[act-ma] 6/17 Honoring Haitian Hero Toussaint Louverture and ongoing Art Exhibition

[Charlie Welch]

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Rabb Lecture Hall

Central Library in Copley Square. 700 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116


Panelists will discuss Haitian Revolution leader Toussaint Louverture’s 
historical impact and his influence on the abolitionist movement and 
popular culture in the United States—particularly New England and 
Boston—during the nineteenth century and beyond.


Exhibition hours: Monday—Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuesday, June 17 – Tuesday, September 30, 2014


This exhibition draws from the Boston Public Library’s important 
collection of Haitian and West Indies materials containing 10,000+ books 
and manuscripts.


For pictures and links go to

http://www.bpl.org/press/2014/05/20/boston-public-library-celebrates-210-years-of-haitian-independence/


Boston Public Library Celebrates 210 Years of Haitian Independence


Programs and exhibitions honor Haitian heritage


Boston Public Library hosts programs and exhibitions in May and June 
that document the arduous journey to the free Republic of Haiti and 
celebrate more than 200 years of Haitian independence.


An exhibition featuring artworks that honor Haitian revolutionary 
Toussaint Louverture is on display at the Mattapan Branch, located at 
1350 Blue Hill Avenue, through July 18.


At the Central Library in Copley Square, located at 700 Boylston Street, 
the exhibition The Soul of a Man: Toussaint Louverture & the Haitian 
Slave Revolt opens in the Rare Books Lobby on Tuesday, June 17, and runs 
through September 30 of this year. The Central Library exhibition tells 
the compelling story of Toussaint Louverture, a leader of the armed 
resistance against colonization and slavery and his significant role in 
the future of a free Haiti.

“Boston Public Library welcomes researchers, visitors, and academics to 
view the materials that played a critical role in the freedom and 
development of Haiti,” said Susan Glover, Keeper of Special Collections.

A panel discussion and slideshow featuring Toussaint Louverture’s 
historical impact and his influence on the abolitionist movement and 
popular culture in the United States will be held on Tuesday, June 17 at 
6:30 p.m. in Rabb Lecture Hall at the Central Library in Copley Square. 
Panelists include Boston Public Library Trustee and State Representative 
Byron Rushing, Dr. Marc Prou of the University of Massachusetts, 
Professor Patricia Hills of Boston University, and moderators Marie St. 
Fleur and Dr. Nesly Metayer. Representatives from the Boston City 
Council, the NAACP, and State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry will join the 
panel for special remarks.

“The panelists will offer a glimpse of little known but important facts 
connecting the U.S. to Haiti and further validate the historical bonds 
between the Haitian Revolution and New England abolitionists,” said 
Charlot Lucien, one of the organizers for Haitian-Americans United Inc.

The Central Library exhibition draws on Boston Public Library’s vast 
collection of Haitian and West Indies materials which includes 10,000+ 
books, manuscripts, and letters dating from 1714-1916 and features a 
copy of the Code Henry, which was issued in 1812 and codifies the civil 
and criminal laws of Haiti. The collection documents the colonial rule 
of Saint-Domingue, the slave insurrection, the beginning of Haitian 
self-rule, and the development of Haiti, the first black republic in the 
world. The Rare Books Lobby is located on the third floor of the McKim 
Building at the Central Library in Copley Square. It is open Monday 
through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more at www.bpl.org/exhibitions.

These exhibitions and programs are the result of a collaboration between 
Haitian-Americans United Inc., Haitian Artists Assembly of 
Massachusetts, and Boston Public Library. The Haitian community has a 
strong presence in Massachusetts, with 80,000 members, and constitutes 
the third largest Haitian community in the country.

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