{"id":26420,"date":"2023-08-01T13:59:11","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T17:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/?p=26420"},"modified":"2023-08-03T14:05:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T18:05:08","slug":"major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/","title":{"rendered":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"677\" src=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1024x677.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1024x677.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1536x1015.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-2048x1353.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo credit: Celebrating Black Emancipation through Caribana Festival, 1972. ASC, Kenneth Shah fonds, 2020-001\/025 (25).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As Toronto prepares to launch the annual Caribbean Carnival that began more than 60 years ago to celebrate Black emancipation from slavery, York University Libraries celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The archives of Kenneth Shah, a founding organizer of the event originally known as Caribana, capture the enthusiastic embrace of masquerade, dancing, and music through 30 years of text, photographs, and film\u2014all of which provide unique insights into the cultural contributions of the Black and Caribbean communities. Kenneth Shah is a founding member of Caribana and the Caribbean Cultural Committee and was involved for more than 30 years with the festival celebrating Black emancipation from slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Caribana arose out of a desire by West Indian immigrants to share the festival culture of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean with the dominantly white British and European population of Toronto and to educate Canadians. The event celebrates the emancipation of Black people from slavery through Calypso music, dance, and masquerade and provided an opportunity for Caribbean communities to have a voice in the Canadian focus on multiculturalism during the 1970s. Today the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torontocarnival.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Toronto Caribbean Carnival<\/a> is an annual event, the largest of its kind in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11b.jpg\" alt=\"Kenneth Shah\" class=\"wp-image-25323\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11b.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11b-300x253.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo credit: Kenneth Shah in costume for the Caribana parade, 1970. ASC, Kenneth Shah fonds, 2020-002\/021 (15).&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Born in San Fernando, Trinidad, Shah moved to Canada in 1965 to pursue a career in petroleum engineering. He eventually left this profession to focus on carnival arts, designing and making costumes, managing mas bands, and taking a leadership role in programming from the first festival held in 1967 until his death in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kenneth Shah\u2019s archives were gathered after his passing by the late Professor Christopher Innes, a Canada Research Chair in Theatre and Performance at York University, initially deposited with York University\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/tubman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Harriet Tubman Institute&nbsp;<\/a>for Research on African and its Diasporas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Kenneth Shah archives, also known as a fonds, were transferred to York University Libraries in 2019. These documents consist of almost four metres of textual records, 4,000 photographs of festivals in Toronto, Montreal, New York, and Trinidad, and 51 sound and moving image recordings. They include meeting minutes and financial records for the Caribbean Cultural Committee (early organizers of the festival), correspondence with participants and other Caribbean festivals, Shah\u2019s sketches for parade costume designs and his program proposals, regulations and registrations for band competitions, brochures, and coverage of the festival by Black community newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>University Archivist Michael Moir says the records are very rare in the context of Carnival arts, immigration and multiculturalism, and are remarkable as the result of Kenneth Shah\u2019s decision to include the roles of observer and recorder with those of festival organizer and participant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese records are now available for research, providing a rare opportunity to bring life to a generation of Black performers who connected with large international and multicultural audiences drawn to Toronto by its Caribbean festival,\u201d says Moir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM-1024x732.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26424\" width=\"1111\" height=\"794\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM-1024x732.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM-1536x1099.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.23-PM.png 1910w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1111px) 100vw, 1111px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo credit: Kenneth Shah with Cult of the Leopards Band King, 1980. ASC, Kenneth Shah fonds, 2020-002\/024 (07).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Materials are showcased in the York University Digital Library platform&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/digital.library.yorku.ca\/yul-shah\/kenneth-shah-fonds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to the pandemic, processing of this unique and significant archives which began in 2020 was delayed. The project has now been completed by YUL Archivist, Emma Thomas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM-1020x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26500\" width=\"632\" height=\"635\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM-1020x1024.png 1020w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM-1530x1536.png 1530w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Screenshot-2023-08-03-at-6.18.07-PM.png 1612w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 632px) 100vw, 632px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">&nbsp;\"As an archivist, sorting through material that encapsulates the activities and achievements of someone's life is a privilege. In Shah's archives I found reflected the importance and value of his community. Shah's love for costume arts, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival and his joy in having the opportunity to share it with others is palpable. It provides a unique insight into the Caribbean Carnival in its earliest years, as a gift from the Caribbean people to share their culture with others.\"<\/p>\n<cite><strong>Emma Thomas, archivist, Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The finding aid can be found&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atom.library.yorku.ca\/index.php\/kenneth-shah-fonds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Access to the Kenneth Shah fonds reconnects the Trinbagonian and Caribbean diaspora in Toronto and on both sides of the Atlantic with the festival in its heyday when the parade dominated the city\u2019s downtown. The documents preserve the legacy of Black artists who found self-expression through carnival to celebrate the abolition of slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-25325\" width=\"450\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11c.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/SDG11c-248x300.jpg 248w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><br>Photo credit: A large mas costume, 1972. ASC, Kenneth Shah fonds, 2020-002\/021 (14).