Academics race to save rare colonial documents in Cuba

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Academics race to save rare colonial documents in Cuba
Chris Gillette, Associated Press Updated 6:19 am, Monday, January 16, 2017


HAVANA (AP) — An American team of academics is racing to preserve millions of Cuban historical documents before they are lost to the elements and poor storage conditions.

Many of the documents shed light on the slave trade, an integral part of Cuba's colonial history that was intertwined with that of the United States.

. . .

Their latest project is a partnership between the British Library Foundation and Vanderbilt University to capture almost 2 million documents in digital form, a treasure trove stretching back to the mid-16th century of documents about early island life and the slave trade.

David Lafevor said there is nothing like Cuba's documents in the U.S., where slaves were considered possessions, not human beings.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Academics-race-to-save-rare-colonial-documents-in-10859637.php

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Hope they are able to retrieve and archive this material

There are tens of millions here and around the world whose families' historical journeys may have come through places like Cuba, Hispaniola (i.e., Haiti & Dominican Republic), and other Caribbean islands.