CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Cynthia Fraser

South African political activist (1934-2020)

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ104701310
Source-derived summary

Cynthia 'Ma' Fraser (7 December 1934 – 14 June 2020) was a South African political activist.

Biography

Born in Elsie's River suburb of Cape Town, Fraser's mother was a trade unionist which drew her into activism at a young age. She passed out leftist newspapers, including New Age, The Spark, and others in Klipfontein. She was also involved in the underground activities of the then-banned African National Congress (ANC) including Operation Vula. The ANC operation, begun in 1986, which sought to smuggle into the country exiled ANC activists and to maintain open communication between ANC activists in prison, public, and exile. After the ANC was unbanned in 1990, she was involved in many of its community initiatives throughout the Western Cape province.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cynthia Fraser” is south African political activist (1934-2020). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cynthia, Fraser and South, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1934, 2020, 1986, 1990—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1934-12-07. For this dossier, Cynthia, Fraser and South is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “south African political activist (1934-2020)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q104701310. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934, 2020, 1986 and 1990.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cynthia Fraser”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cynthia Fraser primary sources, Cynthia Fraser archive and Cynthia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cynthia Fraser”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Cynthia Fraser” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.