About Us

The Caribbean Cultural Heritage Alliance, Inc (CCHA) is an ”off-spring” of the West Indian Social Club of Hartford, Inc.

It started as a Cultural Heritage Committee in 2014 to find ways to preserve the history of the organization and its contribution to the Greater Hartford community. In collaboration with the Educational Development Seaport Network (EDSN), the committee immediately began to organize and secure the artifacts and documents of the organization. Arts, Culture & Historical Preservation were identified as one of the pillars for the strategic plan.

Its primary goal is to create a historical archive, and education center that is open to the public and which allow for an exploration of Caribbean culture, history, and heritage. CCHA through its collections, exhibits, and educational programming and publications, celebrates the history and culture of the Caribbean people. With oral history at its center, the organization offers a way to both collect, narrate, and curate—a way to leverage stories as artifacts and to provide immediate public access to the collections through programming and exhibitions. The project partners collaborate with archives, libraries, schools, social and community organizations.

2015

In 2015, WISC images were on display at the Connecticut Historical Society for 30 days as part of the Mas Camp exhibition accompanying the annual West Indian independence celebrations.

2016

In 2016, in addition to planning and executing a cultural heritage program, we were able to create exhibits of our history through storytelling. The focus was on creating a travelling exhibit to increase the community’s awareness of the history of Caribbean people in the region.

2017-2018

In 2017-2018, the emphasis was on the expansion of the cultural exhibitions and broadening the range of K-12 collaborations. The exhibit was featured at several community events throughout the year.

2019

In 2019, the “proof of concept” for the travel exhibit was concluded with partnerships focused on social justice, human rights, and housing as a major theme. The strategic decision was made to separate the cultural heritage program from the West Indian Social Club of Hartford, Inc. by creating its own entity.

2020

In August 2020, the Caribbean Cultural Heritage Alliance, Inc (CCHA) was established and obtained its exempt status from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501 (c) 3. Donors will be able to deduct contributions they make to the organization.

man is playing on a steel drums at cruise ship open deck

About the Caribbean Community and the Greater Hartford County Demographics

CCHA will leverage community-based archival collecting, an oral history initiative, and traveling exhibitions to foster public and curricular conversations about migration, settlement, and the history of people of Caribbean descent. The Greater Hartford region became a home for West Indians in the 1940s and that population has grown to become the third largest population of Jamaicans in the United States, and West Indians have become the largest foreign-born population in the Connecticut.

In partnership with West Indian Social Club of Hartford, Inc and University of Connecticut, Engaged, Public, Oral, and Community Histories.

Address

3340 Main Street,
Hartford, CT 06120

Phone

(860) 656 5314

Email

ccheritagea@gmail.com