Haitian Collection
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Scope and Contents
The Haitian Manuscripts Collection is a group of aproximately 1,000 items created in Haiti from approximately 1714 to 1916. The collection documents French colonial rule of Saint-Domingue, British and American interests in the region, the Revolution, the beginning of Haitian self-rule, and the development and evolution of the republic through the early 20th century.
Among other materials, the collection includes personal correspondence, business documents, financial records, government records, and military orders related broadly to the history of the country. Many of the materials in the collection were created by, or relate to significant figures in Haitian history, including Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture, Henry (Henri) Christophe, Alexandre Pétion, Jean Pierre Boyer, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, and Julien Raimond.
Dates
- 1714 - 1916
- Majority of material found within 1783 - 1839
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Items in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. In most cases, the Boston Public Library does not hold the copyright to the items in our collections. It is the sole responsibility of the user to make their own determination about what types of usage might be permissible under U.S. and international copyright law.
Extent
4.8 Linear Feet (23 boxes)
Language of Materials
French
English
Method of Acquisition
The group of manuscripts that constitute the Haitian Manuscripts Collection, as it exists today, were assembled primarily between 1966 and 1972. Individual items were purchased from booksellers, received via donation, or transferred from previously existing BPL collections, such as the Benjamin P. Hunt West Indies Collection. Hundreds of the manuscripts in the collection were acquired from Kurt A. Fischer in 1966.
Processing Information
This electronic finding aid is transcribed from legacy data. In many cases, transcriptions were not verified against collection materials at the time of transcription. As a result, this finding aid could be incomplete and might only reflect a partial understanding of the material.
Legacy data often reflects the biases of time periods and cultures in which it was created and may include direct quotations or descriptions that use inappropriate or harmful language. Descriptions based on legacy data are maintained to provide as much access as possible until the collection can be reprocessed. Efforts to replace outdated descriptions and to describe our collections in an equitable way are iterative and ongoing.
Processing Information
This electronic finding aid is transcribed from legacy data. In many cases, transcriptions were not verified against collection materials at the time of transcription. As a result, this finding aid could be incomplete and might only reflect a partial understanding of the material.
Statement on harmful description
Archival description reflects the biases of time periods and cultures in which it was created and may include direct quotations or descriptions that use inappropriate or harmful language. Creator provided descriptions may be maintained in order to preserve the context in which the collection was created and/or used. Legacy description and potentially offensive content may be made available online until a collection can be reprocessed because the access that they provide to primary source materials is uniquely valuable to the research community at large. Our efforts to repair outdated descriptions and to describe our collections more equitably are iterative and ongoing.
- Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, 1758-1806.
- France — Colonies Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Haiti -- History -- Revolution, 1791-1804. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Haiti — Civilization Subject Source: Local sources
- Haiti — Politics and Government — To 1791 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Haiti — Relations — United States Subject Source: Local sources
- Haiti — Social Conditions Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Slavery — Haiti — History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Toussaint Louverture, 1743-1803
- Title
- Haitian Collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Rare Books and Manuscripts Department staff, November 2011.
- Date
- 2011 November
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2011-11: Updated by Tara Maharjan, November 2011.
- 2021 April: Collection description, notes, languages and extent statement updated by Jay Moschella and Eve Neiger.
About this library
Part of the Boston Public Library Archives & Special Collections Repository
