The Third Conference on African History and Archaeology, sponsored by the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University on July 3-7, 1961, followed in the series of four-yearly meetings begun in 1953 and continued in 1957. It was already abundantly clear in 1957 that African history had come into its own as a recognized field of study. The Journal of African History, now in its second year and preparing to expand from two to three annual issues, was an outcome of the second conference. It marked the coming-of-age.