Welcome to Our Lagos History, a digital archive dedicated to preserving and sharing rare historical records on Lagos. The collection covers the cultural, social, and political history of Lagos from the eighteenth century to the present. Drawn primarily from private archives and made available for educational use, the materials include letters, newspapers, pamphlets, and photographs. Some items were digitized in their original form, while others remain incomplete due to their fragile condition. The records are organized around key themes prominent in the donor collections, including chieftaincy politics, colonial encounters, biography, and debates over citizenship in Lagos.

Our Lagos History was founded in 2017 by Dr. Halimat Somotan and Dr. Oluwasegun Mufutau Jimoh while they were doctoral history students. Their research was enriched by the records of Honorable Chief Adekunle Alli and Professor Olakunle Lawal, two prominent figures whose decades of scholarship and public service significantly influenced the study of Lagos history. After receiving Chief Alli’s approval to digitize his collections, the coordinators applied for and won the Columbia University/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s History in Action Project Award. Chief Alli’s papers included his publications, fieldwork notes, and photocopied materials scanned from various archives such as the Nigerian National Archives, the Herbert Macaulay Papers, the British National Archives, and private collections. Amid the coordinators’ work of digitizing and cataloging Alli’s materials, Chief Alli passed away in 2023 at the age of 89. The coordinators choose to use this website to keep the legacies of Chief Alli and that of Professor Lawal alive by disseminating their records and publications.

The digital archive has since grown through additional donations, including materials from Mr. Kwawu Adadevoh on his niece, Dr. Stella Adadevoh, whose actions during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria saved many lives.

This website seeks to broaden public knowledge, encourage new research questions, and support accessible digital scholarship on Lagos history. Visitors are invited to explore, download, and cite materials with proper acknowledgment of the donors and the project. For more information, please see the pages on the donors and coordinators, or contact us at ourlagoshistory@gmail.com.