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About the Project
Revolutionary Legacies: The Amilcar Cabral and Aristides Pereira Papers
Planning Grant
The archival collection of Aristides Pereira (1923–2011), Cape Verde’s first post-independence president (1975–1991) and PAIGC co-founder, underwent systematic organization at the Amílcar Cabral Foundation (FAC) from November 2023 to February 2024. The project prioritized unboxing, categorizing, and cataloging Pereira’s documents into three groups: public affairs (Group A), private life (Group B), and photographs (Group C). Key materials included independence proclamations, speeches, international correspondence (e.g., with Guinea-Bissau’s Luís Cabral), institutional records, and PAIGC documents from the liberation struggle, alongside personal items like family records and honors (e.g., Guinea’s Fidelidade ao Povo medal). Photographs captured state visits (e.g., Portugal’s Mário Soares, U.S. President George H.W. Bush), conferences, and personal moments. The archival collection contains numerous documents about and correspondence with PAIGC leader Amilcar Cabral from the origins of the anti-colonial movement to posthumous celebrations of his life in the 1980s. The team also structured dossiers on Pereira’s role in founding NGOs like Associação N’Daya Caboverdeana and support of national mass organizations such as the Organization of Cabo Verdean women, and digitized administrative records, such as budgets and legislative decrees, while addressing conservation needs for fragile documents.
This groundwork aligns with FAC’s broader digitalization initiative to take place during June–December 2025, aiming to create an online platform for global access to Pereira’s legacy. The archive’s 9,824 items (5,800 documents, 4,024 photos) will be digitized at 300 dpi TIFF resolution, with metadata mirroring physical catalog codes (e.g., CV_FAC_APA_B_01_02/25). Managed by part-time technicians, the project includes backup protocols, derivative PDF/JPEG files, and thumbnail previews. By preserving Pereira’s contributions to decolonization and governance, the FAC seeks to enhance scholarly engagement with Cape Verde’s history, bridging archival rigor with 21st-century accessibility.
Project Leads
- Luis Fonseca, Amilcar Cabral Foundation
- Desmond Fonseca, UCLA History Department
Host Institution
Fundação Amílcar Cabral
More Information
Exploring the Aristides Pereira Archival Collection
The Aristides Pereira collection can be best used to dive deep into particular topics of governance and anti-colonial leadership. The personal memorabilia of Pereira highlights periods of global transformation, and Cabo Verde’s unique role during the Cold War and in the Non-Aligned movement as a truly non-aligned nation.
One set of objects of profound significance from the collection is the documents and records of the Organização das Mulheres de Cabo Verde (OMCV). These materials—including the OMCV’s original statutes, 1986 Line of Action manifesto published on International Women’s Day, 1987 Action Plan, and membership lists—embody the intersection of Cape Verde’s national liberation struggle with the fight for gender equality. The inclusion of spouse lists from PAICV leaders also reveals evolving, yet complex, gender dynamics in past attempts at radical governance. These objects demonstrate our project’s ability to not only preserve the legacy of Aristides Pereira and Cabral, but the people of the mass movement behind the anti-colonial struggle.