Skip to Main Content

Colonial states and African societies: Kenya

Resources for the study of African colonial history including Belgian, British, and French colonial history.

Kenya

Oxford Handbook of Kenyan Politics
Nic Cheeseman (ed.), Karuti Kanyinga (ed.), Gabrielle Lynch (ed.)
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/13490387


Kenya under colonial rule, in government reports, 1907-1964
East Ardsley, Wakefield, United Kingdom : Microform Academic Publishers, [2016-]

Contents are digitized annual reports of the colonial government.

Administration, 1924-1963
Finance, 1910-1964
Police and judicial, 1918-1963
Natural resources, 1907-1964
Social services, 1920-1964
Transport and public works, 1910-1964
Communications and post office savings, 1910-1963
Commerce, 1917-1963
Corporations and board, 1950-1964
Miscellaneous, 1907-1964
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/13948871

 
 
Kenya National Archives

Microfilm records are available from
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/catalog?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search_field=search&q=kenya+national+archives
and the
Center for Research Libraries
http://catalog.crl.edu/search/Y?SEARCH=kenya%20national%20archives&searchscope=1
The CRL microfilm is more complete for some sections than Hoover's copy.

 

Guides to the Microfilm

Syracuse University has put the guides online. https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/kenyanarch

Printed guide to the microfilm below.

A guide to the Kenya National Archives : to the microfilms of the provincial and district annual reports, record books, and handing-over reports, miscellaneous correspondence, and intelligence reports
by Robert G. Gregory, Robert M. Maxon, and Leon P. Spencer.
Syracuse, N.Y. : Program of Eastern African Studies, Syracuse University, 1968, c1969.
xvi, 452 p. ; 24 cm.
Series: Syracuse University Eastern African bibliographical series no. 3

If you use Hoover's microfilm,
you will need the Reel Guide in the back of the book.
Hoover copy
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/628250

Green Library copy of guide
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/2036118

 

 

Kenya National Archives Microfilm in Hoover Library

Annual reports, 1904-1963 [microform].
Nairobi : Kenya Government Photographic Service, 1965.
63 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1915743

 

Handing over reports, 1910-1963 [microform].
Nairobi : Kenya Government Photographic Service, 1965.
14 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1915735

 

Intelligence reports, 1921-1951 [microform].
Nairobi : Kenya Government Photographic Service, 1965.
12 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1915744

 

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1894-1961 [microform]
Nairobi : Kenya Government Photographic Service, 1965.
10 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1915745


Provincial and district record books, 1902-1958 [microform].
Nairobi : Kenya Government Photographic Service, 1965.
18 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1915734


Kenya Gazettes 1899-1919 online in
Colonial Law in Africa
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/13948866

 

Nairobi Libraries Archive - Book Bunk
Has issues of the Kenya Gazette online. Information dates from 1903 to 1961. Holdings of the McMillan Memorial Library, Nairobi. https://www.nrblibraries-archive.org/

 

Kenya. Colony and Protectorate
Library has: 23, 1921; 29-30, 1927-30; 35-47, 1933-45;
Library has: [50-59, 1948-57]
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/425782
 
 
Kenya National Assembly
1907-1937, 1937-1966
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/439226
 
 
Kenya Legislative Council
Title: [Dispatch to the legislative Council] /
Corp Author(s): Kenya. Governor, 1944-1952 (Sir Philip Euen Mitchell) . Year: 1947
Description: 4 pages ; 23 cm.
Note(s): Relating to the establishment of East African High Commission for the administration of the Common Services and changes in the Legislative Council.
Green Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/6209777
 
 
Kenya. National Assembly. House of Representatives
1963-1966
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/392123
 
 
Kenya National Assembly. Senate
1963, 1964, 1965, 1966. 
7 vols.
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/390366
 
 
Kenya.  National Assembly
No. 17, 1967
Hoover Library
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/390941
 
 
Kenya. National Assembly
2004, 2017-2018
Green Library SAL3
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12097451
 
 

LLMC Digital Library

Stanford has subscription access. Has various Legislative Council Debates, National Assembly Hansards, Laws, etc.
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8336445
 
 

Hilary Ng'weno Archive.  East African magazines, newspapers, & films : the Hilary Ng'weno Archive 

 [Washington, D.C.] : Coherent Digital. 
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/in00000129007
Contents:
The Weekly Review, 1975-1999 -- 
The Nairobi Times, 1977-1983 -- 
Rainbow children's magazine, 1976-1995 -- 
Making of a Nation documentaries and oral histories. Also called Kenyan Heritage Video Series.
Contents include films such as “50 Years of Independence,” “Mzee Kenyatta’s First Cabinet,” “The Constitutional Road to Independence,” and “Tom Mboya Student Airlifts.”

 

Syracuse University. Kenya National Archives Microfilm
Syracuse has a very large collection of archival documents on microfilm. https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/kenyanarch

  • some are also held by Stanford 
  • some are held by the Center for Research Libraries and can be borrowed by Stanford users
  • some are only held in the U.S. by Syracuse
  • Syracuse loans some items, but there are some they do not loan

  • One of the finding aids for Syracuse holdings is -

  • Microfilms relating to Eastern Africa : a guide to recent acquisitions of Syracuse University.  Part III (Kenya and Miscellaneous). By David L. Easterbrook, Alan Solomon, Thomas Taylor.  1975.  112 pages
  • [Syracuse, N.Y.] Program of Eastern African Studies, Syracuse University
  • Occasional bibliography (Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Program of Eastern African Studies. Bibliographic Section) ; no. 27.

This is one of the Syracuse University guides. It lists holdings at Syracuse of Kenya special collections (including of Kenyan South Asians) and newspapers.

 

University of Nairobi Research Archive
Has full text colonial era documents, books, theses and dissertations, reports, and more recent documents. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/
 

Museum of British Colonialism
Narratives of British colonial rule in Kenya. Interviews with Mau Mau veterans and survivors of the Emergency period in Kenya. Fieldwork videos relating events during the Mau Mau Emergency. Map of the detention camps. Documentary about the British destruction of records of their activities. Founded 2018. https://museumofbritishcolonialism.org/

 

Kenya Primary Sources from Adam Matthew Digital

[in chronological order]

Ethiopian frontiers of Somaliland and Kenya 1934 [2012]
CO 879/132
Department/Office: Colonial Office
Collection: Confidential Print: Africa
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2012.
1 online resource
15 p.
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12330072

 

Kenya military report 1939
WO 287/137
U.K. Confidential Print: Africa
Department/Office: War Office
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2012.
1 online resource
140 p.
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12329940
Mentions the railway, discusses whether the population is war ready.

 

Political relations: Kenya 1966
FO 371/187002
U.K. Foreign Office Files for China, 1957-1966
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2010.
1 online resource
12 p.
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12342455
Kenya - China relations during the Cold War. Mentions Jomo Kenyatta, Oginga Odinga, Hastings Banda.

 

Political affairs bilateral: Kenya 1967
FCO 21/74
U.K. Foreign Office Files for China, 1967-1980
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2010.
1 online resource
61 pages
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12343875
Mentions Patrice Lumumba, Mao Zedong, Daniel arap Moi.

 

Formosa (Taiwan): Relations with Kenya 1969
FCO 21/524
Department/Offic: Foreign Office
U.K.Foreign Office Files for China, 1967-1980
Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2010.
1 online resource
3 p
https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/12344110

  • Last Updated: Oct 10, 2024 4:35 PM
  • URL: https://guides.library.stanford.edu/colonialstates
  • Print Page