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Endangered Archives Mission in Kinshasa, 9-14 December 2024

Personal files of Force Publique soldiers

The DIGICOLJUST-2 team and the archivists of INACO have joined forces for a mission aiming to catalogue and ensure the preservation of an important collection of 11.335 personal files of Force Publique soldiers held in the DR Congo National Archives. This pilot project has benefited from a funding from the British Library, via the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP). EAP finances the cataloguing and preservation of vulnerable collections of historical documents, and contributes to the valuation of precious sources which often carry marginalized, subaltern and silenced voices. The present mission was an immediate follow-up to the visit of an INACO delegation to the State Archives of Brussels a few weeks prior.

Picture of the INACO/DIGICOLJUST-2 teams in front of the INACO building, 13 December 2024

In the timespan of a short week, the INACO and DIGICOLJUST-2 teams have worked together to achieve three objectives. First, to obtain a complete overview of the sources at hand. Second, to start the process of cataloguing ten percent of this collection in the form of a systematic spreadsheet. And third, to guarantee the long-term conservation of this precious archival legacy by repackaging the collection in acid-free boxes.

With the help of head archivist Albert Kulinde, the team was able to effectively assess the scope of the collection, and to adjust its work plan accordingly. In order to efficiently proceed with the cataloguing, Congolese and Belgian partners teamed up to fill spreadsheets that contained the essential information pertaining to each individual dossier (name of the file, name of the soldier, service number, year of enrollment, and general remarks regarding the file’s content). We were only able to effectively pursue this task thanks to the prior existence of an excellent paper inventory of the collection assembled by INACO archivists. By the end of the week, around 3512 files were effectively  included in the new database, which amounts to more than 30% of the entire collection. This spreadsheet is being completed by INACO archivists, and will ensure a direct and efficient access to the collection to researchers, students and citizens.

Collaborative cataloguing

Furthermore, the EAP grant allowed us to purchase and ship to Kinshasa essential archival material. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the protective containers that we brought along only reached INACO on the next to last day of the mission. Once again, only the smooth and intensive collaboration of all the involved parties allowed for the repackaging of  hundred boxes – amounting to 26% of the archival series – in the span of a few hours.

26% of the collection has been repackaged in acid-free cardboard boxes

Although the mission only lasted for a week, it led to several promising outcomes, and opened the door to future synergies between Congolese and Belgian scientific institutions. First, it contributed to strengthening the bounds between INACO, the SAB, ULB and VUB. Second, it improved the access and preservation of an important archival collection, which will be crucial for future research on the Force Publique and its court-martials. Third, it allow for the exchange of skills and knowledge between all the parties involved. We look forward to further collaborating with INACO, both within and beyond the scope of DIGICOLJUST-2.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Benoît Henriet (January 14, 2025). Endangered Archives Mission in Kinshasa, 9-14 December 2024. DIGICOLJUST. Retrieved April 27, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/1332j


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