16039: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-Keeping Haitian history alive (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Keeping Haitian history alive


By Alva James-Johnson
Staff Writer

June 23, 2003

As a diplomat for Haiti, Mauclair Zephirin traveled the world, gathering
Haitian political documents and literature. But with the rise of the
Duvalier family, Zephirin was imprisoned when he returned to his country in
1959.

A few months after his release in 1960, he died, and his brother-in-law
moved the collection to a Catholic secondary school in Port-au-Prince for
safekeeping. Now the country's political and economic outlook are so bleak,
the school not only had to pass when the family offered to sell the
collection; school officials could no longer guarantee its safety.

Today the books and documents -- more than 200 in all -- are back with
Zephirin's family, sitting in their Boca Raton garage, a treasury of Haitian
history, heritage and culture that has been locked away for decades. "We
believe it would be more useful in a public place where the materials can be
used by many people," said Gerard Latortue, the son-in-law who, along with
the former ambassador's daughter and widow, is a guardian and owner of the
collection.

Soon that public place may exist. Broward County library officials and
Haitian-American leaders are working on a project to promote and preserve
Haitian works of art, literature and artifacts at the new African-American
Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale. The Zephirin
collection is one of the first being considered for the project, called "Pon
Lakay" in Haitian Creole, or "Bridges to Our Home."

Latortue, Haiti's former minister of foreign affairs, said South Florida
would be an ideal location for such a collection. The West Indian population
is booming, having grown by 173 percent in Broward County, 142 percent in
Palm Beach County and 45 percent in Miami-Dade County between 1990 and 2000.
Recent census figures peg the number of Haitians at 185,000, but community
leaders estimate as many as 300,000 Haitians live in South Florida.

Latortue said people are becoming intrigued with the history and culture of
the islands, and Haiti will draw a lot of attention as the country
celebrates its bicentennial in 2004.

One of the books in Zephirin's collection contains the correspondence of
Haitian Revolutionary Toussaint L'Overture, who led the revolt of freed
slaves that ended in Haitian independence from France in 1804. Another book
contains all of the parliamentary acts and laws enacted in the country from
1840 to 1843.

"Today people doing research on Haiti go to Gainesville, where there's a
specialized library on the Caribbean and Latin America at the University of
Florida," Latortue said. If South Florida develops a first-rate research
collection of Caribbean materials, "the region will be the capital of the
Caribbean, not only as far as business, but as far as research."

Marvin DeJean, of Minority Development and Empowerment Inc., has been
spearheading the Pon Lakay project. He said the collection could be a source
of pride for Haitian children growing up in South Florida. "They have no
real connection to their homeland," he said. "It's important to have a piece
of our culture and heritage for them in Broward County."

Julie Hunter, the African-American Research Library's executive director,
said Haitian materials would be an expansion of the library's special
collections section, which already has 12,000 rare books and 15 named
collections. Hunter said the Pon Lakay project fits into the library's role
as a bridge between the people of the African Diaspora and their heritage
and culture.

Alva James-Johnson can be reached at ajjohnson@sun-sentinel.com or
954-356-4523.


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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