Ansanm|Ensemble|Together: Building a Haitian Heritage Collection at the University of Miami

ANSANM ENSEMBLE TOGETHER Building a Haitian Heritage Collection at the University of Miami An exhibition presented

by Special Collections

Fall 2018 – Fall 2019 Kislak Center at the University of Miami

BUILDING

A HAITIAN HERITAGE COLLECTION

TOGETHER

This exhibition on Haiti is the result of an ongoing collaboration, or “tèt ansam,” of librarians, community leaders, activists, faculty, and students who endeavor to preserve the Haitian cultural heritage. The method of collaborative work, or “konbit,” is an inherent component of Haitian communities and has been the curatorial approach to documenting the Haitian experience through rare books, manuscripts, oral histories, and University of Miami archival collections that are all available for research, study, and creative inspiration.

The cooperative spirit of “tèt ansam” is woven within the themes of the independence story of the first black republic that abolished slavery in 1804. The new nation created its own Creole language and literature on par with French and has wrestled with the consequences of its multilingual heritages. Haitians, as the new free people of color came to be known, also redefined European colonial concepts of Christian evangelization which integrated with African spiritual beliefs. The outward manifestations of these European and African religious encounters can be seen in syncretic rituals and imagery that pervade private and public spaces on the island and abroad.

Twentieth-century migrations have brought Haiti’s inhabitants to new experiences of citizenship and hyphened identities that expand the global dialogue around nationhood and personhood. These new encounters are expressed in the award-winning literary works of Haitian-Americans, such as Edwidge Danticat and Roxane Gay, as well as in the work of Dany Laferrière, the first Haitian-Canadian to be a member of the “Académie Française,” or the French Academy. Scholarly work on 21st-century Haitian migrations in Latin America by anthropologists and University of Miami faculty Louis Herns Marcelin and Toni Cela sheds new light on the experiences of Haitian Youth in the Americas.

Far from being passive, the Haitian diaspora’s activism finds expression in grassroots and service organizations like the Miami-based Haitian Women of Miami (FANM), founded by Marleine Bastien; the Haitian Neighborhood Center, led by Gepsie Metellus (Sant La); and the Little Haiti Book Festival, organized by “Sosyete Koukouy” and led by playwright and independent bookseller Jan Mapou.

Conscious of the impact of cultural heritage, these individuals and organizations have deposited their archives at the University of Miami Special Collections where they are available to students, scholars, and the general public who share an interest in Haiti, its culture, and its people.

—Béatrice Colastin Skokan Curator of Caribbean Collections, Head of Manuscripts and Archives

CASE ONE Código Formado por los Negros de la Isla de Santo Domingo de la parte Francesa, hoi estado de Hayti: Sancionado por Henrique Cristobal, Presidente y Generalisimo Juan López Cancelada Cádiz: Quintana, 1810 F1924 .C46 1810

Encountering Revolution: Haiti and the Making of the Early Republic Ashli White Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010 E184.H27 W458 2010

Il Était une Fois Christophe Marlène Étienne Port-au-Prince: Editha, 2008 In process – call number pending

Cahiers d’Haïti Port-au-Prince: [Imp. De l’état], 1943 In process – call number pending

Le Discours de la Non-Célébration du Bicentenaire Haïtien Joseph Ferdinand Miami, FL: Butterfly Publications, 2014 In process – call number pending

The Slave Who Freed Haiti: The Story of Toussaint Louverture Katharine Scherman New York: Random House, 1954 F1923 .T915 1954

Porto Rico and Virgin Isles: Haiti, Hispaniola or St. Domingo J. & G. Menzies Edinburgh: John Thomson and Co., 1817 G1019 .T4 1817

An Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti: Comprehending a View of the Principal Transactions in the Revolution of Saint Domingo; With Its Ancient and Modern State Marcus Rainsford [London]: J. Cundee, 1805 F1923 .R15

Here... There and Beyond: The Work of 16 Haitian Artists of Florida Christian Nicolas and Fred Thomas Coconut Creek, FL: Educa Vision, 2009 N6606.2 .H46 2009

Sirène 5: L’imaginaire dissous au silence des symbols (“Imagination dissolved at the silence of symbols”) Béatrice Coron, book artist; and Frankétienne, poet New York City: Central Booking NYC, Inc., 2012 N7433.4 C67 2012e

CASE TWO The Birds of Haiti and San Domingo Charles B. Cory Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1885 QL688.H5 C67 1885

Voyages d’un naturaliste, et ses observations faites sur les trois regnes de la nature, dans plusieurs ports de mere francais, en Espagne, au continent de l’Amerique Septentrionale…

