Scope and Contents
The collection consists of approximately 250 postcards made from photographs taken by Casimir Zagourski in Africa between 1924 and 1941, which formed a part of his overall project, L'Afrique Qui Disparait
(Disappearing Africa). The photos are set in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (formally known as Belgian Congo), Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Congo Brazzaville. The postcards depict a variety of aspects of everyday life in these different settings, including housing styles and traditional grave sites of the Belgian Congo, Bakumu dancers, and Bongelima dignitaries. He also highlighted the beautification marks of the Gombe, the Bwaka, the Banza, and the Bapende of the Belgian Congo. Zagourski also focused on women at work, depicting them carrying goods home from market, collecting firewood, taking care of children, and preparing meals. Digital facsimiles of postcards in this collection, accompanied by more detailed descriptions, are available in the Manuscripts and Archives Digital Image Database (MADID) from the Manuscripts and Archives web site.
Dates
- 1924-1941
Creator
Language of Materials
Captions on verso of postcards are in French and English.
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Transferred from the African Collection Curator, 2002, 2004, and 2013. Transferred from the African Postcard Collection (MS 1575), 2003 and 2007.
Extent
0.5 Linear Feet
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection consists of approximately 250 postcards made from photographs taken by Casimir Zagourski in Africa between 1924 and 1941, which formed a part of his overall project, "L'Afrique Qui Disparait" (Disappearing Africa). The photos are set in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (formally known as Belgian Congo), Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Chad, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Congo Brazzaville. The postcards depict a variety of aspects of everyday life in these different settings, including housing styles and traditional grave sites of the Belgian Congo, Bakumu dancers, and Bongelima dignitaries. He also highlighted the beautification marks of the Gombe, the Bwaka, the Banza, and the Bapende of the Belgian Congo. Zagourski also focused on women at work, depicting them carrying goods home from market, collecting firewood, taking care of children, and preparing meals. Digital facsimiles of postcards in this collection, accompanied by more detailed descriptions, are available in the Manuscripts and Archives Digital Image Database (MADID) from the Manuscripts and Archives web site.
Biographical / Historical
Casimir Zagourski was born in Poland in 1880. After a military career in the Russian air force and the Polish army, he left Eastern Europe and moved to Africa in 1924. He settled in Leopoldville, which is now Kinshasa, Congo, where he began his career as a photographer. During the next seventeen years, until his death in 1941, Zagourski traveled around Central Africa photographing its people, places, and local traditions. At the same time, he established and maintained a store in Leopoldville to sell these images as postcards and large prints. He also exhibited his work at the Paris World's Fair in 1937.
- Title
- Guide to the Casimir Zagourski African Postcards
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Larissa Leclair
- Date
- June 2002
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511