The
Caribbean Collection
An Archival Survey of the Records
of the
Jamaican and Trinidadian Communities
of Brooklyn
The objective of this project was to identify, locate, and survey records in all formats that document the evolution and growth of two very significant Caribbean communities within the borough of Brooklyn. This project will produce the first comprehensive archival survey of these communities, and serve as a prototype for similar surveys of Brooklyn's other Caribbean communities.
The Archives and Special Collections Division of the Brooklyn College Library, established in 1950, is committed to acquiring, preserving, and providing access to records of enduring value that document the Brooklyn College community. The division collects both published and unpublished works relating to the unique cultural, social, and historical development of the borough of Brooklyn.This particular project is placed within Brooklyn College's Archival Studies and Community Documentation Program. This program, under the direction of the Archives and Special Collections Division and the Department of History, is the first of its kind within the City University of New York. It combines course work with internship opportunities, enabling students to complete a minor in Archival Studies and Community Documentation. In addition to helping students explore prospective careers in professions related to community history, it also promotes documentation of the many communities neighboring Brooklyn College.
Given these resources and the fact that the Jamaican and Trinidadian & Tobagonian communities represent a large and thriving segment of the neighborhoods surrounding the college, Brooklyn College was uniquely suited to carry out a records survey project of this magnitude. As a result, in December 2000, a major portion of the Metropolitan New York Library Council's (METRO) Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) was sub-contracted to the Archives & Special Collections Division for this three-year project.
The survey included, but was not limited to, political organizations, cultural organizations, business associations, and fraternal / social / faith-based organizations.
The archival survey sought to identify materials of historical importance. This includes important papers (e.g., files documenting how an organization came into being, structure of the organization, date of incorporation, mission statements, charters, board meeting minutes, etc.), computer records, maps, drawings, photographs, video tapes, audio tapes, etc.
The purpose of the archival survey was to ensure that these valuable records are identified as such, and preserved for future historians. Part of the mission of this project will be to help the organizations that own these records maintain and preserve them.During the identification phase, the Project Coordinator visited the sites where the records are held and reviewed the existing records. The end result of each survey was a document that provided basic information about the organization in question and its records. This information includes the amount of records being held, such as the size of the collection, the format of the records (files, tapes, etc.), the language they are written in, why the records were created, whether or not they are confidential, whether or not there are any restrictions on access to these records by researchers, etc.
It is important to note that in no way will this survey interfere with the ownership and control of these records. If asked, we will offer advice to the organizations surveyed regarding preservation and maintenance. However, our mission is not to effect the transfer of these records to a historical records repository, unless a particular group is seeking to do so. Likewise, records that are described as confidential will remain so; it will be solely up to the individual organizations to decide which records will be open to researchers and which will not.
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