The objective of this project is 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.

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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  The division collects both published and unpublished works relating to the unique cultural, social, and historical development of the borough of Brooklyn.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 is 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.

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The survey will include, but not be limited to, political organizations, cultural organizations, business associations, and fraternal / social / faith-based organizations. While we have already identified a number of organizations as likely candidates for this survey, we fully expect to add additional groups as the survey progresses.

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The archival survey will seek to identify materials of historical importance. This can include 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.  We expect that the nature of these papers will vary from group to group. For instance, an organization whose mission is primarily business oriented may be more likely to have extensive formal paper files, while a social or benevolent group may have more in the way of photographs and oral history. 

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The purpose of the archival survey is 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 will visit the sites where the records are held and review the existing records. The end result of each survey will be a document that will provide basic information about the organization in question and its records. (These documents are referred to by archivists as "finding aids" - click on this link to see examples of online finding aids.) This information will include 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. 

As the project progresses, this information will be published in both print and electronic form, so that researchers will know what information is available, where it can be found, and under what conditions it may be used. This web site will document the progress of this project as well as provide ongoing information for scholars and archivists as well as students and members of the community.

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.