For East and Southeast Asian Heritage Month, Curator Daniel Payne takes a look at some of LSE Library’s archives and special collections that speak on this theme.
The archives and special collections at LSE Library were donated by people and organisations predominantly based in the UK. They document the activities of those who have fought for change; be it activists such as the women peace camps at Greenham Common, pressure groups such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, or political parties. Because of this UK focus, one wouldn’t expect to find much in the archives in relation to East and Southeast Asian history, but on the contrary, there is a lot! As I began to search the archives for East and Southeast Asian Heritage month, I found that documents are often speaking about these communities, rather than from them, because of the collections in which these stories sit. It’s an important reminder when thinking about any archive – it’s not just about what the document says, but the hidden history of how it got to you when you started reading it. Who collected it, and why? This should influence how we interpret and understand what we are looking at. Below I’ve shared a few items that I found along with the collections they were a part of. There are many more to be discovered.
Pictured on the left are various issues of Gaya Nusantara, an Indonesian magazine originally published by the Lesbian and Nusantara Style Working Group in 1987. On the right are copies of Gaya Hidup Ceria; the first gay and lesbian magazine in Indonesia, published by Lambda Indonesia in Suarakarta (see the Queer Indonesia Archive for more information on both these magazines). Our copies were gathered as part of the Hall-Carpenter archive, which seeks to document LGBT history, named after Marguerite Radclyffe Hall and Edward Carpenter, and housed at LSE Library, Bishopsgate Library, and the British Library.
I then had a look at the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), a British organisation founded in 1958 advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide. I found this large letter with various messages written in Japanese. An enclosed letter explains the document was produced by school children in Tokushima in 1999 who wanted to spread awareness globally about the effects of the atomic bomb. Some of the comments include: “Nothing is sadder than war”, and “My grandfather died of atomic bomb in Nagasaki. There are so many people now suffering from the aftermath in Nagasaki and Hiroshima after 54 years. To the peaceful world, no atomic bomb!” A joint letter from the children reads:
‘Dear Everybody around the world. How do you do, everybody? Pleased to meet you….We thought of “peace” in the summer school this year and discussed about what we can do. We decided to send abroad a set of photographs about the tragedy ….Please continue to do your action to abolish nuclear weapons. With every good wish.’
– From members of the Sunflower school of Tokushima city, Japan
Next up is a collection of photographs and newspaper clippings from Walter Raeburn’s visit to Brunei in 1957. Raeburn was a lawyer and founding member of the Society of Labour Lawyers, whose papers were donated to the Library. He worked as Legal Adviser to the Parti Rakyat Brunei (Brunei People’s Party). A banned political party, it was established in 1956 aiming to bring Brunei into independence from British colonial rule, leading to the 1962 Brunei Revolt. The revolt failed, leading to the party’s ban and suppression by British forces. Raeburn took photographs of the places he visited and the people he met and glued them into this visual diary, along with newspaper clippings and other material.
Edith How-Martyn was a University of London graduate, British suffragist and member of the Women’s Social and Political Union. She also campaigned for information about birth control and was honorary director of the Birth Control International Information Centre in London, 1930. As part of this work she embarked on international tours to spread information about Birth Control, and her papers include travel diaries and correspondence from her visits across Asia including Myanmar (then Burma), China, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Pictured above is a map, a guide to Hong Kong, an invite to one of her talks, and a list of contacts in China.
There are also distressing finds in the archives; stories of violence and war. The above file labelled “Agent Orange” refers to the dangerous chemical herbicide the US used during the Vietnam War, causing life threatening health complications. This file contains materials relating to overseas aid in support of children affected by the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. It comes from the Records of the National Housewives Association, founded in 1972 “to allow the ordinary housewife a chance to put her views forwarded on any subject in which she has a legitimate interest”.
The Records of the International Alliance of Women contain photographs of work projects in Indonesia. On the back of the photograph it reads: “In former days only men could become architects. Today many women architects are at work”. There’s no information identifying who the women is in the photograph. Can you help?
Pictured in the middle and right is Leticia Ramos-Shahini; a Senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1998 who worked to advance women’s causes at home and around the world .These photographs come from the Women’s Library, the oldest and largest library in Britain devoted to the history of women’s campaigning and activism.
Pictured on the left is Helena Zoila Tirona Benitez, an academic and administrator of the Philippine Women’s University. She also founded the Bayanihan Dance Company which performed on Broadway and evidenced Philippine culture (and thank you to archivist Emma Pizarro who explained the meaning of “Bayanihan”; a core tradition in Filipino culture relating to community cooperation and looking after one another, without expecting anything in return).
Interested in digging more into the archives?
The archives are open to all. Get in touch with the Library to find out more about accessing our archives and special collections.
