National Archives of Haiti were first 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 . '' The Archives Nationales d'Haiti ( ANH ) were created by a Presidential Decree on August 20 , 1860 . The Decree occurred under the government of Fabre Nicolas Geffrard ( 1859-1867 ) . 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 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 built in 1905 to shelter a public market . While the new location addressed the problem of insufficient space , it did not improve upon the poor conservation conditions which had resulted in the loss of a large number of documents . 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 . " The administrative context of the ANH changed several times over the last half of the 20th century , impacting its direction and the allocation of its resources . Between 1941 and 1975 , a series of Decrees transferred the responsibility for the ANH from the Ministry of Finances to the Ministry of National Education ( 1961 ) to the Ministry of Justice ( 1974 ) , where it remained until 1983 . In an address delivered at the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials in 2006 , ANH Director Jean Wilfrid Bertrand described the institution 's tenure under the Ministry of Justice as " its last dark years , " wherein the ANH " was reduced to its merest expression " ( certified translation ) . During this period , the Historical Archives repository was removed from the ANH and returned to the Central Office . In 1983 , Jean Wilfrid Bertrand was named the Director General of the ANH ; he continues to hold the position to the present day . A Decree in 1986 established the ANH as an autonomous part of the Haitian government , and moved it under the administrative care of the Minister of Information and Public Relations in 1986 and then under the Minister of Culture and Communication . The Mission Statement for the National Archives of Haiti is to collect several types of documents including vital records , and financial , legal or administrative documents created by the Haitian government . The purpose of this is to create transparency in the view of the Haitian government and to inspire confidence in the rights of the government . Prior to the earthquake of 2010 , the Director Jean Wilfrid 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 '' Protecting Haitian Patrimony Initiative '' has worked to preserve the materials in the National Archives and other cultural heritage institutions by providing money , archival supplies , and help coordinating the assistance
earthquake of 2010
2010 Haiti earthquake
National Archives of Haiti