History Research

History

The History Department’s research is informed by the museum’s collections, which provide a rich resource for understanding the history of Qonce (formerly King William’s Town) and the wider Eastern Cape. Research draws on the museum’s extensive collections of more than 80,000 artefacts and encompasses a range of themes, including the history of the town and its communities, Eastern Cape missionary endeavours, the German Settlers (1857–1884), and local liberation struggle history.

The department responds to historical, museological and genealogical enquiries from members of the public, researchers and community organisations. The museum’s extensive biographical database, developed over many years and containing more than 350,000 records, makes it an important resource for genealogical research. The department has also assisted local communities and group claimants with historical research relating to land and restitution claims. For more information, see this video on the museum’s genealogical research resources.

Research undertaken by the department has contributed to a broader understanding of the history of Qonce and its communities. This includes research by the museum’s historian, Dr Stephanie Victor, on pre-apartheid housing in Qonce, which formed part of her master’s dissertation.

Research on Women and the Eastern Cape

Dr Victor’s doctoral research focused on Xhosa-speaking royal women (amakhosikazi) of the Eastern Cape. The study examines how elite women between 1650 and 1900 exercised political and social agency and negotiated power and marginalisation within contexts shaped by customary practice and, increasingly, by colonial and missionary forms of patriarchy.

This interest in women-centred histories continues to inform the department’s research. Current research includes the amakhosikazi of the Eastern Cape, female missionaries, “school” biographies and female pioneers whose contributions have often received limited attention in conventional historical accounts.

The History Department welcomes historical and genealogical enquiries and is committed to using the museum’s collections and research resources to connect communities with the histories preserved in its collections.

For a selected list of Dr Victor’s publications, see Stephanie Victor’s Academia.edu profile.

Displays

Idabi lenkululeko eQonce (The Battle for Freedom)

Idabi is a powerful local history exhibition exploring the region’s long history of political resistance and the struggle for freedom and equality. Combining cutting-edge research, previously unseen objects, personal testimonies and exhibition technology, it provides a distinctive local perspective on South Africa’s liberation history.

The exhibition traces the region’s history from the period of independent African chiefdoms and examines Qonce’s pioneering role in the development of black political organisation. The first Native Congress, a forerunner of the African National Congress (ANC), was established in Qonce in December 1891. One of its early meetings was held in the town’s former library, now part of the Amathole Museum.

Wagon Making: The Lost Craft

Qonce was one of Africa’s largest and most prominent centres of wagon production between approximately 1870 and 1950. Workshops including Ririe Bros., R. Symons (Buffalo Wagon & Carriage Works), W.G. Glennie (Bon Accord Works), Burgess & Co. and Behnke Bros. produced carts, wagons and trolleys for a thriving transport industry.

There was a strong demand for well-made wagons, particularly during periods of war. Farmers and transport riders were among the principal customers, while Qonce’s position as an important commercial centre and the capital of British Kaffraria helped establish the town as a vital regional economic hub.

Across the Frontier

Across the Frontier explores the complex history of nineteenth-century Qonce, then known as King William’s Town, through themes of conflict, acculturation, co-existence and cooperation.

Drawing on both the History and Anthropology collections, the exhibition presents an inclusive and multicultural history of the town and surrounding region. It moves beyond earlier interpretations that focused predominantly on the colonial experience to acknowledge the diverse communities, cultures and histories that shaped the region.

Missionary Museum

The Missionary Museum was constructed in 1855 as a Wesleyan chapel and later served as a Baptist church. Its closure followed the enforcement of the Group Areas Act. The museum opened to the public in 1976 and now functions as a satellite museum of the Amathole Museum.

The museum presents an interdenominational history of missionary activity in the Eastern Cape and its impact on the region’s communities, education, language, publishing and religious life. Its collections focus on Eastern Cape missionary endeavours, while also including artefacts relating to missionary work in the wider African diaspora including Nigeria.

History