JNHT celebrating women in history
March 24, 2009
This month is being celebrated across the world as 'Women In History Month', putting into focus the great and varied contributions that women have made in the world. Oftentimes the official records remain silent to their great feats which more often than not change the course of history. 'Women in History Month' is celebrated to put women into the limelight so that they can get their just recognition. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT0 is proud to salute the many women who have made invaluable contributions to the nation's history - those who are the subject, those who write about the subject and those who work to preserve it.
The Trust in its monthly brown bag lunchtime discussion session on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 will be discussing the topic 'Women In Jamaican History' in the Legislative Assembly, Headquarters House, 79 Duke Street beginning at 12:30 p.m. Guest presenter will be author and historian Susan Francis Brown. We invite members of the public to join us in the discussion.
The JNHT celebrated its 50th anniversary in December last year and over the years the organization has benefited from the work of some astute, professional women who have provided guidance and have contributed significantly to its growth as an entity and towards heritage preservation in general. Architect Patricia Green is one such individual. It was under Ms. Green's careful guidance as a preservation architect that the historic Headquarters House was restored and made habitable again in the 1980s. Headquarters House was once the seat of Jamaica's Legislative Assembly from 1872-1960 when Gordon House was built. It was there that decisions affecting the fate of the country were debated and enacted. It is the building to which National Hero George William Gordon was taken before he was whisked away to Morant Bay, St. Thomas to be tried and hanged for his alleged role in the Morant Bay uprising.
The building was left empty for some time and was slowly deteriorating. At the time, Miss Green was assigned to the Public Works Department. The National Trust Commission, forerunner to the JNHT was stationed at Hope Gardens and the then Prime Minister Edward Seaga wanted it to move. Miss Green was given the task of overseeing the restoration of the building - her very first restoration project. Speaking at a recent JNHT brown bag luncheon session, she described how she worked intimately with the workmen to ensure that they did not tear down historic parts of the building that they saw as rotting timber but which she saw as architectural treasure. They painstakingly took out the bad pieces in the columns and fill the space with cow glue mixed with saw dust. She described the many trips to the Coronation Market, downtown to find the right ingredients for the job. Today the building stands proudly and is the home of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
Miss Green's resume has widely expanded since then and she has gone on to restore national monuments such as the Rodney Memorial Building which stands impressive in historic Spanish Town square, the Port Maria Civic Centre and the Bob Marley Museum among many others. She has published articles on Caribbean architecture and still is very active in the preservation of Jamaica's heritage. We salute Pat Green and her outstanding work over the years towards the preservation of Jamaica's architectural heritage.
Woman of substance
Professor Verene Shepherd is another Jamaican whose outstanding work in heritage is widely known. She was the first and remains the only woman to sit as chair of the JNHT since its early beginning in 1958. She followed in the footsteps as such luminaries as J.E. Clare McFarlane, Frank Hill, Vic Reid, Carl Stone, Hector Wynter, Rev. Dr. Horace Russell, Herbert Repole, Ainsley Henriques and Rev. Devon Dick. Through her stint as chair she led the Trust on paths previously ignored and lauded by a large section of the population.
Prof. Shepherd strongly believes in giving voice to those ignored in the official texts of history. Through her efforts and inspiration, the JNHT monumentalized those ancestors whose fight in the bid for freedom was strongly ignored in the official texts. Our Freedom Monument in the heart of Montego Bay, unveiled in 2007, evokes different emotions in our people as they read the names (many familiar to them) of those who died or were severely punished for their role in the1831- 32 Emancipation War. As chair of the Jamaica National Bicentenary Committee to mark the abolition of the Transatlantic Trade in African, she led the charge in educating Jamaicans about the great injustices that were done to our people during the slavery. Through monuments such as the one constructed in memory of the Zong Massacre in Black River, Jamaicans are able to see public, visual reminders of their past.
Through Professor Shepherd's work at the JNHT, many Jamaicans now know that there was a woman named Phibbah who lived during slavery and who was resourceful enough to gain her freedom. In collaboration with IRIE FM, the organisation went in search of Nanny of the Maroons, our only national heroine, learning more about this woman of mystery, Tacky, Paul Bogle, Sam Sharpe, Leonard Howell and Bedward. She pushed for greater recognition of the nation’s indigenous peoples, the Tainos, and the JNHT now celebrates Taino Day on May 5, a significant date recorded as when Christopher Columbus landed on the island's north coast and claimed the island for Spain.
Professor Shepherd is a prolific author, with over 50 journal articles and book chapters and several edited and co-edited books that have added greatly to the body knowledge about our history. Among her publications are: Transients to Settlers: The Experience of Indians in Jamaica, 1845 -1950 (University of Warwick, Centre for Research on Asian Migration, 1994); Maharani's Misery: Narratives of a Passage from India to the Caribbean (The Press, UWI, 2002); Women in Caribbean History (Ian Randle, Marcus Weiner, James Currey, 1999); (with Hilary Beckles) Liberties Lost Caribbean indigenous societies ands slave system (Cambridge, 2004); (editor) Working Slavery, Pricing Freedom: Perspectives from the Caribbean, Africa and the African Diaspora (Ian Randle, James Currey, St. Martin's, 2002).
The JNHT salutes Professor Shepherd as a woman who researches and writes the history of our men and women as well as a woman who is busy making history herself.
The JNHT salutes all women, past and present in the nation who have forged a path and have impacted on the nation's history. They are our women of history.
For further information contact:
Andrea Braham
922-1287-8/922-3990
