French and Francophone Studies

The Digital Library of the Caribbean, also known as dLOC, is a cooperative of partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC comprises collections that speak to the similarities and differences in histories, cultures, languages and governmental systems. Types of collections include but are not limited to: newspapers, archives of Caribbean leaders and governments, official documents, documentation and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and contemporary maps, oral and popular histories, travel accounts, literature and poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts.

Administered by Florida International University (FIU) in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and the University of Florida (UF), dLOC's technical infrastructure is provided by the University of Florida (UF).

Some of dLOC's partners in Haiti are:

• Archives Nationales d’Haïti houses civil and state records as well of those of the Office of the President and most government ministries.
• Bibliothèque Nationale d’Haïti, established in 1939, holds a collection of historical rare books, manuscripts and newspapers, and offers current publications, research support, and study space.
• Bibliothèque Haïtienne des Frères de l’Instruction Chrétienne (BHFIC), founded in 1912 by the Christian Brothers, serves as a repository for Haitian imprints and holds one of the most significant collections of newspapers.
• Bibliothèque Haïtienne des Pères du Saint-Esprit (BHPSE), (Saint-Martial) founded in 1873 by the Fathers of the Holy Spirit, holds documents and rare books chronicling French colonization, slavery and emancipation, the Haitian Revolution, and Haiti’s nineteenth and twentieth century history. Renamed Bibliothèque Haïtienne des Spiritains (BHS) in 2019.

This guide includes archival collections related to Haiti and Latin America and the Caribbean more broadly. It also includes information on rare books and digital collections. The material listed here can be consulted in Special Collections (UF).

Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969

This collection consists of the Confidential Print for Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Topics covered include slavery and the slave trade, immigration, relations with indigenous peoples, wars and territorial disputes, the fall of the Brazilian monarchy, British business and financial interests, industrial development, the building of the Panama Canal, and the rise to power of populist rulers such as Perón in Argentina and Vargas in Brazil.

To access this database from off-campus, you will need to be logged into the VPN or use the proxy.