The Caribbean Collection at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

Extract

Since the early 1960s there has been increasing interest in Caribbean life and affairs; consequently, the discovery of new sources of materials and centers for research on the region are of particular importance to the growing number of Caribbeanists. The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University in Washington, D.C. is funded by the university and receives additional finances annually from numerous donors; it is a vital part of the university's library system and operates under the supervision of the office of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs. Among the thousands of books, articles, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, prints, and recordings on the black diaspora are myriad materials on the Caribbean. This Caribbean collection is as extensive and important an investigative tool as many of the better-known repositories in the United States or Canada; but this century-old holding is hardly known. Probably one of the main reasons for this oversight is that Caribbean source material may appear to be outside the academic scope of Howard University; hence, Caribbeanists frequent traditional centers such as the Institute of Jamaica in Kingston and the Bodleian and West India Committee Libraries in Britain.