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Moir says in his conversations with students and Markham African Caribbean Canadian Association, he found there was an increasing interest in Toronto\u2019s Caribbean festival and its place in understanding the heritage of this diaspora. The community-based group in Markham passes down the traditions the traditions of carnival and mas bands from older to younger generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Kenneth Shah fonds can play an important role in this process by providing unique insights into the celebrations of the Caribbean diaspora whose experiences and culture have yet to see broader representation in public libraries and archives,\u201d says Moir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Importance of Archives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Archives are often regarded as witnesses to history. They provide a window into how people lived, entertained, connected with their culture, how and when they expressed their passion for this culture and how it changed society as a whole. Archives also help us to reflect on a history of events and to learn from them. York University Libraries is well known for its community engaged archives and community outreach partnerships and its contributions to advancing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/unsdgs\/\">UN Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> including its role in strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world\u2019s cultural heritage. The importance of preserving community heritage and providing avenues for the community to tell its story is the cornerstone of its endeavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learn more about the <strong>Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/archives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a> and read the blog <a href=\"https:\/\/ctasc.blog.yorku.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Toronto prepares to launch the annual Caribbean Carnival that began more than 60 years ago to celebrate Black emancipation from slavery, York University Libraries celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the festival. The archives of Kenneth Shah, a founding organizer of the event originally known as Caribana, capture the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":26422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81,6],"tags":[5,101],"class_list":["post-26420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featurednews","category-news","tag-clara-thomas-archives-and-special-collections","tag-kenneth-shah"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"York University Libraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1024x677.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"anayyar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"anayyar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"anayyar\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9484b0d104dc6d998ad19849833a5f6a\"},\"headline\":\"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr\"},\"wordCount\":970,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections\",\"Kenneth Shah\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Featured News\",\"YUL News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr\",\"name\":\"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/07\\\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png\",\"width\":2052,\"height\":1356,\"caption\":\"Photo credit: Celebrating Black Emancipation through Caribana Festival. 1972, The Archives of Kenneth Shah\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/01\\\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\\\/?lang=fr#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/\",\"name\":\"York University Libraries\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"YUL Home\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"York University Libraries\",\"alternateName\":\"York University\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Yorku-logo-696x696-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/Yorku-logo-696x696-1.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"York University Libraries\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9484b0d104dc6d998ad19849833a5f6a\",\"name\":\"anayyar\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"anayyar\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.library.yorku.ca\\\/web\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/anayyar\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries","description":"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries","og_description":"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr","og_site_name":"York University Libraries","article_published_time":"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":677,"url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1024x677.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"anayyar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"anayyar","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr"},"author":{"name":"anayyar","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9484b0d104dc6d998ad19849833a5f6a"},"headline":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival","datePublished":"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr"},"wordCount":970,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png","keywords":["Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections","Kenneth Shah"],"articleSection":["Featured News","YUL News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr","url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr","name":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival - York University Libraries","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png","datePublished":"2023-08-01T17:59:11+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-03T18:05:08+00:00","description":"The Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png","width":2052,"height":1356,"caption":"Photo credit: Celebrating Black Emancipation through Caribana Festival. 1972, The Archives of Kenneth Shah"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/2023\/08\/01\/major-collection-by-founding-member-of-caribana-foregrounds-the-history-and-importance-of-the-toronto-caribbean-carnival\/?lang=fr#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Major collection by founding member of Caribana foregrounds the history and importance of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/","name":"York University Libraries","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#organization"},"alternateName":"YUL Home","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#organization","name":"York University Libraries","alternateName":"York University","url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Yorku-logo-696x696-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Yorku-logo-696x696-1.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"York University Libraries"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/#\/schema\/person\/9484b0d104dc6d998ad19849833a5f6a","name":"anayyar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b563ab05bee1a2133c6f3748b6124d496c7268f3a2487b5ae94e1c4d60dbfd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"anayyar"},"url":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/author\/anayyar\/"}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png",2052,1356,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-300x198.png",300,198,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM.png",768,508,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1024x677.png",1024,677,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-1536x1015.png",1536,1015,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Screenshot-2023-07-31-at-11.49.09-PM-2048x1353.png",2048,1353,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"anayyar","author_link":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/blog\/author\/anayyar\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"As Toronto prepares to launch the annual Caribbean Carnival that began more than 60 years ago to celebrate Black emancipation from slavery, York University Libraries celebrates its role in preserving and sharing the historic origins of the festival. The archives of Kenneth Shah, a founding organizer of the event originally known as Caribana, capture the&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26420"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26507,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26420\/revisions\/26507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.library.yorku.ca\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}