Dr. Carla Martin completed her B.A. in Anthropology in 2003, her M.A. in Anthropology in 2007, and her Ph.D. in African and African American Studies in 2012, all from Harvard University. An interdisciplinary social anthropologist, Martin lectures widely and has taught classes in African and African American Studies, critical food studies, social anthropology, and ethnomusicology. In 2011, she founded the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, a nonprofit with a mission “dedicated to identifying, developing, and promoting fine cacao and chocolate.” Since 2014, Dr. Martin has been a Lecturer in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and in 2021 she became the department’s Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies. Dr. Martin researches the politics of fine cacao and chocolate globally. Her previous research examined language inequality in Cape Verde and its diaspora. She has contributed her writings to publications Transition Magazine, Social Dynamics, The Root, US History Scene, Sodade Magazine, Socio.hu, The Savannah Review, and edited volumes.
This collection consists of articles and research files, sheet music, textiles, artworks, and souvenirs. Research materials include photocopies of rare materials held by the National Library of Cape Verde which are not held in many libraries worldwide. Martin’s collection won the Philip Hofer Prize for Collecting Books or Art from the Harvard University Library System.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Carla Martin papers, MSS_0074, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College
This collection is divided into 2 series:
The collection was donated by Dr. Carla D. Martin in 2020.
The collection was arranged and described by Molly Bruce Patterson and Erica Florenz in 2022. The collection was redescribed to fit current standards by Anne Boylan in 2024.
See RIC Special Collections’ Cape Verdean related collections for more: https://library.ric.edu/capeverdecollections
Publications were removed from the collection and added to the Carla Martin Cape Verde Book Collection. Duplicates of books already held in RIC Special Collections were transferred to Bristol Community College.
The series contains Cape Verdean cultural objects and souvenirs, including maps, sheet music, textiles, and a doll.
This series contains research materials related to Cape Verdean culture, music, and history; much of the series is photocopies of rare books held by the National Library of Cape Verde, and materials about the tenth anniversary of Cape Verdean independence.