Building an Archive Through Collaborative Research
Mapping Haiti: Archives and Histories of Cap-Haïtien is an interdisciplinary collaboration bringing together historians, digital humanists, GIS specialists, archivists, librarians, and student researchers. Together, the team works to reunite dispersed archival materials, develop new spatial histories, and create publicly accessible tools for exploring the history of Cap-Haïtien.
Student Research Team
Rachel Jean-Baptiste
Professor of History, Lead P.I. Stanford University
Rachel Jean-Baptiste is a historian of Haiti, West and Central Africa, urban history, and the Atlantic world. Her research examines the relationships between cities, infrastructure, mobility, gender, and the built environment. Mapping Haitigrows from her ongoing commitment to expanding access to archival materials while developing new approaches to historical research through digital humanities.
Stara Cindelle D'Haiti
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Stanford University
Stara contributes to archival research and the development of the Mapping Haiti repository. As a member of the research team, she assists with collecting, organizing, and contextualizing historical sources that support the project's digital archive and spatial history initiatives.
Ariana Duduna
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Stanford University
Ariana contributes to archival research, metadata development, and digital repository building for Mapping Haiti. Her interests in economics, public policy, and research methodology inform the project's work organizing historical collections and improving public access to archival materials.
Imani Dennison
MFA Candidate, Department of Art & Art History
Stanford University
Project Development & Website Design
As a graduate student on the project, Imani leads the development and design of the Mapping Haiti website. She translates the project's archival research into an accessible digital platform through website design, information architecture, and user experience, supporting public engagement with the archive and its spatial histories.
Research Focus
Rather than treating archives as static collections, the project approaches them as dynamic records of movement, memory, and historical change. By combining historical research with GIS mapping, archival recovery, and digital humanities methods, the team seeks to create new pathways for understanding Cap-Haïtien's place within Haitian and Atlantic history.