Curriculum Vitae · Selected
Délé Fágbèmí Ọ̀.
Founder & Executive Director, Iroko Historical Society · Babalawo · Olofista · Olu-Iroko
This is a selected scholarly and practitioner CV. It reflects academic credentials, initiatory standing, publications, presentations, fieldwork, and institutional roles relevant to the work of the Iroko Historical Society.
Education
2024 –
2028
2028
Master of Library & Information Science
University of Alabama · Data Science & Analytics concentration · Expected 2028
2015
Master of Arts, Anthropology
Tulane University
2001
Juris Doctor
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
2001
Master of Business Administration
Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management
1996
Bachelor of Science, Psychology
Tennessee State University
Initiatory Credentials
Credentials in the Lucumí tradition, earned through formal initiatory processes in the United States, Cuba, and Brazil. More than two decades of active practice, fieldwork, and community stewardship.
2024
Olu-Iroko — Custodian of Iroko in the Lucumí tradition.
The initiatory foundation of the Iroko Historical Society's name and mission.
2009
Olofista — Initiated holder of Olófin/Olódumare in the
Lucumí Babalawo lineage. Havana, Cuba.
2002
Babalawo — Initiated priest of Ifá divination within the
Hermandad de Babalawo, Havana, Cuba. Lineage traceable to the foundational
ikin of Adechina.
1995
Olo-orisha (Obatalá) — Initial consecration into
Lucumí/Yoruba-derived sacred practice.
Institutional Roles
2024 –
Founder & Executive Director
Iroko Historical Society · irokosociety.org
Postcustodial digital archive for Afro-Atlantic sacred materials. Directing
collections development, ethical access governance, and the Iroko Framework
semantic vocabulary infrastructure.
2024 –
Executive Director
Ilé Añá Olofí, Inc. · 501(c)(3) · New Orleans, Louisiana
Parent nonprofit organization of the Iroko Historical Society.
Publications
Forthcoming Submission
2026
Havana to the Sabine: People Laundering, Slave Paper, and Documentary
Sovereignty in the Post-1808 Gulf
The American Archivist · Target: vol. 90.1
(June–July 2026)
★ University of Alabama Outstanding Student Paper Award 2026
(awarded under the title “Havana to the Sabine: People Laundering and
the Archival Violence of the Gulf Slave Trade”)
2026
Sealed from the Inside: Archival Latency and the Governance of Sacred
Knowledge in Abakuá, Bizango, and Òrò
Archivaria · Target submission: September 2026
2027
Built Without Him: Gender, Institutional Architecture, and the
Disappearance of Male Initiatory Authority in Brazilian Candomblé
Target submission: February–March 2027
Published
2026
The Iroko Framework: A Semantic Vocabulary System for Afro-Atlantic
Sacred Knowledge Governance
Zenodo · DOI:
10.5281/zenodo.18826673
2012
Ethnographic photography published in: Luis, William. “Palo and Paleros:
An Interview with Oba Frank Martin.”
Afro-Hispanic Review 31, no. 1 (2012): 159–68.
Proceedings (Forthcoming)
2026
Entre el espíritu y la custodia: Caminos éticos para la
digitalización de archivos sagrados afrocaribeños
In Proceedings, IV International Meeting on the
Preservation of Documentary Heritage · Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba
José Martí · Havana, Cuba · September 2025
Working Papers & Papers in Development
2025 –
Ritual Archives: Memory, Secrecy, and Sacred Infrastructure in
Afro-Atlantic Traditions
Submitted: Society for the Anthropology of Religion
Graduate Student Paper Prize 2025 · Revising for journal submission
2025 –
Sovereignty without the State: Ritual Coordination and the Afterlife
of Game Theory
Manuscript in early development
Presentations
2026
Sealed from the Inside: Rupture, Latency, and Sacred Survival in
Abakuá, Bizango, and Òrò
African Studies Association 69th Annual Meeting ·
New Orleans, Louisiana · December 2026 · Pending
2026
Havana to the Sabine — Foundation Day Public Lecture
Iroko Historical Society Foundation Day ·
Virtual · Planned: July 18, 2026
2025
Entre el espíritu y la custodia: Caminos éticos para la
digitalización de archivos sagrados afrocaribeños
IV International Meeting on the Preservation of
Documentary Heritage · Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Martí
· Havana, Cuba · September 2025 · Invited
2025
Spirits in the Archive: Reclaiming Sacred Space and Ancestral Memory
in Africana Religions
KOSANBA 2025: Africana Religious Activism, Resistance
& Rejuvenation Conference · August 2025
2025
Digitizing the Sacred: A Case Study of the Library of Babaláwo
Irete Obara
Society of American Archivists (SAA) Research Forum
· Lightning Talk · July 2025
2016
Can Orunmila Talk via Skype?: Babaláwo and Remote Divination
in the 21st Century
Fourth Annual ADRSA Conference · Harvard University
· April 2016
Grants & Awards
2026
Outstanding Student Paper Award
University of Alabama · Awarded for “Havana
to the Sabine: People Laundering and the Archival Violence of the Gulf Slave
Trade”
2025
Dr. E. J. Josey and Ms. Effie Lee Morris Scholarship
Black Caucus of the American Library Association
(BCALA) · 2025
2015
Tinker Summer Field Research Grant
Tulane University · Funded ethnobotanical
fieldwork in Puerto Rico; thirteen specimens contributed to the Tulane
University Herbarium
Fieldwork
2002 –
Cuba (Havana | Matanzas | Pinar del Río)
Long-term ethnographic fieldwork collaborating with
Afro-Cuban religious communities and custodians of sacred materials. Primary
research site: Library of Babaláwo Irete Obara. IRB-approved through
the University of Alabama for ongoing MLIS thesis research.
2006
Brazil (Bahia, Salvador)
Ethnographic research on Afro-Brazilian religious
practice and institutional transmission in Candomblé communities.
2015
Puerto Rico
Ethnobotanical fieldwork funded by Tinker Summer Field
Research Grant. Documentation of ritual plants used in Lucumí practice.
Professional Practice
2000 –
Financial Planning & Analysis / Fixed Asset Accounting
Senior roles in higher education, healthcare, Non-profit, and
corporate sectors
Twenty-five years of concurrent professional practice in financial operations,
FP&A consulting, and institutional accounting alongside scholarly and
practitioner work. JD and MBA provide the legal and financial foundation;
the professional track has operated in parallel with fieldwork, publication,
and the development of the Iroko Historical Society throughout.
Digital Scholarship & Infrastructure
2026 –
Iroko Framework
ontology.irokosociety.org
Semantic vocabulary system for the ethical description and governance of
Afro-Atlantic sacred knowledge. Sixteen modules, 93 classes, 386 properties,
589 concepts. Published CC0.
DOI (Vocabulary): 10.5281/zenodo.19157679
· DOI (White Paper): 10.5281/zenodo.18826673
2024 –
Iroko Historical Society Digital Archive
irokosociety.org
Postcustodial digital archive for Afro-Atlantic sacred materials, ritual
protocols, and heritage documentation.
Selected CV · Current as of March 2026 · Return to Founder page