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Michael Heinl Collection, 1910-1999

 

Summary

Extent:
5 boxes 1 legal-size archive case 2 banker boxes 1 newspaper box 1 small flat box
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The Heinl Collection is primarily concerned with Haiti. It includes photographs, print materials, and artwork from the late eighteenth century through to the late twentieth century. The photograph series contains images of Haiti from two periods: the U.S. occupation (1915-1934) and 1957-1971. Both sets have a strong focus on matters of military and diplomatic interest. The print materials include rare books, pamphlets, and letters, most of which are concerned with Haitian history. The art collection includes maps, prints, paintings, and drawings, including a number from colonial Saint Domingue.

Biographical / historical:

Michael Heinl (1950- ) is a collector of Haitiana and co-author of Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People 1492-1995. He first spent time in Haiti as a child, when his father, Robert Debs Heinl, was Chief of the U.S. Naval Mission to Haiti (1959-1963). Michael lived there, in Port-au-Prince, until 1962, when he was sent back to the United States after nearly triggering a diplomatic incident. Michael, just twelve years old, had been arrested by a Tonton Macoute for publicly voicing criticism of the François Duvalier regime and had been taken to the presidential palace to be imprisoned. He was ultimately released, but only after catching the attention of the president's son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, who happened to be a close friend. Consequently, Michael's parents decided that he should return to the United States. As it was, Michael's father, an opponent of the Duvalier regime, was subsequently declared persona non grata the following year. The Heinl family nonetheless retained an interest in Haiti; Michael's parents, Robert Debs Heinl and Nancy Gordon Heinl, collected Haitian art and print materials through the rest of their lives, and in 1978 they published a popular history of the country, Written in Blood: The Story of the Haitian People, 1492-1971. Michael later built upon his parents' collection and revised and expanded a third edition of Written in Blood as well. Due to his knowledge of Haiti, Michael was invited in 2004 to testify at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on the Western Hemisphere. Professionally, Michael worked in the aerospace industry and then as an international business consultant in Washington, D.C. He received a B.A. from Johns Hopkins in 1973 and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1979.

Acquisition information:

Michael Heinl

Donation

Arrangement:

The Heinl Collection is arranged in 3 series: 1. Photograph collection; 2. Printed Material. 3. Maps. Series 1 has two sub-series: U.S. Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934; and Haiti, 1957-1971.

Dimensions:
5.79 linear ft.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Special Collections & University Archives provides copies of materials in our collections for private study, scholarship, or research. Patrons are responsible for determining the proper copyright holder and securing permission to publish, quote, broadcast, exhibit, or perform that work. FIU Special Collections will provide all available information about the copyright holder of materials found in our collections.

For more information please visit: https://library.fiu.edu/find/copyright/

Location of this collection:
Florida International University
11200 SW 8th Street
Miami
FL
33199
USA