37's headquarters in Manhattan on Jan. 28. The exhibition was put together from the collection of Judith Johnson, cultural anthropologist and professor with the department of anthropology at Adelphi University, and Karna Singh, a cultural historian. A reception is set for Feb .
Photo shows a woman purchasing a sprig of herbs from a flower vendor.
The photographs, mostly black and white, reveal a story of hardship and exploitation, strength and cultural endurance, according to Lee Saunders, administrator of DC 37, as quoted in a press release. They capture a cultural and religious tradition that the indentured laborers from India carried forward with them for thousands of years. Documents tracing the history of how Indians were brought to work in the Caribbean after England abolished slavery in 1836 were also part of the exhibition. They also show the growth of the Indo-Caribbean labor movement and its fight for the rights of trade and farm workers. These ancestors worked for survival and their story needs to be told.