Michel Etienne Descourtilz Paris, Dufart, 1809 F1901 .D44

Haïti: Portrait of a Country Daniel Kedar and Edwidge Danticat Opus Pub.; Coconut Grove, FL: Distributed by Educa Vision, 2003 F1917.K435 2003

A Guide to Haiti: Star of the Caribbean Haiti Government Tourist Bureau Caribbean and South American Ephemera Collection, Box 1, Folder 22

Biblio Tech A, Haiti Solidarity Trip: Zine Report Back 2014 Caribbean & Latin American Zine Collection, Box 8, Folder 21

Visit Haiti Pan American Union, Travel Division Washington, D.C.: Pan American Union, 1950 F1917.P36 V57 1950

International Air Mail Week, Republic of Haiti 1933 Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records, Graphic Materials and 3D Objects, Scrapbooks, Box 12

Pan Am: History, Design & Identity Matthias C. Hühne Callisto Publishers, 2016 In process – call number pending

Sirène 2: Hiatus inexplicable les chemins mystérieux enfouis au fond de nous (“Unexplainable hiatus, the mysterious ways buried within ourselves”) Béatrice Coron, book artist; and Frankétienne, poet New York City: Central Booking NYC, Inc., 2012 N7433.4 C67 2012b

CASE THREE Kréòl Haiti: Division du Développement Rural, 1959 In process – call number pending

ABC Service Coopératif Haitiano-Americain d’Education Rurale Port-au-Prince, La Division Audio-Visuelle USOM, 1956 In process – call number pending

Le baiser mauve de Vava Dany Laferrière and Frédéric Normandin Montréal (Québec): Les Éditions de la Bagnole, 2014 PQ3919.2.L163 B35 2014

Mots Créoles du Nord d’Haiti: Origines, Histoire, Souvenirs Max Manigat Coconut Creek, FL: Educa Vision, 2006 In process – call number pending

Belle merveille: roman James Noël Paris, Zulma, 2017 PQ3949.3.N64 B45 2017

Krik? Krak!

Edwidge Danticat New York: Soho Press, 1995 PS3554.A5815 K75 1995

Bain de Lune Yanick Lahens Paris: Sabine Wespieser, éditeur, 2014 PQ3949.2.L295 B34 2014

Antigone en créole Félix Morisseau-Leroy, 1912–1998; David McCord, bookseller Pétion-Ville, Haïti: Culture, [1953?]

PQ3949.M63 A73 1953

Ayiti Roxane Gay New York: Grove Press, 2018 PS3607.A985725 A6 2018

Chaque Malice a son Bouqui (Chak Malis gen Bouki pa li) Paula Clermont Péan, James Noël, Reynold Henrys, Donaldzie Théodore, Natalie Jean Baptiste Coconut Creek, FL: Educa Vison, 2009 PQ3949.3.C54 C43 2009

Sirène 3: L’épais brouillard du rêve au vacillement de la conscience intermédiaire (“The heavy fog of dreams at the oscillation of intermediary consciousness”) Béatrice Coron, book artist; and Frankétienne, poet New York City: Central Booking NYC, Inc., 2012 N7433.4 C67 2012c

CASE FOUR Photographs from Haiti Maggie Steber Photography Collection, Box 1

West Indies Aboard the Swedish-American Line Latin American and Caribbean Photograph Collection, Box 11

From Within and Without: The History of Haitian Photography Fort Lauderdale: NSU Art Museum, 2015 TR33.H2 F76 2015

Témoin de L’Histoire, Thony Bélizaire New York: Velvet Inc., 2016 In process – call number pending

Tent Life: Haiti Wyatt Gallery (Photos), Edwige Danticat (Essay) Brooklyn, N.Y.: Umbrage Editions, 2010 F1928.2 .G35 2010

LIFE Magazine March 13, 1950 Caribbean and South American Ephemera Collection, Box 3, Folder 1

Haiti Bruce Gilden Stockton, England: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1996 F1917 .G55 1996

Sirène 6: Nos ailes ouvertes toujours complices du même voyage dans la siamoiserie féconde des feux vivaces (“Our wings spread open, always fellow travelers in the productive siamoiserie of lively fires”) Béatrice Coron, book artist; and Frankétienne, poet New York City: Central Booking NYC, Inc., 2012 N7433.4 C67 2012f

CASE FIVE To Seek a Better World, The Haitian Minority in America Brent K. Ashabranner; Paul Conklin, photographer New York: Cobblehill/Dutton, 1997 E184.H27 A84 1997

Marleine Bastien Haitian Women of Miami (FANM) Records, Box 1, Folder 5

Standing Tall: Portraits of the Haitian Community in Miami, 2003–2010 Bruce Weber; poems by Edwidge Danticat; essay by Bonnie Clearwater Miami: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2010 TR680 .W43 2010

