Archives I Presume?

Photo of five African railway workers and a European supervisor
Traces of the colonial past preserved in the State Archives of Belgium

Teacher looking for archival sources on the colonial pasts of Belgium, Burundi, DR Congo and Rwanda?

The Belgian State Archives preserve the largest collection of records on Belgium’s colonial past – over 10 kilometers of documents!

The virtual exhibition Archives I Presume? offers a curated selection from this vast collection. Dozens of letters, photographs, maps, plans, government publications, and statistics bring the Congo Free State (1885-1908), the Belgian “model colony” Congo (1908-1960), and the Ruanda-Urundi administration (1919-1962) vividly to life. Through subthemes, teachers can quickly and easily find ready-to-use sources for their lessons.

Place & period
Congo Free State (1885-1908)
Belgian Congo (1908-1960)
Ruanda-Urundi (1919-1962)
Theme
Governance
Economy
Violence
Racism
Religion
Resistance
Type
Historical sources
Database
Expo
Year
2010
Language
Dutch
French
English
Target audience
2nd stage secondary
3rd stage secondary
Duration
N/A