Iroko Historical Society

07/20/2026

Added a Theses & Dissertations path to Medjat Research Portals: a subset of repositories useful for finding graduate research across Brazilian, Caribbean, French/Francophone, Hispanic/Latin American, and global collections.

This is not comprehensive; additions and corrections are welcome.

Explore selected databases, archives, digital collections, finding aids, and scholarly portals for research on Africa and the Afro-Atlantic world. Each entry identifies what the resource is best for, its geographic coverage, available languages, material types, and access model.

07/16/2026

Community Submission: We just planted this crepe myrtle tree. To me, it represents strength, beauty, and longevity. It is very small right now, but as the quote says, “A society grows great when old men (women) plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” I hope to grow as this tree grows, and when I am gone, that it provides a restful shade and protection to those that follow me.

To me, it represents strength, beauty, and longevity. It is very small right now, but as the quote says, “A society grows great when old men (women) plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” I hope to grow as this tree grows, and when I am gone, that it provides a restful shade...

07/15/2026

Foundation Day 2026 has passed, but the observance has not closed. The Iroko Historical Society is receiving photo offerings for the 2026 community gallery through July 21. Find a tree that holds significance in your landscape, stand with it, and share what you witnessed. Submissions are considered for the Society's Visual Ethnography archive.

Full invitation and submission guidance:

On July 14, wherever you are, make a small pilgrimage: find a tree that holds significance in your landscape, stand with it, and share your photograph or note.

07/14/2026

Today, the Iroko Historical Society observes its 2nd Foundation Day, closing Year 2 and opening Year 3.

Year 2 moved the Society from declared intention to working infrastructure: Per Medjat launched, and the Iroko Framework, the semantic vocabulary that governs description and access across the Society's collections, grew to sixteen modules. Year Three is already underway, opening with a new research portal feature.

https://medjat.irokosociety.org/research-portals/

The founder's State of the Society address, and the full record of the year, is here: irokosociety.org/foundation-day/2026.html

The permanent record closing Year Two and opening Year Three of the Iroko Historical Society, including the founder's State of the Society address.

07/14/2026

If you are planning to share a foto of your sacred tree, please use this page for your submission.

Submit a photograph, contextual note, or other proposed archival material for consideration by the Iroko Historical Society.

07/11/2026

Our latest Featured Work:
Adeshina's Cuba: The Yorùbá Lukumí, 1820-1959

Adeshina's Cuba offers a comprehensive history of the Lukumí (Yorùbá) religion in Cuba from 1820 to 1959, drawing on more than three decades of oral and archival research (1991-2025). Volume I traces the world of Adeshina, a babalawo broug…

07/11/2026

A wonderful addition to the Per Medjat Library of the Iroko Historical Society. This will be the last acquisition before the Foundation Day observance. https://irokosociety.org/index.html

07/10/2026

Our 2025 sacred tree submissions photo gallery:
https://irokosociety.org/foundation-day/community-gallery-2025.html

Open the IHS PhotoShelter gallery for Foundation Day 2025 community-submitted photographs and sacred-tree images.

07/10/2026

If you would to share your sacred tree, please use this link:
https://irokosociety.org/foundation-day/contribute.html

Submit a photograph, contextual note, or other proposed contribution for consideration by the Iroko Historical Society.

07/08/2026

Share your Iroko, your ceiba, or the tree that holds meaning in your own landscape. Spend a moment with it. Honor the living and spirit worlds. Share a photograph and tell us what this tree means to you.

On July 14, wherever you are, make a small pilgrimage: find a tree that holds significance in your landscape, stand with it, and share your photograph or note.