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The CUNY Haitian Studies Institute (HSI) Archives is the repository for rare and unique materials obtained by CUNY HSI for the purpose of preserving these materials, offering patrons—scholars of all ages—access to primary source materials that are part of the Haitian experience and history in the New York diaspora. The materials within the collections include manuscripts, books, photographs, and other formats, are noncirculating and shelved in closed stacks, and are available by appointment.
The mission of the CUNY HSI is to make significant contributions to the advancement of Haitian, Caribbean, and Black studies through interdisciplinary research and practices. In support, the CUNY HSI Archives and Special Collections aims its commitment at documenting and acquiring materials that illustrate the experiences of the Haitian diaspora with a focus on New York City and Haiti.
In May 2016, the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York approved the creation of the university-wide Haitian Studies Institute, which is housed at Brooklyn College. The CUNY HSI Archives were formally established in August 2023 with the hiring of its first archivist.
The establishment of the archives upholds CUNY HSI’s mission as an academic unit aimed at encouraging and supporting studies on Haiti and Haitians, by seeking to acquire and preserve collections that represent the Haitian diaspora.
The archives currently hold eight recently acquired collections that include identified items such as artwork, rare books, personal papers, popular community and transnational radio programs, original televised programming, drum performances, and oral histories. The CUNY HSI also holds 150 circulating monographs within the Brooklyn College Library that will be housed in the archives space.
Mondays–Fridays, 11 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Please e-mail Obden Mondesir to schedule an appointment.
The CUNY HSI Archives is committed to preserving materials created by individuals, organizations, and other entities a part of the Haitian communities in New York specifically, whether the documents are analog or digital. The archives will serve the research needs of K–12 students, college students, graduate students, scholars, and community members. The CUNY HSI Archives will actively engage in inclusive donor stewardship to build archival holdings for the use of all researchers and to preserve these materials for future generations.
Materials will be accepted into the collection by deed of gift, bequest, or other forms of documentation by which full and absolute title is transferred to the CUNY HSI Archives. We reserve the right to determine retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations relating to the use or disposition of the material. Any limitation on use must be approved by the archivist at the time of accession into the collection. To the best of our ability, materials accepted into the collection will be housed in appropriate containers and stored in secure, climate-controlled areas.
The CUNY HSI Archives will not accept items and collections on “deposit” or “loan” or by any other means whereby Brooklyn College Library does not become the owner of the items. Rare exceptions may be made for items placed on permanent deposit or loan. Such deposits or loans must further the mission of Brooklyn College Library in a considerable fashion and must be approved by the college archivist.
The CUNY HSI Archives will not knowingly acquire items that have been stolen or illegally exported.
The CUNY HSI Archives will require donors to provide a notarized deed of gift when the gift is estimated to be worth more than $10,000 or at the discretion of the current archivist at the time of accession.
The CUNY HSI Archives collects personal papers, organizational records, audiovisual materials, and artwork of Haitians or about Haitians of the diaspora in the New York area. These include, but are not limited to:
Deaccessioning is an essential function and tool of collection development and curation. Reappraisal of collections is an accepted and necessary activity that permits archives to identify materials that would no longer be accepted under current standards or no longer fall within the scope of the Archives’ mission or collection development policy. Material selected to be deaccessioned may be returned to the donor (based on donor agreements), gifted/transferred to a more appropriate repository, or discarded. In identifying materials for deaccessioning (whether organized and described or not), the Archives staff considers the following:
The Haitian Studies Institute Archives and Special Collections hold the material culture of the Haitian diapsoiric community in the New York City area.
Visit finding aids or guides to our collections online.
To view the contents of a collection, you must visit the Brooklyn College Library.
Materials from the CUNY HSI Archives and Special Collections can be cited as follows:
Identification of specific item; date (if known); collection number—collection name, inclusive of dates; box and folder or other location; CUNY HSI Archives and Special Collections.
Subject, location, and/or description; date (if known); collection number—collection name, inclusive of dates; box and folder or other location; CUNY HSI Archives and Special Collections.
Captions for archival photographs should read “Courtesy of the CUNY HSI Archives and Special Collections.” Citation formats can be modified for specific bibliographic styles or publishers’ preferences; e-mail Obden Mondesir with any questions.
