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Griffith Hughes.

The Natural History of Barbados... "A Map of the Island of Barbados.


Drawn from an Actual Survey, and from the Observations of the Revd. Mr. Griffith Hughes M.A.F.R.S. By Thos. Jefferys Geographer..."


University of Central Florida. Special Collections, University Libraries. Orlando, Florida.

The University of Central Florida was founded in 1963 and opened in 1968 as one of the campuses in the State University system. Originally known as Florida Technological University its name was changed to the University of Central Florida in 1978. Initially the university was developed in response to the needs of the Cape Kennedy Space Complex. The school now serves one of the fastest growing areas in the state.

The University Library is located in the heart of the campus. The facility occupies 200,000 square feet and contains over 898,500 volumes. In addition to the Bryant West Indies Collection, Special Collections houses the rare books collection, a music collection, the Wagar Space Shot Collection, and local history material.


Bryant West Indies Collection. William J. Bryant of South Woodstock, Vermont, and Tangerine, Florida established The William L. Bryant Foundation in 1950 in memory of his father. The Foundation is dedicated to the promotion and support of archaeological research in Spain. Bryant's interest in Iberian ancient history, particularly Roman history, also led to formation of the Spanish American Archaeological Center for the Ballearic Islands. The William L. Bryant Foundation-American Studies Division is another outgrowth of Bryant's fascination with Spain and Spanish settlements. Bryant's continuing interest in Spanish culture manifested itself in Florida in 1956. He purchased a site known as Castle Windy, twelve miles south of New Smyrna. An excavation of a shell midden began in 1956 and was finished in 1958. Other Florida excavations sponsored by the Foundation include Green Mound, some eight miles south-southeast of Daytona Beach, Three Shell Middens in Ocala National Forest, and the Ross Hammock Site located southeast of Oak Hill in Volusia County, along the mainland side of the Intercoastal Waterway. The excavated Florida sites, all pre-Columbian, were abandoned before Spanish contact in the Americas.

The Foundation's attention turned from Florida to the West Indies to investigate possible relationships between early peoples of both areas. Through the cooperation of the National Park Service, the Florida State Museum, the Central Florida Museum, and the Foundation, archaeologists conducted surveys at St. Thomas and St. John of the American Virgin Islands from 1958 to 1960. Other survey work began in 1969 on St. Vincent and the Grenadine islands.

In addition, the Foundation sponsors the West Indies Center, first located in the Central Florida Museum, and placed on deposit at the University of Central Florida in 1972. The Center collects, preserves, and exhibits native West Indian folk art. The Center comprises a library of some 1,500 books covering all subjects pertaining to the islands, paintings by local artists, sculptures in wood and iron, musical instruments, native music either taped or recorded, and ethnological items used in daily life. The collection is particularly strong in Haitian art.


Griffith Hughes. The Natural History of Barbados. In Ten Books. By the Reverend Mr. Griffith Hughes, A.M. Rector of St. Lucy's Parish, in Said Island, and F.R.S. London: Printed for the Author; and sold by most Booksellers in Great Britain and Ireland. 1750. With A Map of the Island of Barbados. Drawn from an Actual Survey, and from the Observations of the Revd. Mr. Griffith Hughes M.A.F.R.S. By Thos. Jefferys Geographer...

Hughes is believed to have been born in England in 1707 and was a graduate of St. John's College, Oxford. The Natural History of Barbados was illustrated by Georg Dionysius Ehret, a German artist noted for his botanical work. In 1737 he illustrated Linnæus' Hortus Cliffortiaus.


Dorvo-Soulastre. Voyage par terre de Santo-Domingo, Capitale de la Partie Espagnole de Saint-Domingue, Au Cap-Français, Capitale de la Partie Française de la même Isle... Par Dorvo- Soulastre... A Paris, Chez Chaumerot, Libraire, au Palais du Tribunat, Galeries de bois, No. 188. 1809.

Little is known of the author of this account of a trip from the capital of the present day Dominican Republic to the north coast of Haiti. The island, then called Saint- Domingue and now Hispaniola, had been divided by the French and Spanish into two separate colonies. Dorvo- Soulastre made his trip in March or April of 1798, under the orders of the Government of the French Republic. He had served as a member of the French colonial administration. The 1790s was one of great unrest in Haiti. Toussaint Louverture rose to power and led the Haitian Revolution, which had begun in 1791. He was an enigmatic man, a former slave, a brilliant general, and leader of the black people. After the Revolution he was able to work with the French and it was during this time that Dorvo-Soulastre undertook his trip. But Toussaint Louverture did not trust the French and ended relations with them. Initially this rebellion succeeded, but in 1802 Toussaint Louverture was defeated, surrendered to the French, and died in a French prison in 1803. His death lead to the final overthrow of the French, and in 1804 Haiti became the second independent country in the Western World, following the United States, and the first free black republic in modern times.

The city of Cap-Français, today called Cap-Haïtien, was the original capital of Haiti. The city was founded in 1670 by the French near the point where Columbus' flagship foundered on Christmas Day, 1492, and where he built La Navidad Fort. Santo Domingo was founded by Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.


Lionel Cineus. Painting. [n.p., n.d.]

Haitian art is a visually appealing mix of colors and styles combining images from the history of Haiti, its people and culture. The art mixes African, Caribbean, and French motifs with Christian and voodoo symbolism. The naive style of its artists, many with little or no training, lends an air of innocence to the art belying the harsh working conditions under which it has been produced.


Carey-Hand Funeral Home, Orlando, Florida. Book #61. Nov. 22 1931 to Jan 12 1932. Record no. 6351. Melvil Dewey.

The University of Central Florida's Special Collections has the complete collection of records and registers from the Carey-Hand Funeral Home of Orlando which was the only agency in Central Florida offering funeral services during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many notable figures are represented in these records, including Melvil Dewey, founder of the first American library school and the American Library Association. Melvil Dewey died in 1931 in Lake Placid, Florida. Dewey purchased land in Florida during the height of the land boom in the area of Lake Stearns, south of Orlando. His purpose was to establish a southern arm of his famous New York Lake Placid Club. In 1927 he persuaded the Florida legislature to change the name of Lake Stearns to Lake Placid and began to develop the area. Construction began in 1929. At the time of his death Dewey was wintering in his new home.