Kenya historical photographs collection.

Oblong quarto with ten green stiff card stock leaves. 117 original gelatin silver photographs. Photographs were likely taken by a British member of the King's African Rifles and are images taken on a trip from Nairobi to the south-west of Kenya. Within the images are twelve of Nairobi at the street view, including an image of the Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi memorial monument. There are several photographs of Kariokor, Kenya's first horse tracks. There are photographs of Nakuru, Nyeri, Londiani, Kitale, Lubwa, Eldoret, Toga, Thika, and Nanyuki. Images include that of askaris, or local soliders recruited by the colonial administration, as well as hunting, trips, the railway station at Londiani, the main street of Kisumu, and native peoples.

Item, Folder number and/or title, Box number, Kenya historical photographs collection, MSS 638, Special Collections, MSU Libraries, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.

The collection was purchased in 2018.

In 1939, Kenya was under the colonial administration of Great Britain and Nairobi had a large white settler population (appx. 30,000). Photos in this album include images of this Nairobi, including horse racing at Kariokor, which was Kenya's first horse track, and of the Lionel Douglas Galton-Fenzi memorial monument, erected to honor the man who pioneered automobile races across Kenya and East Africa. During the Second World War, a large number of Kenyan soldiers were recruited for the British Army in Africa. During the War, almost 100,000 Kenyans were recruited as askaris into the King's African Rifles.