Research 3:
The Haitian American Dream Timeline
Background
Few studies have examined Haitian immigrants' forgotten stories and events in the United States. In addition, they have failed to provide nuanced explanations for the different waves of Haitian migration, their ongoing impacts, and upheavals.
George A. Smathers Libraries, which owns approximately 500,000 volumes, over 50,000 microforms, thousands of current and historical serial titles, and a large number of digital resources, chose to highlight the story of Haitian migration to the US using their Latin American Collection to educate diverse audiences (students, faculty, community members, and K-12 teachers).
My task was to develop a timeline relating the history of Haitian migration to the United States based on items from the Latin American Collection from 1900 to the present.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
A timeline was constructed based on the following questions:
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What items should be selected from the collections, and for what reasons?
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How do we engage Haitian Americans and Haitians living in Haiti?
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How do we engage different learners?
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What is the most effective way to tell the story?
ROLE
I was the researcher for this project.
TEAM COMPOSITION
The team was composed of three people: Dr. Margarita Vargas Betancourt, Project Manager; Ivanna Moreno, Product Designer; and myself.
Timeline
The project started in January 2019 and launched on the timeline in November 2020.
RESEARCH PROCESS & METHODS
STEP 1
Research Plan
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Gathered literature on the topic to identify key events while creating a Google spreadsheet to keep track of them.
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Watched interviews about Haitian migration.
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Reviewed over 1000 materials to determined which materials need to be digitalized based on repeated entries found on Google spreadsheet.
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Created the timeline's metadata.
STEP 2
Pros
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Selected Timeline JS as the project's digital tool to display the story.
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It uses a Google spreadsheet.
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It allows creators to include different media types: radio, pictures, and texts.
Cons
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Timeline only moves to one direction (left to right).
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Pictures need to be altered to be displayed properly
STEP 3
Review:
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Sent timeline to reviewers to fact-check the story and test the timeline.
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Used feedback received from reviewers to adjust the timeline.
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Retested and launched the timeline.
STEP 4
Research Insights
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150 entries illustrate the complexities of Haitian migration, such as Duvalier's reign in power, through archival materials, newspaper articles, and scholarly works.
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Other findings include the connection between Haiti and African Americans.
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We held an online event on March 21, 2021, to launch the timeline.
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Readers have thanked us for doing this timeline in emails.
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The timeline was featured on L'Union Suite, the #1 Haitian American platform in the US, for its complex storytelling.
STEP 5
Setbacks and Challenges
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Before the pandemic, we used to meet in the office, review the items, and discuss our selection process.
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Since we could not go to the office, we met biweekly on Zoom.
Lesson Learned
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With the growing number of Haitians migrating, the timeline is likely to continue to evolve.
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The timeline will be updated whenever there is an event.