Documents in the archives date from the foundation
of the Society in 1868 and include many relating to and written by our
founder, Cardinal Lavigerie (d.1892). The archives house the official
publications of the Society and its Provinces with reports, correspondence
and other papers issued by the central administration. There are letters
and studies written by missionaries in Africa and a collection of the
diaries kept at mission stations from their foundation until about the
nineteen-sixties. The archives also house unpublished theses and monographs
composed by our confrères on a great variety of African topics.
They preserve books in African languages published at our printing presses
in Africa.
In addition, there is a collection of many thousands of photographs
in the Photothèque.
Adjoining the archives is a library of books concerning Africa...
Some items in the archives have been computerised and are available
on the internet:
see
explanations.
The work of making more documents available on the internet is continuing.
- The general inventory of the Archives
- The Chroniques Trimestrielles and Rapports Annuels 1879-1960.
- The conclusions of the various General Chapters from 1874 to 1998.
Direct access to the inventory is available. For the other two databases,
the researcher is asked for identification. An automatic response will
provide a password which enables the researcher to consult the documents.
On arrival the researcher is required to produce an
identity card from his or her academic institution, two passport photographs,
and to pay one euro for a reader's ticket. Permission may be requested
to photograph documents using the researcher's own digital camera. Permission
is not given to photocopy documents owing to the deleterious effect
of the heat involved in the process.
Opening hours
The archives and library are open
from Tuesday to Friday between the hours of 9 a.
m. and 12.30 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5.30 p m.
They are not normally open on other days.
The service is closed for a fortnight at Christmas and the New Year.
During the summer the archives and library are closed from mid-July
until mid-September.
.
The Library takes up the whole 2nd floor North side. The archives
take up the whole 2nd floor West Side
8 articles about
the Archives of the Missionaries
of Africa
Address: Missionari d'Africa
Via Aurelia 269
00165 Roma Italia
tel (39) 06 39 36 34 1
* * *