Skip to main content

Image / Three Old Women, Kikuyu, Kenya, ca.1911

Have a question about this item?

Item information. View source record on contributor's website.

Title
Three Old Women, Kikuyu, Kenya, ca.1911
Creator
Arthur, John William, Medical Missionary, Kikuyu, Kenya, 1881-1952
Date Created and/or Issued
circa 1911
Publication Information
University of Southern California. Libraries
Contributing Institution
University of Southern California Digital Library
Collection
International Mission Photography Archive, ca.1860-ca.1960
Rights Information
For commercial reproduction please contact the National Library of Scotland by referring to http://www.nls.uk/copyright . For access to the originals please e-mail manuscripts@nls.uk
National Library of Scotland
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EW, Scotland, UK
The National Library of Scotland license the use of this content under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 UK: Scotland License.
manuscripts@nls.uk
Description
"The women in that land are the beasts of burden
the father sells his daughter for a sum of 50 to 60 sheep, and there-after she becomes the property of her husband. Her work is to weed and cultivate her garden, sew, plant, and harvest it, to go to the forest to cut firewood, bringing back a load weighing anything from ten to fourteen stone, to help to make her husband, and the other old men, to make his pots and to cook his food, and that of the other members of the family. Her life is a hard one, and not relieved by much In the way of pleasure. No wonder then she soon becomes an old woman, one of many wives, without much joy in the present, and no hope for the future." Group portrait of three older, indigenous women, wearing many beaded necklaces as part of the tribal dress. ❧ "This Lecture was prepared by Dr J.W. Arthur in October 1911 on his voyage to Mombasa. The set of slides is the gift to the Kikuyu Mission of the Young Peoples Meeting at the Burgh Hall, Hillhead, of which he was for many years a member." A green folder marked 'Kikuyu' and containing lecture notes and relevant photographs to accompany lantern slides.
Type
image
Format
Photographic prints, 7 x 6.7 cm.
Identifier
impa-a-nls-75654474-1.tif
http://doi.org/10.25549/impa-c123-79694
http://thumbnails.digitallibrary.usc.edu/impa-a-nls-75654474-1.jpg
Subject
Clothing & dress
Indigenous peoples
Women
Time Period
circa 1911
Place
Africa
Central Province
Kenya
Kikuyu
Source
Acc.7548/F/21 [Reference number]
NLS DOD ID: 75654472 [File]
Relation
International Mission Photography Archive, ca.1860-ca.1960
Lecture Notes by Dr. J W Arthur, Photographs of the Kikuyu mission, British East Africa (Kenya)
Photographs from Scottish Missions, the National Library of Scotland
image/tiff

About the collections in Calisphere

Learn more about the collections in Calisphere. View our statement on digital primary resources.

Copyright, permissions, and use

If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.

Share your story

Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.

Explore related content on Calisphere: