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Stanley Archives' Treasures
How the Stanley Archives got to the Royal Museum for Central Africa
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In 1954, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) was commemorating the 50th anniversary of Sir Henry Morton Stanley’s death. In conjunction with this, his adoptive son Denzil Stanley donated a collection of memorabilia to the Museum. Afterwards, Richard Stanley (Denzil’s adoptive son), and Curator Marcel Luwel, from the RMCA History Dept., kept in regular communication.
In the 1980s, Richard sold part of Henry M. Stanley’s archives to a consortium of various Belgian firms led by Société Générale Bank. These buyers deposited the documents with RMCA. In 2001, the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) bought a second batch of documents from Richard Stanley’s heirs. At the same time, the consortium transferred its ownership to KBF. In turn, KBF entrusted all these Stanley documents to RMCA, and sited them there.
Due to the late Maurits Wynants’ considerable knowledge and work (1994 – 2005), the inventory of what is now known as the Henry M. Stanley Archives was completed in 2004. These archives are opened to researchers, subject to a previously agreed appointment.
