Google celebrates one of the biggest figures of modern history, Nelson Mandela, by helping launch an online destination dedicated to the former South African president and anti-apartheid activist, who turns 94 this summer. The Nelson Mandela Digital Archive comes as a giant digital museum, which chronicles his life and work, providing millions of Internet users an opportunity to get an insight into the democratic leader’s life-time struggle for social change.
Photo: A snapshot from the The Nelson Mandela Digital Archive, www.archive.nelsonmandela.org
“Our aim is to locate, document, digitise, and provide access to all archival materials related to Nelson Mandela. This is a work in progress. Here is a selection of materials arranged in exhibits for your enjoyment,” says the website. The project was realized by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, which was supported by Google Cultural Institute—in spring 2011, the center received a $1.25m (ZAR 8.6m) grant from the company to help develop the online archive with priceless content.
The Archive features numerous digitalized archive documents which include photos, transcripts, drafts of manuscripts, personal letters and diaries written during his 27 years of imprisonment, notes he was writing while leading the negotiations that ended apartheid in South Africa, videos and more. The content is divided into several parts such as Early Life, Prison Years, Presidential Years, Retirement, Books for Mandela, Young People and My Moments with a Legend for better navigation. The digital museum gives people around the globe, historians, educationalists, researchers, activists as well as common users, an access to unique content, which draws a picture of life of this outstanding African leader, starting from his earliest-known photos, notes and other related content.
“We’ve worked closely with the NMCM to create an interactive online experience which we hope will inspire you as much as us. You can search and browse the archives to explore different parts of Mandela’s life and work in depth,” comments Mark Yoshitake, Product Manager, Google’s Cultural Institute on the official Google’s Blog.