Skip to main content

Search

My Visit
Donate
Home Smithsonian Institution

Site Navigation

  • Visit
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Maps and Brochures
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
      • Group Sales
  • What's On
    • Exhibitions
      • Current
      • Upcoming
      • Past
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
  • Explore
    • - Art & Design
    • - History & Culture
    • - Science & Nature
    • Collections
      • Open Access
    • Research Resources
      • Libraries
      • Archives
        • Smithsonian Institution Archives
        • Air and Space Museum
        • Anacostia Community Museum
        • American Art Museum
        • Archives of American Art
        • Archives of American Gardens
        • American History Museum
        • American Indian Museum
        • Asian Art Museum Archives
        • Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
        • Hirshhorn Archive
        • National Anthropological Archives
        • National Portrait Gallery
        • Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
        • Libraries' Special Collections
    • Podcasts
    • Stories
  • Learn
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
      • Art & Design Resources
      • Science & Nature Resources
      • Social Studies & Civics Resources
      • Professional Development
      • Events for Educators
      • Field Trips
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
  • Support Us
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
      • Smithsonian Call Center
      • Ambassador Program
      • Museum Information Desk
      • Docent Programs
      • Behind-the-Scenes
      • Digital Volunteers
      • Participatory Science
  • About
    • Our Organization
      • Board of Regents
        • Members
        • Committees
        • Reading Room
        • Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
        • Schedules and Agendas
        • Meeting Minutes
        • Actions
        • Webcasts
        • Contact
      • Museums and Zoo
      • Research Centers
      • Cultural Centers
      • Education Centers
      • General Counsel
        • Legal History
        • Internships
        • Records Requests
          • Reading Room
        • Tort Claim
        • Subpoenas & Testimonies
        • Events
      • Office of Human Resources
        • Employee Benefits
        • How to Apply
        • Job Opportunities
        • Job Seekers with Disabilities
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • SI Civil Program
        • Contact Us
      • EEO & Small Business
        • EEO Complaint Process
        • Individuals with Disabilities
        • Small Business Program
          • Doing Business with Us
          • Contracting Opportunities
          • Additional Resources
        • Special Emphasis Program
      • Sponsored Projects
        • Policies
          • Combating Trafficking in Persons
          • Animal Care and Use
          • Human Research
        • Reports
        • Internships
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
      • Annual Reports
      • Metrics Dashboard
        • Dashboard Home
        • Virtual Smithsonian
        • Public Engagement
        • National Collections
        • Research
        • People & Operations
      • Strategic Plan
    • Newsdesk
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • Photos and Video
      • Media Kits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Visitor Stats
      • Secretary and Admin Bios
      • Filming Requests

Oral history interview with Abraham Joseph

Anacostia Community Museum

Object Details

General
Associated documentation, including partial transcripts, for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.  The textual transcripts are not verbatim of the audio recordings. 
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Interviewer
Brown, Tamara, 1969-
Names
Tontons macoutes
Joseph, Abraham
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
Place
Haiti
Washington (D.C.)
Topic
Haitians
boat people
Emigration and immigration
Porters
Taxicab drivers
Automobile driver education
Automobile driver education teachers
Businesspeople
Family-owned business enterprises
Interviews
Interviewer
Brown, Tamara, 1969-
Culture
Haitian Americans
See more items in
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
Sponsor
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Extent
1 Digital file
1 Sound cassette
Date
1994 July 26
Archival Repository
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Type
Archival materials
Digital files
Sound cassettes
Citation
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Note
The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 28 minutes.
Scope and Contents
Abraham Joseph, a driving school owner from Haiti, talked about his family, including his siblings, his parents who were farmers, and his children; walking to school; the village, Gros-Morne, where he lived in Haiti; and working as a carpenter in Haiti and the Bahamas before immigrating to the United States in 1980 because he had a fear of Tonton Macoute. He explained the power of Tonton Macoute, including the time his brother was arrested. Joseph described traveling on a little boat from Haiti to the Bahamas and then to Miami; moving to Washington, DC because his fiancée, who he met in the Bahamas, lived in DC with her relatives; and his reaction to seeing snow for the first time in Washington, DC. Joseph detailed the challenges of working as a porter, his first job in Washington, DC. He explained his decision to become a taxi driver and how he accomplished his goal; how he helped others from all over the world learn how to drive; why he opened a driving school, called AB Discount Driving School; and the challenges of running a business and securing insurance for the driving school. Abraham Joseph was interviewed by Tamara Brown on July 26, 1994. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include very loud white noise, static, and background noise; interviewee can be heard clearly for the most part.
Collection Restrictions
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1712088000981-1712088003341-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7bfee7267-f378-44c7-9ca6-12dc889a5367

Related Content

  • Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records

Footer logo

Link to homepage

Footer navigation

  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Get Involved
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • EEO & Small Business
  • Shop Online
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Social media links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Sign up for Smithsonian e-news

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Back to Top