New Seville: The Conversion Experience of Bartolomé de Las Casas, approximately 1980-1984, 1988

Please Note:

This collection is currently undergoing processing. The Academia series, Events and Engagement series, and Research Materials series are unavailable until approximately June 2026.

Scope and content:

The New Seville subseries includes research materials on Spanish Jamaica conducted at the Archives of the Indies in Seville, Spain, by Wynter, and articles produced from that research. Materials also explore the expeditions of Christopher Columbus in the Americas; the life and legacy of Bartolomé de las Casas, the 16th century Spanish writer and Dominican friar who advocated for ending Indigenous slavery in Spanish colonies and replacing it with African slavery; and the impact of colonization on Spanish and Caribbean Indigenous communities from 1492 to 1655.

Works in this subseries include "New Seville and the Conversion Experience of Bartolomé de Las Casas: Part One" and "Part Two", both published in Jamaica Journal in 1984; New Seville: Major Dates, 1509-1536, with an Aftermath, 1536-1655 and New Seville: Major Facts, Major Questions, booklets published by the Jamaica National Trust Commissions in 1984; and "The World is Small: The Rise and Fall of New Seville, Jamaica, 1503-1536", a later revision and analysis of the New Seville works in progress as of 1995 (publication status unclear).

The subseries contains handwritten drafts, marked and unmarked typescript drafts, photocopied drafts, research materials, conference materials, travel documents, receipts, correspondence, notes, and two art prints.

A timeline of Wynter's writings, lectures, workshops, and other engagements compiled during processing is available here.

Processing information:

Wynter often labeled or made notes on the fronts of folders, very often on sticky notes. Sticky notes were removed, attached to archival paper, and included in the folder. If any information other than just the title of the work was written on the original folder, that portion of the folder was retained and included in the new folder.

Original folders were often unmarked, and contents were often not clearly one work or another. It also appeared that the same materials, especially notes, notebooks, and research materials, may have been used for multiple projects. Handwritten materials were often undated, and some dates were inferred from surrounding materials.

Contents

Using These Materials