National Archives of Haiti

The National Archives of Haiti were established in 1860. The archives hold the records of the office of the President and most government ministries. They are currently participating in the Digital Library of the Caribbean's Protecting Haitian Patrimony Initiative.

Prior to the earthquake of 2010, the Director Jean-Wilfred Bertrand has said that items in the archive were already damaged, destroyed or poorly housed. These items included civil registrations, and papers from the President, Ministries and Parliament. He has said that "since the earthquake, the situation is worse". In the meantime, he is working with the International Association of Francophone Archives (Association Internationale des Archives Francophone) who have been providing guidance since the earthquake.

The Archives Nationales d'Haiti were created by a Presidential Decree on August 20, 1860. The Decree occurred under the government of Fabre Nicolas Geffrard. The Decree established the "General Archives of Finances" which were the Republic of Haiti's first formal and official Archives. Although the Government had at an early time legislated on the issue of Archives, after Geffrard (1859-1867), the institution was never granted the attention it deserved. From 1868 to 1921, the Archives was abandoned. This included the Celebration of the first Centennial of Independence in 1904. In 1922, the archives repository was moved to a premise which was initially designed to shelter a public market. 19 years passed before a Decree Law issued on October 20, 1941, changed the "Service in charge of the State's Archives" into the "National Archives."

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