Building a Black Nation: Haitian Dynasties of the (Long) Nineteenth Century

Haiti’s anticolonial self-making was ‘unthinkable’ in western thought (Trouillot), founded on the most successful slave revolt in history. Its major historical significance remains largely invisible in public consciousness in the North Atlantic world. Intertwined with global stories of connection, confrontation, revolution and nation-building, Haiti’s sovereign history – though understudied and underacknowledged – represents a linchpin of the modern world. Vast heritage assets relating to early visions of Haitian statehood are dispersed in international collections; yet, they remain largely hidden from public view and access. Commencing in 2025-2026, “Building a Black Nation: Haitian Dynasties of the (Long) Nineteenth Century” proposes to break this trend. As an integrated public heritage, engaged research and digital humanities project, "Building a Black Nation" aims to reassemble dispersed and displaced stories (embedded in texts, images and objects) related to diverse visions of early Haitian sovereignty. The project coincides with the 220th anniversary of Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ 1805 imperial constitution – unprecedented for institutionalising Blackness as the foundation of Haitian citizenship – which followed Haiti’s rapid transition from independent statehood after the Haitian Revolution (1791-1803) to elective monarchy in 1804. Most significantly, 2025 marks the bicentenary of the indemnity agreement thrust upon Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer by France: an event that signalled both the diplomatic making of Haiti as an internationally recognised sovereign state, and its financial ruin, creating generational ripples that extend into the present. Undeniably, research in the interrelated fields of Black Atlantic Studies and Haitian Studies (especially at the intersection of public history and digital humanities) has made strides in rehabilitating the story of the Haitian Revolution in recent decades, especially as a touchpoint for wider narratives of enslaved resistance in the Atlantic world and beyond. However, the story of what came next, and the story of western implication to which it is tethered is less easily confronted. Indeed, it has yet to be significantly told. Through a series of physical exhibitions in the UK, Italy, the US and Haiti, “Building a Black Nation” brings the dynastic visions of early Haitian sovereignty to light. It fosters inclusion and access via workshops and outreach events, a digital archive and multilingual Open Access education guides. Most importantly, it seeks to bridge the divide between academic and non-specialist audiences and amplify the most marginal voices in Haitian history – especially voices of women who contributed to the project of nationhood. To that end, it promises the first popular biography of Haiti’s first and only queen, Marie-Louise Christophe. This is coupled with an unprecedented series of historically informed dress reconstructions that combine to communicate her fascinating story. Drawing upon rasanblaj, a practice advocated by Haitian American scholar, artist and activist Gina Athena Ulysse which describes a process of re-/assembly in Haitian Kreyòl, this project aims fundamentally to unearth, render visible, recreate and facilitate engaged and ongoing conversations around hidden Haitian histories. Moreover, it aspires to create imprints that are not only ephemeral, but are permanently and freely accessible in multiple languages. In so doing, it strives to both enrich and service communities and to mobilise them through local, national and international collaborations that create structures and strategies of heritage resilience, ethical caretakership and restitution for Haiti and citizens of the Haitian dyaspora.