The U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers

Students in Firestone School Uniforms

West Africa Labor

This digital collection was assembled for the purpose of uniting separate, smaller projects which share a geographic relationship. Robin Romano, working with Piper Hendricks for p.h. balanced films, shot still and moving imagery of gold mining in Ghana, rubber & latex production at the Firestone Plantation in Liberia, and minimally covered the Sime Darby palm oil plantation, also in Liberia.

In addition to the still photographs and video in this collection, Robin also collected a myriad of research materials, many of which exist online in the repository. Though this is one of the smallest collections that has been processed so far, it is evident that Robin was concerned with telling the whole stories of West African laborers amidst the controversies that surrounded their respective industries, as detailed in his collection of extensive research documents and in his interviews with union officials.

Browse the West Africa Labor digital collection

Rubber Tapper
Boy Posing at Firestone Plantation
Edwin Cisco
Young Galamsey
Galamsey Mining for Gold
Galamsey Mines in Ghana