“The National Archives of Curaçao, housed in a colorful and exquisitely ornamented nineteenth-century villa in colonial Willemstad, protect the historical legacy of the Netherlands Antilles.  Thanks to a CLACLS summer travel fellowship, I spent ten days here exploring the major debates and conflicts that shaped the first decades after decolonization.  Following a different path to decolonization, the Netherlands Antilles assumed autonomy in internal governance after 1954 yet remained constitutionally linked to the Netherlands – a relationship that persists in varied forms across the Dutch Antilles today.  In the extensive archives of the Cabinet of the Governor, I discovered that one of the most urgent issues facing the Antilles was the nature of relationships amongst the islands themselves. I am truly spoiled to conduct research on Curaçao – the island’s overwhelming natural beauty and the cultural life of historic Willemstad made my time outside of the archives memorable and instructive.”