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It is not surprising that Judith Byfield has a deep interest in women’s political activism. Both the high school and college she attended began admitting women only four years before she enrolled, so she was sometimes one of only a few women in class and often the only black student.
Being in this unique position, she noticed that professors often spoke in generalities concerning race, gender and nationality. When she continued to hear that women’s political activism was distinctly Euro- American, Jamaican-born Byfield decided to disprove that notion. At that point she became interested in the 1947 women’s tax revolt in Nigeria.
Byfield has done research in Nigeria numerous times but says her experience there as a Fulbright Scholar “was by far the best.” Through it, she was able to complete the research she needed for her book, The Great Upheaval: The Egba Women’s Tax Revolt, 1947-1951.
The Abeokuta Women’s Union, she explains, was at the forefront of the revolt, challenging an autocratic government that provided few services—particularly to women and children—yet continually raised taxes. As a result of the protests, women no longer had to pay taxes, the “king” was forced into exile and a local council was reinstated with female participation.
An associate professor of history at Dartmouth College, Byfield spent seven and a half months searching the archives at the University of Ibadan and at a branch of the archives in the nearby town of Abeokuta. “I found records of the local governing council that describe the protests and the tensions in the town, as supporters of the tax revolt and supporters of the traditional king confronted each other,” she says. “For example, supporters of the women stripped supporters of the king naked in the street and humiliated them.”
Byfield was also able to locate men and women who actually participated in the revolt, as well as the children of the revolt’s leaders. She interviewed them, and each provided incredibly rich details about how the revolt affected people. “One of the king’s sons, Adegboye, told me that he received a letter from one of Mrs. Ransome-Kuti’s sons, Fela, saying that he hoped they could still remain friends despite the political turmoil in the town,” she says. “Some people were beaten, and some of the supporters of the women were jailed, but as far as I know, there were no fatalities.”
In addition to her research, Byfield taught a postgraduate seminar for the University of Ibadan’s Department of History. She and the department head submitted a proposal to the Ambassador’s Fund to conduct oral histories and to preserve some of the archival materials in the university library and the national archives located on the university’s campus. The two are working on an initiative to have Dartmouth faculty speak to University of Ibadan’s American Studies Association and to have University of Ibadan faculty attend Dartmouth’s American Studies Summer Institute.
She also developed many wonderful friendships, particularly among the consulate’s public affairs staff. “They were so welcoming and generous,” she says. “It was really hard to say goodbye.”
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