Preserving the history of the diaspora

Join us in SIPA II 102 for a conversation about preserving history through archival collections, storytelling and placekeeping.
About this Event

Bahamians began arriving in Miami in the late 1800s, settling in Coconut Grove, Miami’s oldest neighborhood. Others established communities in Perrine, Overtown and South Miami. Bahamians played a key role in the transformation of South Florida’s rocky landscape into rich farmland and in the construction the Vizcaya estate and the City of Coral Gables. Starting in the 1940s, thousands of Bahamians came to the United States to work in the agricultural sector as a part of a guest worker program known as The Contract. Members of this vast diaspora and their descendants include civil rights icons, cultural preservationists, and business and community leaders who have played important roles in the history and development of Miami.

Our invited panelists, Helen Gage (The Bethel House Bahamian American Museum), Dr. Andy Ingraham (Bahamas Diaspora Association), Kamila Pritchett (The Black Archives History & Research Foundation of South Florida Inc.), Keith Moore (Profiles in Black Miami), will discuss how they have engaged in placekeeping and in preserving the history of the diaspora through the creation and activation of archives, recording stories and saving historic places. The discussion will be chaired by Enrique Rosell (Knight Foundation).

Need an accommodation or accessible materials? Contact the Office of Universal Access and Digital Compliance at [email protected] or 305-348-1576.

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