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Front Matter Volume 2 No. 2, Editors Note

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This is yet another issue of the Zamani journal which takes on varied debates and discussions of historical importance through the contributions to the issue. As we embark on volume three of the new journal’s series, this volume carries six articles, varied in scope but interesting in terms of contribution and relevance to historical synthesis. As editors, we hope that the articles contained here will be of interest to a wider audience of not only historians but also of allied disciplines, practitioners and the general readership. As we publish this volume, we also note the advantage of expanding the scope …

Crises In The Nigerian Defence Sector In The Post-Civil War Period, Hussaini Jibrin

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

History has it that post-war period in any country in the world appeared to be with many challenges of re-planning the defence system. It involves the reconstruction of pre-war institutions that are destroyed during the war for onward growth and development. Contrary to this tradition, this article explores that, in 1970 while Nigerians were celebrating about the end of the Nigerian civil war, fresh crises emerged in the country’s defence sector. Thus, General Yakubu Gowon’s government redirected its focus on addressing the crises. The crises are numerous, however, this article dwells on four only. These are demobilization exercise in the …

Performance Of Buffer Zones In Tanzania: A Case Of Maswa Game Reserve, 1950s-2010s, James Benedict Kuboja

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

National parks as core protected areas are universally regarded as the most important wildlife conservancies as they are protecting pristine nature or untouched wilderness. For this reason, global conservationists, with the assistance of colonial governments, introduced buffer zones in a bid to protect important protected areas from poaching and habitat destruction. Despite the promulgation of these buffer zones from the 1950s, scholars have not exhaustively evaluated their effectiveness in the conservation of wildlife resources within core protected areas and wildlife ecosystems at large. Using the case of Maswa Game Reserve in the Serengeti Mara Ecosystem, this article argues that internal …

Historicising Nyerere’S Presidency In The Nyakyusa Mythical Narratives, Ignas Fedeo

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

Julius K Nyerere, the founding President of Tanzania, held office from 1962 to 1985. Much has been written about Nyerere's presidency, with the literature generally falling into two categories: strong advocacy for his decisions, actions, and ideas, and pointed criticism against him. Using narrative and new historicism theories, this article examines the recreation of the history of Nyerere’s presidency in local narratives, specifically Nyakyusa myths. The myths were collected using the oral history interviews from Kyela and Busokelo districts in Tanzania. The Nyakyusa believe that Nyerere was endowed with immense mystical powers, some of which embedded in his stick and …

Śaṅkha-Dvīpa And The Swahili Littoral: Reconstructing India–East Africa Contacts Before The Common Era, Narendra Vijayasimha

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article is the first focused attempt to explore India–East Africa relationships in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age, approximately two to three millennia before the Common Era (3000–300 BCE) from a puranic perspective. While extensive scholarship exists on medieval and later Indo–African exchanges, the pre-Common Era period has remained underexplored. Drawing on Purāṇic cosmographies, Greco-Roman geographical accounts, African archaeology, and Indian Ocean trade studies, this research reconstructs possible networks of contact facilitated by monsoon navigation and long-distance exchange. Methodologically, the article integrates textual exegesis, comparative cosmography, and archaeological correlation. The findings suggest that Indian conceptions of Śaṅkha-dvīpa reflect …

Labour Migrancy And Ethnic Stereotypes: Experiences From Mufindi Tea Plantation, Ca. 1920s To 2000s, Hezron R. Kangalawe

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

While tea plantations brought good fortunes to some parts of Southern Highlands in Tanzania such as Mufindi and Rungwe during the British mandate, its production sites became centres of ethnic contestations in relation to work discipline. The colonial and post-colonial enterprises labelled some ethnic groups as “reliable labourers” and others “unreliable”. This article, uses the tea plantations in Mufindi district, Iringa, to debate the labour question and ethnic identity in tea plantations between 1920s and 2000s. It argues that tea plantations were practical point of colonial stereotyping whose architects were anthropologists. Interviews in Mufindi tea plantations and factories, archival and …

Collaboration In The Spread Of Missionary Christianity In Africa: The Case Of The Apostolic Church Of Nigeria, Caleb Abiodun Adeleye, Oluwasegun Peter Aluko

Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies

This article explores the significance of collaboration in the spread of missionary Christianity in Africa through a historical study of The Apostolic Church of Nigeria (TACN). It examines how the partnership between British missionaries and Nigerian leaders produced a hybrid mission model that combined Western ecclesiastical structure with African spirituality. Drawing on historical records, church documents, and existing scholarship, the article adopts a narrative–analytical method to trace how figures such as Pastors George Perfect, Idris J Vaughan and DO Odubanjo negotiated issues of theology, finance and cultural identity. The study finds that collaboration initially fostered institutional growth and doctrinal development …

