Week 1:
Gerace Research Center & The National Archives of the Bahamas

December 20, 2012

I arrived almost exactly one year later in Nassau, Bahamas to complete research for my senior thesis on December 5, 2012. This time with funds provided by the Triggs Cornell Fellowship I was allowed two days in Nassau to complete research at The National Archives of the Bahamas. After an evening of rest from traveling, our next two days in Nassau were full of adventures. The very next day we walked to the Archives of the Bahamas (in the rain), and upon our arrival and to my amazement the staff had never heard of us! Go figure, I almost passed out!

Mrs. Strachan asked me who I was and what type of research I was completing at the Archives and I tried to refresh her memory as best I could from a few emails I sent to her colleague a few months earlier. It took her some time to recall the notes that were left with her from another staff member, so I calmed down and decided keeping my cool and not passing out was a better option. The archivist and assistants were at our beckon call (Prof. Stewart informed me later that this was not typical Archival behavior) the staff members provided us with all the documents we needed right away.

The first thing that I looked through was the Slave Registers of 1821, upon my surprise the first two documents were slave returns on the very slave I came to complete research for. These documents provided me with information on Matilda’s former slave owners  and  insight to the  region she lived in prior to San Salvador, Bahamas. A flood of happiness rushed over me. I could not believe that first document I looked through was precisely what I needed and I had to maintain composure and continue on with the research. We were limited in time (we only had a day and a half in the archives) and needed to look through as many documents as possible. The staff took to us right away (dare I say it was due to my southern charm) they allowed us access to the original documents (which rarely happens) and copied pages that pertained to our research. I will forever be indebted to Mrs. Strachan, Ms. Monalisa Carey, and all the staff members for their generosity and knowledge that assisted me in this research. Prof. Stewart and I spent the whole day in the Archives (7 hours straight) only stopping for a 15 minute snack break, and we enjoyed every second of it.

The second day in the archives proved much longer and harder to find sources that would inform my project, but we struck gold again when we found Governor Despatches dated May 11, 1832 ( a memo from Gov. Smythe discussing the mutiny of Farquharson’s plantation), excited is not the word to express my feelings. There was a mix of emotions that ranged from exhaustion, happiness, and appreciation for the efforts of everyone assisting me in this project.

Saturday was another travel day, off to San Salvador we went! We dug right in the very next day. Mrs. Li Newton took us to Fortune Hill, one of the plantations that were not accessible upon my first trip, and that adventure concluded with numerous mosquito bites to the face and beautiful pictures of the plantation ruins. I really enjoyed this site, mostly because of the well preserved latrine and the library building. I’m not sure if Fortune Hill will be of much use to my final project but the experience was amazing.

This week’s experience overall taught me that I should always be over prepared encounters such as my arrival to the archives. I feel as though if I had a copy of the email myself, and came with a few things in mind to research the first five minutes of my time in the archives would not have been such of a panic. I also had the opportunity to practice a professional skill of composure (which I have been practicing since my first year at Cornell) under times of pressure the first week of my fellowship. I continued to develop skills of focus and a mindset of perseverance during my first week of the fellowship. These are skills and values that will remain with me throughout my work life and personal endeavors.