Bailey History Archive

The Bailey History Archive (BAHA) houses the largest historical photographic archives of Drum magazine, Golden City Post and other publications. Founded in 1951 by Jim Bailey, Drum was a ground-breaking pan-African magazine. It was deeply influenced by international picture magazines, like Life, Picture Post and Paris Match, and adapted that genre to an African context. The creative talent at the time produced exceptional journalism and photography. Many of Drum’s writers, became widely published and acclaimed. The magazine’s photographers also achieved great success, among them Jurgen Schadeberg, Bob Gosani, G. R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally, Peter Magubane, Alf Kumalo, and Ernest Cole. BAHA is an extraordinary repository of African visual heritage, memory and social history for the country and continent. Through an extensive digitization program, the BAHA archive will be made accessible to scholars, researchers, throughout the country, continent and world. It already is a very important resource for education from school to tertiary institutions but once digitized, its value and outreach will multiply considerably.