Marsha Dottin-Chandler is a Barbadian heritage professional, archival researcher, and public historian specializing in the recovery and interpretation of Afro-Barbadian histories through archival, archaeological, and material culture research.
She has led and contributed to a range of significant heritage projects, including archival research on the historic Ayshford Estate in St. Thomas, a multi-repository investigation into the Old Barbados General Hospital, and artefact analysis facilitated by the University of the West Indies Archaeology research investigating tobacco pipe fragments. Marsha has conducted archaeological fieldwork at the Newton Enslaved Burial Ground with the Barbados Museum & Historical Society under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Richards-Cummins and Kevin Farmer, where she engaged in excavation, cataloguing, and public interpretation of one of the Caribbean’s most important ancestral sites. Her conservation and cataloguing work extends to St. Mary’s Churchyard through the University of the West Indies, linking burial records to wider parish genealogies. She has also supported national cultural policy development as an official scribe and research assistant in UNESCO Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) workshops with Barbados’ Division of Culture, contributing to heritage recovery frameworks. Internationally, she is a Heritage Fellow with the Constance & Carmichael Shelter Island Project, participating in cross-cultural heritage research between Barbados and the United States.
In addition to her academic and field-based work, Marsha is the writer, researcher, and producer behind the documentary “New Narratives of Newton Negro Yard” and the ongoing public history initiative “Today in Bajan History,” where she transforms archival records into accessible, compelling storytelling for radio and digital platforms. Her work is defined by a commitment to uncovering hidden histories, centering ancestral narratives, and creating meaningful connections between heritage, community, and contemporary identity.