Les jeunes Haïtiens dans les Amériques (Haitian Youth in the Americas) Louis Herns Marcelin, editor; Toni Cela, editor; Henri Dorvil, editor Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2017 HQ799.H2 J48 2017

DPM Kanntè: The Plight of the Haitian Refugees Jan Mapou Miami, FL: Liberi Mapou, 1995 VID 5260

The Haitian Community in Miami-Dade: A Growing the Middle Class Supplement Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, 2004 Haitian Grey Literature Collection, Box 1, Folder 3

Immigrants and Refugees at the Krome Detention Center Michael L. Carlebach Photography Collection, Box 7

Why Deny Justice to Haitians?

Florida Immigrant Collection (FLIC) Records, Box 2, Folder 1

Sirène 7: La volupté du piège au tréfonds du désir en un frémissement d’aube (“The voluptuousness of the trap deep in the bottom of desire in a shy dawn”) Béatrice Coron, book artist; and Frankétienne, poet New York City: Central Booking NYC, Inc., 2012 N7433.4 C67 2012g

CASE SIX Carte de la Partie Françoise de St. Domingue: A Map of the French Part of St. Domingo

Independence of Hayti And Liberia: Speech Of Hon. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, on The Bill to Authorize the Appointment of Diplomatic Representatives to the Republics Of Hayti and Liberia, with the Debate thereon; in The Senate of the United States, April 23 and 24, 1862 Charles Sumner Washington D.C.: Congressional Globe Office, 1862 E469 .S934

A particular account of the commencement and progress of the insurrection of the Negroes in St. Domingo: which began in August, 1791 Being a translation of the speech made to the National Assembly, the 3rd of November, 1791 F1923 .S23

CASE SEVEN Call to Azaca, 1989 1986–2010 Maggie Steber Photography Collection

The Spirits and the Law: Vodou and Power in Haiti Kate Ramsey Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press, 2011 BL2530.H3 R25 2011

Edouard Peloux: Photographe du Vingtième Siècle (Twentieth Century Photographer) Edouard Peloux, Simone Peloux Lauture, Ghislaine Rocourt-Deeb Miami, FL: Grissom Company, [2013?]

F1927 .P456 2013

Album religieux de Port-au-Prince, Haïti [Port-au-Prince?], [191-?]

F1929P8 A3

Yon koze sou dokiman konferans evèk Ayiti yo, 29 out, 1987 (Reflection on the Document From the Haitian Bishops’ Conference on August 29, 1987) William Smarth; Libros Latinos, bookseller Ayiti: [publisher not identified], 1987 PM7854.H348 S635 1987

Pierre Charles Varlé Philadelphia: Matthew Carey, 1814 G4940 1795 .V3 1814 Map

Bel Air Temple, 1987

Comptabilité Particulière relative aux Traites Reçues pour le Paiement de la Dette Nationale

Savalou E

1862–1864 Caribbean Documents Collection

1986–2010 Maggie Steber Photography Collection

Rachel Beauvoir and Didier Dominique Montréal: Éditions du CIDIHCA, 2003 HN212.5 .B43 2003

EXHIBITION CURATORIAL TEAM Béatrice Colastin Skokan | Curator of Caribbean Collections, Head of Manuscripts and Archives Management Cristina Favretto | Head of Special Collections Nicola Hellmann-McFarland | Senior Library Assistant Elisiene Jean | Senior Library Assistant Adrian Legaspi | Senior Library Assistant Kate Ramsey | Associate Professor of History Hadassah St. Hubert | CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow at the Digital Library of the Caribbean Jay Sylvestre | Special Collections Librarian and Public Services Coordinator, Kislak Center at the University of Miami Yvette Yurubi | Archives Assistant

FOR EXHIBIT PREPARATION, CONSERVATION, AND INSTALLATION, SPECIAL THANKS TO Duvy Argandoña | Assistant Conservator Laura Fedynyszyn | Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow Martha Horan | Head of Preservation Strategies

HELP US CONTINUE TO GROW In Special Collections, we believe in telling the whole story, and not just the narratives of power and wealth, so the documentation of everyday life in Haiti or within the Haitian Diaspora will be very useful in strengthening our collections. We are particularly interested in unique items, such as letters, scrapbooks, photographs, and ephemera.

If you think you have materials that would be appropriate for our Haitian Heritage Collection, please contact us at asc.library@miami.edu or at 305-284-3247.

We will be happy to speak with you.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI LIBRARIES The University of Miami Libraries provide faculty, students, researchers, and staff with the highest quality access to collections and information resources in support of the University’s mission to transform lives through research, teaching, and service.

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