Instead of a proper post, here are some things I took photos of when I was in the archives in Accra.
Court Records
This is basically my PhD - a vast tome of misbehaving children. Some dastardly colonialist decided not to spring for a new book so it’s stuffed full of extra papers - I had many “it came apart in my hands, guv” moments while working with it. After taking photos of every single page, I set fire to it so that no one else can research my topic.
Olde Worlde Maps
After WWII the colonial government decided that wartime trauma could best be assuaged by building children’s playgrounds. This led to an outbreak of NIMBYism on an epic scale. I particularly like this map that shows a proposed children’s playground in between the HQ of the United Africa Company (Unilever), a prison and the palace of the Ga chief. Guess whether it got built or not?
These two maps are of the playgrounds themselves. They were on weird wax paper and had mostly disappeared, but they look quite cool anyway.
Currency
A cheque with an elephant on it from the Bank of British West Africa:
I don’t understand why this receipt/invoice has a stamp stuck on it:
Jack Sharpe, Scout Outfitter:
Full size photos are on my flickr page.