Historian Gives CSUN African Books, Papers

The family of the late Boniface I. Obichere, an internationally renowned historian and former African studies professor at UCLA, has donated his personal books and papers to Cal State Northridge.

The collection includes 4,250 books as well as personal correspondence, notebooks, research material, articles, book manuscripts, theses and dissertations, periodicals, maps, murals, photographs and African art and artifacts that Obichere amassed during his 30-year career.

“This collection is a jewel,” said Joseph E. Holloway, director of the university’s newly established Boniface I. Obichere Library and Institute. “The [university] knows they have something special, but I don’t think they know how special.”

The papers will be formally presented to the university in a ceremony Oct. 3, said David L. Horne, chairman of CSUN’s Pan-African studies department.

Although Obichere spent his entire career at UCLA, Horne said it was the professor’s dying wish to ensure that his papers, assessed at $275,000, would be handled with care and be accessible to researchers.

Obichere selected CSUN, Horne said, because he believed the collection would receive greater attention at the smaller university.

“When it became evident that he was very ill, his wife, Armer, called us because she knew that as his former students and mentees we would give his papers special love and care,” Horne said.

Obichere died of prostate cancer on March 14 in Los Angeles. He was 64.

Born in Awaka Owerri, Nigeria, Obichere earned a doctorate in African history from Oxford University in 1967. He won international acclaim among academicians for his innovative, interdisciplinary study of the relationship between African and African American history.