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CARIBBEAN COLLAGE

Archival Collections AND THE Construction of History

The intersection of Native American, European, African and Asian peoples in the Caribbean since 1492 has generated countless stories of conflict, degradation and achievement. Though the voices of the vast majority of the participants in the region’s dramas are lost forever, some people created written records of their experiences and observations. Today, careful study of these records allows us to discover diverse accounts of the Caribbean past, ranging from passing comments on daily occurrences to reports on major events that changed the course of world history.

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, 1697-1792. A new and complete map of the West Indies comprehending all the coasts and islands known by that name. From Thomas Kitchin, 1718-1784.A general atlas, describing the whole universe. London: Laurie and Whittle, 1794. D’Anville was a French royal geographer and cartographer. This map was published shortly after the French and Haitian revolutions, a time of intense European rivalry in the Caribbean.

Caribbean Collage features unique documents, rare books, maps and other materials from the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries, which hold one of the largest Caribbean collections in the world. Highlighted in the exhibition are several archival collections recently acquired by the Libraries.

The collections on display focus on the histories of the English-speaking Caribbean, Haiti and Cuba from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Massive social change occurred during this period: imperial powers fought over various islands, slavery ended throughout the region, new forms of plantation and small-scale agriculture developed, and independent nation-states, with distinct creole cultures, emerged. This exhibition explores these large-scale transformations through documents of specific events in people’s lives: letters, diaries, ledger entries, business records, scrapbook clippings, photographs, drawings and similar items. Books and maps provide additional perspectives.

Caribbean Collage provides no single narrative or interpretation of the Caribbean past. The documents and images presented here offer viewers the opportunity to piece together their own Caribbean histories. Through the examination of archival collections, it is possible to (re)construct many collages or assembled pictures of the Caribbean.

Next: Caribbean Collections at the University of Florida

Caribbean Collage Home | Introduction
Caribbean Collections at the University of Florida | British Imperialism in the Caribbean
The Haitian Revolution |The Cuban Wars of Independence
U.S. Imperialism in the Caribbean |Credits

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