The Willis Bell
Photographic Archive

A scene from the performance of 'Wo Hyɛɛ Me Bɔ' (You Swore An Oath) by Efua Sutherland. There are multiple prints of the same production: meap0097_bell_b007_031 - meap0097_bell_b007_032; meap0097_bell_b018_118 - meap0097_bell_b018_137; meap0097_bell_b019_041 - meap0097_bell_b019_053; meap0097_bell_b019_177; meap0097_bell_b019_184.

A group of men in traditional cloths drink from calabashes.

A portrait of two young boys, one with a catapult (slingshot) placed on his head, smiling. This photo is among those included in 'The Roadmakers', a book of photographs captured by Willis Bell planned and written by Efua Sutherland. The photographs were taken during Bell's extensive tour of Ghana in 1959. Same image: meap0097_bell_b027_229; meap0097_bell_b032_057.

From the remaining blackboard wall of an abandoned school building, an adult teaches himself. This photo is among those included in 'The Roadmakers', a book of photographs captured by Willis Bell planned and written by Efua Sutherland. The photographs were taken during Bell's extensive tour of Ghana in 1959. Same image: meap0097_bell_b027_234; meap0097_bell_b040_007.

Fishermen with their canoe parked at a beach shore mend their fishing nets at Tema, Ghana. In the background is a massive cement factory with canoes parked at the shore in front of it.

A fisherman's hands as he mends his net in Ghana.

A modernist building of the Ghana Commercial Bank in Ghana.

A display of foodstuff such as chilli pepper, garlic, onions and salt in metal basins and a jute sack in Ghana.

Behind the scenes on the set of 'Araba the Village Girl', a film project of the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), co-written and co-produced by Efua Sutherland. Profile shot of elders sitting pensively in the chief's courtyard. Some of the elders, who are leaders of the Asafo (warrior company), hold special sticks. This stick is the symbol of the Asafohene (head of the warriors).

Efua T. Sutherland stands next to signage at a border crossing that reads, "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING GHANA. PLEASE DRIVE ON THE RIGHT." in Ghana. Efua Theodora Sutherland was a Ghanaian playwright, director, dramatist, children's author, director, poet, educationist, researcher, child advocate, and cultural activist. She was a pioneer and an influential figure in the development of Ghana's modern literary and theater movements. She was among the intellectual and cultural activists of the African Independence era who saw themselves as a generation responsible for the creation of new national spaces inspirited by their African origins. She was instrumental in creating a number of institutions including the Ghana Association of Writers, the National Theatre Movement, the W.E.B. Du Bois Centre, The National Commission on Children, Children's Parks and Libraries, the Pan-African Theater Festival (PANAFEST), and the Mmofra Foundation.

A behind-the-scenes image of the anxious looking cast of 'Araba the Village Girl', co-written and co-produced by Efua Sutherland and produced by the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).