A catalogue of the material deposited by the Ruth First Memorial ...

Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London vi
SELECTED ITEMS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST
117/1/1/3 File of tributes to First describing her life and work.
117/1/2/2 The banning order which was placed on First in Jan 1963, signed by John
Vorster as Minister of Justice in Jan 1963, and a list of the objects found
in her house during the raid in Aug 1963.
117/1/3/1 Correspondence between First and Joe Slovo, spanning the time of
Slovo’s detention in March 1960 through to 1978.
117/1/3/7 Correspondence between First and Bram Fischer during Fischer’s time in
prison, censored and with a restriction placed on the number of words.
117/1/4/1/1-4 Scrapbooks of cuttings taken from the Guardian, the mouthpiece of the
South African Communist Party (1946-1950). Compiled by First during
her period as Johannesburg editor.
117/1/6/1/2 Includes a handwritten autobiographical sketch by Govan Mbeki and a
printed copy of a statement made by Thabo Mbeki in 1964.
117/1/6/2/1-2 Includes draft sections of No Easy Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela,
which First edited, and letters between First and President Ahmed Ben
Bella of Algeria, in French.
117/1/6/3/1 Photographs of Oginga Odinga and Jomo Kenyatta taken around the time
of Kenyan independence.
117/1/6/3/5 Includes correspondence between First and Oginga Odinga relating to
Odinga’s autobiography, which was edited by First.
117/1/7/2/3 Draft versions of 117 Days, First’s account of her period of solitary
confinement under the 90-Day Law.
117/1/7/6 Papers relating to First’s book on Olive Schreiner, which she co-authored
with Ann Scott.
117/1/7/7/1 Photographs taken in Mozambique during research for Black Gold.
and 117/3/16/1
117/1/10/1/4 Scripts for Ninety Days, the BBC programme based on 117 Days, in
which First acted as herself.
117/1/17/2 Papers collected by First relating to her membership of the ANC,
including confidential reports and discussion documents. Also includes
correspondence between First and Oliver Tambo.
Archives and Special Collections – Ruth First Papers