Joseph A. Boromé papers

1952-2002

Joseph Alfred Boromé was an historian who compiled and edited the correspondence of diverse figures, from librarian and scholar Justin Winsor and Reconstruction Senator Hiram Revels to English abolitionist John Candler and Haitian historical figure Toussaint Louverture. A native New Yorker of West Indian descent, Boromé's parents were from the island of Dominica. He began his career as a librarian followed by a long tenure as a professor of history at The City College of New York (1950-1984). Boromé received his Associates degree from City College in 1942, and later matriculated in Columbia's School of Library Service on a library fellowship from City College. He obtained his Masters degree (1945) and Ph.D. in history (ca. 1950) from Columbia University.

While a student at Columbia, Boromé was selected to be a research specialist under the dean in the History Department. He assisted with two publications on the Fair Employment Practices Committee legislation. During this period, he also occupied positions in various libraries including the New York Public Library and Columbia University Library (1943-1950). At Columbia he was first appointed head of the circulation department and then reference librarian. As reference librarian Boromé designed exhibits that highlighted materials on the life and cultures of many different races which proved to be very successful. His accomplishments in this post led to his appointment as head of the Burgess Library at Columbia University (1949-1950) which served the social science departments.

Boromé's service to professional library associations included membership in the New York Library Club, assistant editor of Columbia Library World Magazine, and reviewer for Library Journal and New York History Magazine for which he wrote reviews on novels and history books. He was also a member of the American Historical Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In the late 1940's he was awarded fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald Fund (1946-1947) and the American Council of Learned Societies to undertake research on the nineteenth century librarian and historian Justin Winsor, the research topic of his Ph.D. dissertation.

Subsequent to receiving his doctorate in 1950, Boromé joined the faculty of The City College of New York. As a professor of history his main areas of concentration were Haitian history, the Underground Railroad and Dominica, and he wrote extensively on these subjects. As the recipient of a Social Science Research Council grant and a Ford Foundation fellowship (1953-1954), he produced one of his earliest works on the history of Dominica, although it was never completed. In addition, Boromé received a grant from the American Philosophical Society in 1953 to travel to the Caribbean to conduct research on Dominica. Boromé authored two books, Charles Coffin JewettCharles Coffin Jewett (1951) and Toussaint Louverture, A Life with Letters (1984) and numerous articles. He died in 2002.