Courtesy of Duke University

Duke graduate student Julia Gaffield was lucky enough to stumble upon Haiti’s only known copy of its Declaration of Independence while researching in Britain’s National Archives in London recently. Here’s what the JCB’s Patrick Tardieu, who recently arrived to Brown from Haiti after the quake, had to say about it, excerpted from National Geographic:

… Gaffield consulted with Patrick Tardieu, a noted Haitian archivist who is now a fellow at Brown University’s John Carter Brown Library, to confirm the document’s authenticity.

“Its discovery is important news for Haiti’s scholarly community and more broadly for the people of Haiti.”

“I was so happy to find out it was true,” said Tardieu, the chief conservator of one of Haiti’s oldest libraries. “It is an important document, and its discovery is important news for Haiti’s scholarly community and more broadly for the people of Haiti.

Up until news of the terrible earthquake that hit Haiti broke just over a week ago, most of us were living in somewhat of a removed vacation world. But the news of the earthquake was a harsh reminder that it was time to snap out of it and step back into the real world. Haiti needs all the help it can get in rebuilding—homes are lost, people are getting sick, families have been broken up, and a startling number of children have been newly orphaned. All around the world, people have been lending a helping hand to Haitians. Countless newscasts and big events like George Clooney’s telethon “Hope for Haiti Now,” have raised awareness on a large scale, and here on College Hill, both Brown and RISD have coordinated relief efforts. It’s imperative that we all do what we can to help, whether it’s volunteering to work at a bake sale, attending a concert that sends money to Haiti relief funds. After the jump, how you can help here at Brown.

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