Muslim Women in Mombasa, Kenya 1890-1975

FAIN: FT-13400-77

Margaret Strobel
National Collaborative for Women's History Sites (Ukiah, CA 95482-4923)

To study the history of Muslim women in east Africa's largest seaport, Mombasa, Kenya, from the period just prior to colonial rule to the present. In particular, PI will investigate how class and ethnicity divided the female population, how colonialism affected women of various classes, and how women's activities segregated by Islamic prescriptions from men's both satisfied women's needs and influenced social and cultural developments in the Muslim community of Mombasa. The women's experience will be set in the context of the changes that Mombasa as a whole underwent in this period.