ABSTRACT
During 2023, South Africa marked 120 years of organised tennis on a national basis. Over this period, a number of players of both sexes achieved international fame on a number of iconic courts in a range of competitions. In the recent past, the national honours list which for more than a century only reflected the achievements of people of white and European descent, witnessed the addition of the names of a number of black achievers. This notwithstanding, the real origins of the South African lawn tennis tradition remain largely unknown and the cause of speculation. This article, using a range of contemporary historical newspaper archives, provides a new reconstruction of the origins and development of tennis within both the white and black communities in the period before the Second Anglo-Boer War (South African War).
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ABSTRACT

Despite being an integral part of the country’s sporting identity, the history of competitive archery remains a neglected area of South Africa’s sports history. Following its establishment in the 1860s as an elitist recreational activity characterised by social gatherings and merrymaking, it gradually developed into a well-organised and nationally coordinated sport during the 20th century. En route, it intersected with issues such as race, gender, professionalism, and politics, all of which collectively shaped its South African character. Due to a lack of original archives, none of the affiliated members of Archery South Africa have thus far documented their own illustrious past. This article, using the literature on artefact biographies, reconstructs the history of both South African and Free State archery with the aid of a small number of artefacts in the collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein.

Abstract

Second-hand cultural objects not only possess a very definite biography but also have a multi-layered history. The nature of this history and the cultural artefact’s evolving identity is determined, firstly, by its journey from first into second exchange and beyond, and, secondly, by the institutions, including second-hand or charity shops, individuals or groups who came to own it. Artefacts as well as places where they are exchanged, such as second-hand shops, can each provide a valuable lens to investigate the nature, social function, locational politics and exchange journey of these places and artefacts as a marker of memory.