History, Journalism, Haiti: Reflections on the New York Times "The Ransom" Series

History, Journalism, Haiti: Reflections on the New York Times "The Ransom" Series will bring together the NYT team with several historians of Haiti, both based in Haiti and elsewhere, to talk about the opportunities and the processes for making complex history into news. "The Ransom" series investigated the deep history of Haiti, its liberatory Revolution and the extortion of its resources over centuries. The series, which consulted scholars and included a lengthy bibliography of source material, prompted international action and commentary. It also offered a wonderful case study of the role of investigative journalists, historians, and other scholars in making history news.

Co-convened by the John Carter Brown Library and the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia.

Convening:
Laurent Dubois, Academic Director of the Karsh Institute of Democracy and Professor of History at the University of Virginia
Karin Wulf, Director & Librarian of John Carter Brown Library and Professor of History at Brown University

Participants:
Anthony Bogues, Brown University
Marlene Daut, Professor of French and African-American Studies at Yale University
Alex Dupuy, Wesleyan University
John Garrigus, University of Texas, Arlington
Constant Méheut, New York Times
George Michel, Université Quisqueya
Gusti Gaillard Pourchet, École Normale Supérieure de l’Université d’État d’Haïti*
Catherine Porter, New York Times
* Subject to availability due to travel

For more information on the event participants:

Catherine Porter is the Toronto Bureau chief for the New York Times; she was part of a New York Times team that won the Polk award for work from Haiti and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. 

Constant Méheut reports for The New York Times in France. He joined the Paris bureau in January 2020.

Anthony Bogues is Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University.  His numerous books include Caliban's Freedom: The Early Political Thought of C.L.R. James  and Empire of Liberty: Power, Freedom and Desire.

Alex Dupuy is Professor Emeritus at Wesleyan University and the author of Haiti: From Revolutionary Slaves to Powerless Citizens.  

Marlene Daut is a Professor of African-American Studies and French at Yale University and the author of Tropics of Haiti. Her essays on the 1825 indemnity include “When France Extorted Haiti” and “What the French Really Owe Haiti.”

John Garrigus is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Arlington and the author of Before Haiti: Race and Citizenship in Saint- Domingue.  

Peter Hudson is Professor or African-American Studies and History at UCLA and the author of Bankers and Empire: How Wall Street Colonized the Caribbean.

Georges Michel is Professor at Université Quisquiya and the author of Les chemins de fer de l'île d'Haïti and Charlemagne Péralte and the First American Occupation of Haiti 

Gusti Gaillard Pourchet is Professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure of the Université d’Etat d’Haïti and the author of L’expérience haïtienne de la dette extérieure ou une production caféière pillée.