In his address at the Memorial Service for Dr. J. H. Oldham on 3 June 1969 Dr. Visser tʼHooft, Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, referred more than once to J. H. Oldham's singular gift of ‘reading the signs of the times ’. This insight into the meaning and implications of events and trends, past, present, and anticipated, is what statesmen in all walks of life desire though few achieve it. In the troubled years after the founding of the International African Institute in 1926, up to the outbreak of war in 1939, the cross currents of events, policies, ideologies rocked even long-established institutions. The steady course held by the young International African Institute, and its progressive development, was due to a remarkable quartet of men: Lord Lugard, Sir Hans Visscher, Professor Malinowski, and Dr. Oldham. Between them they represented the main sources from which the Institute drew its early strength, its supporters, and its research workers: African governments, foundations, anthropologists and linguists, and missionaries with specialized knowledge of African languages and cultures.