In 1958, when the African Studies Association was founded, a small group of American scholars who were interested in Africa comprised the first annual general meeting. This year nearly 1,000 people attended the eighth annual meeting. Most of those attending were fellows and members of the Association, augmented by visitors from many parts of the world. These included Seretse Khama, Prime Minister of Bechuanaland, who gave the main address at the opening plenary session. Other visitors included Daryll Forde from London, S. N. Varma from the Department of African Studies at the University of Delhi, and Philippe Decraene, African correspondent for the Paris paper, Le Monde.
