The Gerald Kraak Collection - Part 1

Kraak left a substantial personal collection to GALA in his will – reinforcing his commitment to the importance of archives and preserving history in his lifetime. [...] In addition, a scrapbook of photographs documents his years at Westerford and the friends he made there. [...] Also included are a large number of publications and reports from NUSAS, where Kraak went on to work as media officer for a year after graduating, before he left for the Netherlands in 1979 to live in political exile. [...] Also included in this early part of Kraak’s life are records relating to his military call up, which he refused as a conscientious objector, one of the reasons that ultimately led to Kraak leaving South Africa for the Netherlands (his father was Dutch-born) where he started his life in political exile in 1979. [...] Also largely from the English press, Kraak had a feel for important international events and moments, keeping historic editions of Time and Newsweek. [...] On a more personal level, this part of the collection reflects Kraak’s love of opera, with posters, programs and tickets he kept from the London Opera and travel. [...] The collection also includes documents are from Kraak’s time with Interfund and mostly relate to his funding efforts (through Interfund) for the National Coalition of Gay & Lesbian Equality (NCGLE). [...] These are reflected in his archival collection through drafts and notes, and for Property of the State in particular, a significant amount of background research. [...] Kraak also served on the body corporate of his two Johannesburg apartment buildings, Gerald’s Court in Yeoville, and Gleneagles in Killarney, and kept documents relating to this.And, as throughout the other periods of Kraak’s life, he continued to keep press cuttings and magazines of important local and international political events, with a specific focus on the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013 [...] The final part of the collection deals with Kraak’s memorial, and was added by friends as well as the GALA archivist after Kraak’s death.