Chancellor House
Restored three-storey law office where South Africa's first black-run legal practice once fought apartheid pass laws.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Chancellor House in Johannesburg centers on the law practice Nelson Mandela opened here in 1952, soon joined by Oliver Tambo, the only African-owned firm of its kind under apartheid. It follows the queues of clients fighting pass-law arrests, the Essa family who took the risk of renting to them, and the partnership's end after the 1956 treason-trial arrests. Look up at the second-floor window where sandblasted letters once spelled out both lawyers' names.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Constitution Hill Human Rights Precinct
Prison complex turned constitutional court, built atop cells where political prisoners were held.
Liliesleaf
Restored farmhouse where anti-apartheid leaders hid, raided by police in nineteen sixty-three.
Mandela's House
Modest matchbox home of bullet holes and scorch marks, kept as the family left it after apartheid-era raids.
Museum Africa
Vast steel-framed former produce market reborn as a museum of apartheid-era history and culture.
Constitutional Court of South Africa
Modern courthouse built from bricks salvaged out of a demolished prison, preserving its stairwells.
The Market Theatre
Converted early twentieth century produce market turned non-racial theatre that defied apartheid segregation laws.