An Alignment Of Absences: The Medicalization Of Death And Its Implications On Archaeological Methodology, Makayla J. Bowman

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Absence describes something that is "expected, wanted, or looked for [but] is not present or does not exist," (Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2026). The archaeological discipline interacts with absence in many profound ways, largely in its study of the past dead. This paper focuses on the ways in which the medicalization of death has influenced, limited, and misaligned archaeological methodology, and how the result of those methodologies produces archaeological analysis that is absent of or misrepresents our understanding of life, personhood, and our position within a greater, interconnected biosphere. Thus, I present an anthropological critique of the ways in which death and …

What Bombs Cannot Occupy: Memory, Heritage, And War In Ukraine, Dalton D. Conden

The Penguin Review

Air-raid sirens have become part of the daily soundscape in Ukrainian cities. They interrupt meals, classes, conversations, and sleep. When they blare, people gather what they can and move quickly sometimes to shelters, sometimes to basements, sometimes nowhere at all. Families lock their doors without knowing whether they will ever turn the key again. Children carry backpacks filled with whatever seemed important in the moment: a photograph, a stuffed animal, a book pulled hastily from a shelf. Around them, buildings that once anchored everyday life—churches, museums, historic neighborhoods— have been damaged or destroyed.

Restoration Of Rogers Hall, Patsy Glenn

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History and information on much needed repairs of Rogers Hall at UNA, 2006

College Building Transformed Into Museum, Dolly Dalrymple

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An article from The Birmingham News-Age Herald about Wesleyan Hall, its impact on the university and students/faculty, and the addition of a museum to the building, 1940

Una's Predecessor Dates To Feb. 14, 1855, Lorene Frederick

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History of Wesleyan Hall and important dates on the history of UNA

The New Building, The Florence Times

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Information on the new annex for Wesleyan Hall, 1909

Wesleyan Hall An Alabama Landmark, Centerpiece For Training Educators, The Timesdaily

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A walk back in time-some history of Wesleyan Hall by William Lindsey McDonald

Project Courtview Preservation Of Rogers Hall, Project Courtview University Of North Alabama

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Brochure of events for Project Courtview-a fundraising campaign for renovations and preservation of Rogers Hall at UNA

Campaign For Rogers Hall Rededication Ceremony, Campaign For Rogers Hall

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Program for the Rededication Ceremony for Rogers Hall, 2007

Welcome Mat's Out, Susan C. Taylor

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Open House for Rogers Hall, 1985

Hall Of Work, Michele Brown

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Much needed renovations are about to begin on Rogers Hall at UNA

*Article from The TimesDaily

Wesleyan Hall Named Landmark, The Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily

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Nomination of Wesleyan Hall to the National Register of Historic Places, 1974

New Building Is Accepted By Governor, Florence Times

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New hall at FSTC named for Governor Bibb Graves, 1930

College Is Planning For An Extensive Building Program, Florence Times

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With limited space on campus, Florence State needs to expand

Rogers Hall Nominated To National Historic Register, Florence Times-Tri-Cities Daily

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Rogers Hall was nominated for National Historic Register and is awaiting approval from Washington, D.C. (1974)

Massey Construction Award $444,977 Contract For Addition To Florence State's Collier Library, Florence Times

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Addition to Collier Library, 1961

Local History Is Preserved By College, Florence Times

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Preserving local history within Collier Library and The Susan K. Vaugh Museum at FSC, 1959

Library Addition Underway, Florence Times

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Construction is underway for new addition to Collier Library, 1961

Worth Noting, Daily Corinthian

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The Friends of Libraries U.S.A. designated Collier Library as a Literary Landmark for the works of T.S. Stribling, who won a Pulitzer Price for The Store (1932). Stribling was a graduate of the university.

Bibb Graves Hall At College Is Opened, Montgomery Advertiser

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Bibb Graves Hall is now opened at FSTC

Dedication Of Bibb Graves Hall, State Teachers College Florence, Alabama

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Bibb Graves Hall Dedication Program, 1930

Erected In 1939: $100,000 Library Is Serving Fsc Students, Florence Times

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Collier Library serves the students and faculty of FSC very well

Striplin And Florence Hall Memorial Dedication, Melissa Tucker Medlin

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Dedication of Striplin and Florence Halls at UNA. These were "residence" halls for men and women at State Normal School, Florence State Teachers College, and Florence State College