A Guide to the Records of the East African Professional Hunters Association

Finding aid created by Barbara Gundersen

University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
May 2011

Biographical/Historical Note

The East African Professional Hunters Association (EAPHA) operated from 1934 to 1977, ending with the official abolishment of wild game hunting in Kenya. The association was founded in Nairobi in 1934 by a group of thirteen hunters in Kenya. In 1959 the EAPHA agreed to open membership to any nationality or race. By 1960 membership included 65 full members and over two hundred probationary and honorary associate members from around the world. Its members' clients were "a cross section of the world's captains of industry, royalty and celebrities," including well-known political figures such as Governor John Connelly of Texas and popular culture celebrities such as Bing Crosby. The EAPHA was governed by an Executive Committee, whose members were elected annually. The association held annual meetings, an Annual Dinner, and presented an annual Shaw and Hunter Trophy. The EAPHA was influential in the development of wildlife conservation practice, opposing poaching, aiding the evolution of wildlife tourism, and in the framing of Kenya's game laws.

Scope and Content

This collection is comprised of the EAPHA's official records, including minutes, membership records, rules, reports, as well as correspondence, collected press clippings, records of trophies awarded, member biographical sketches, photographs, etc. The records primarily span from 1934-1977, but some materials date through 1999. The collection includes personal and professional correspondence among its members, the press, a number of hunters and safari tour organizations, as well as press clippings (both positive and negative in tone) about the organization and various hunting methods and practices. Materials cover the organization from inception to its dissolution, and contain official records, rules and regulations, as well as ethical and disciplinary issues that arose throughout its existence. The papers include official meeting minutes, membership books, member biographies, applications, suspensions, hunting records, trophies and awards.

Although the collection is organized into several records series (Membership Files, Correspondence, Meeting Minutes, Press Clippings, Photographs, etc.), many of the materials found in these series also may be found interspersed throughout the collection. For example, membership issues and correspondence overlap in various boxes. Some correspondence signatures are missing, having been removed prior to transfer. Brief mention and substantial discussions of poaching-related issues and diseases such as sleeping sickness (Human African trypanosomiasis) can be found throughout the collection. An item of particular interest is the "Simba Book" (an album bound in lion skin with photographs of famous hunters of the early 20th century), donated to the association at its inception by Captain Archie Ritchie, the most famous of Kenya's Colonial Chief Game Wardens.

Access or Use Restrictions

Access

The collection is open for research.

Related or Separated Material

The University of Florida Smathers Libraries also holds the following related collections which currently are being processed and will be made available to researchers: the Ian Parker Collection of East African Wildlife Conservation, the Graham and Brian Child Collection, and the Larry Harris Collection.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Records of the East African Professional Hunters Association, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Acquisition Information

Ian Parker, former game warden in Kenya and owner of Wildlife Services Ltd., acted as the EAPHA’s agent in facilitating the collection’s donation and shipment to the University of Florida Smathers Libraries. EAPHA ex-president Anthony Dyer transferred ownership with the approval of the association’s former members at a meeting in Nairobi on Nov. 28, 2009.

Selected Subjects and Access Terms

Big game hunting -- Africa
Big game hunting -- Kenya -- History
Hunters -- Africa -- Biography
Hunting -- Africa, East -- History
Wildlife conservation -- Africa

For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access Services.

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