Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-255) and index.
Contents:
Prologue: Bishop Robert Gray, Sir George Grey and the cattle-killings - 1. Hostages for peace, 1857-1861 - 2. Consolidation and expansion, 1862-1872 - 3. Women students and teachers at Zonnebloem - 4. Caught between two worlds: the Sandile family - 5. The English experience and life in the mission field - 6. A dynasty of leaders: the Moshoeshoe family at Zonnebloem - 7. Challenging the status quo 1873-1900 - 8. An emerging African intelligentsia, 1900-1906 - 9. The last chief's son before the state assumes control, 1907-1933.
Summary:
"In 1857, at the height of the colonial period, as Britain was advancing its control over southern Africa and absorbing the formerly independent African chiefdoms, the Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray, set up Zonnebloem College on an old wine farm on the outskirts of the city. Working in partnership with the British Governor, Sir George Grey, he enrolled the sons and daughters of leading African chiefs. They received and English, Christian education, the purpose of which was to further the cause of Christianity and 'civilisation' in Africa. This elite educational project, both cultural and political in nature, soon gathered steam. Among the first entrants were Gonya and Emma Sandile, heir and eldest daughter of the Rharhabe chief Sandile; Nathaniel Umhaka, son of the Ndlambe chief Mhala; and George Tlali, son of the great Basotho leader, Moshoeshoe I. Over the years a succession of sons from chiefly dynasties, sometimes spanning several generations, came to Zonnebloem: the Moshoeshoes of Basutoland, the Pilanes of Bechuanaland, the Lewanikas of Barotseland, and the Lobengulas of Matabeleland. After their education at Zonnebloem, students took up careers as catechists, teachers, political secretaries, lawyers, newspaper editors and priests and served their communities with distinction. Their stories, trials and achievements are recounted here, often in their own words. Central to the book is a unique collection of school essays and letters, that forms one of the earliest bodies of writing by Africans in southern Africa. This remarkable work, based on years of research and written with great sympathy, tells the little-known early history of the genesis of an African intelligentsia during the colonial period"--Back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.