Report on Sub-Regional Activities

BARBADOS NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO
MEMORY OF THE WORLD COMMITTEE
REPORT ON SUB-REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
held in
Castries, St. Lucia
November 13 - 14, 2007
and
Barbados
November 15, 2007

With funds provided by the Information Society Division of UNESCO, the Memory of the World Committee for Barbados organised a workshop in Castries, St. Lucia during

November 13-14, 2007 to assist persons with developing nomination dossiers for submission to the International Advisory Committee of the MoW Programme. These dossiers will be considered during 2008-9 with the announcement of inscriptions taking place during the summer of 2009. It also held on November 15, 2007 in Barbados an open event to sensitize persons to the Memory of the World Programme.

ST. LUCIA WORKSHOP
Facilitators: Mrs. Roslyn Russell was the primary facilitator for the event. She was ably
supported by Miss Alissandra Cummins. Dr. Aviston Downes, a historian and Miss Elizabeth Watson also served as facilitators for the event.

Coordination: The workshop was coordinated by Miss Elizabeth Watson with assistance from the National Commissions for UNESCO in Barbados and St. Lucia. Mrs. Paule Turmel-John, Secretary-General, UNESCO National Commission in St. Lucia provided valuable in-country support prior to and during the activity.

 

Group picture for St. Lucia Memory of the World Workshop, November 2007
           From left to right:
1st row: Cherri-Ann Beckles, Roslyn Russell (in red), Elizabeth Watson, Cheryl King
2nd row: Modianne Cathalina, Magdaline Robin, Paule Turmel-John, Charles Gibson
3rd row: Vanesta Felix-Moses, Alissandra Cummins, Aviston Downes


Funding:

The MoW Programme in Paris provided the Barbados National Commission with the sum of US$9,000.00 to assist with the hosting of this workshop. Additional expenses amounting to US$5524.70 were covered by the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO. The financial report is attached.

Venue: Because of cost factors and also a desire to hold the workshop in one of the smaller Anglophone Caribbean member states, St. Lucia was asked if they would be willing to serve as the host country for the workshop. They willingly accepted the invitation. The workshop and accommodation for participants were facilitated by the Hotel Auberge Seraphine in Castries.

 Invitations: Invitations were initially sent out in April 2007 to National Commissions in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Vincent) and Guyana. Guyana was especially invited as they had made an unsuccessful nomination bid on two previous occasions and it was felt that the workshop would help them to develop a stronger nomination. Responses were received from Dominica, Guyana and St. Kitts. Follow-up messages and telephone calls made to countries initially receiving invitations did not yield any additional replies from countries receiving invitations at the first round. It was then decided that invitations to participate in the workshop would be extended to Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica. As a consequence of a discussion held in Paris during the 34th General Conference of UNESCO in which Dr. Kwame Boafo indicated the presence in the Netherlands Antilles of the first document printed in Papiamento, an invitation was sent to Curaçao to participate in the workshop. Given the level of response to the invitations, it was decided that instead of holding a separate workshop in Barbados, persons preparing the two nominations from Barbados would be also invited to participate in the workshop in St. Lucia.

Unfortunately, having made their submission Guyana did not respond to any of the subsequent efforts to contact them regarding their proposed nomination.

Schedule: Originally intended to be held in June 2007, the workshop was postponed to November due to logistical reasons.

Participants:

Belize - Charles Gibson, National Archives Service

Barbados - Cherri-Ann Beckles, Federal Archives, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill
- Cheryl King, Main Library, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill

Dominica - Magdalene Robin, National Library

Netherlands Antilles - Modianne Cathalina, National ArchivesSt. Lucia - Mrs. Vanesta Felix-Moses, National Archives

Facilitators:
Miss Alissandra Cummins - Barbados National Commission for UNESCO
Dr. Aviston Downes - History Department, The University of the West Indies
Mrs. Roslyn Russell - Australia, Memory of the World Committee
Mrs. Paule Turmel-John - St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO
Miss Elizabeth Watson - Barbados, Memory of the World Committee
The work of the facilitators was supported by the National Commission for UNESCO in
Barbados and St. Lucia. In the absence of the Secretary-General for Barbados, Miss Harriet Daisley just prior to and during the workshop, Miss June Henry, Ministry of Education, Barbados provided the necessary support in a very helpful manner.

 Absences

Although arrangements were made for Mrs. Vicky O'Flaherty from the National Archives in St. Kitts to attend the workshop, she did not get her ticket and so she did not attend. While Jamaica had submitted a draft they did not follow up on this, so they did not participate in the workshop. The Bahamas was also unable to attend the workshop due to previous commitments.


Nominations that were reviewed in St. Lucia
Barbados - Federal Archives
- Dame Nita Barrow Collection
Belize - Mosquito Shore Records
Dominica - Slave Registers and Manumission Records
Netherlands Antilles - Roman Catholic Catechism in Papiamento
St. Lucia - Sir Arthur Lewis Collection
Other potential national/regional nominations
The Bahamas - Farquharson diary
Dominica and St. Kitts* - Slave Registers
Jamaica - 18th and 19th century newspapers
*this has the potential to be a much more comprehensive regional nomination with the inclusion of the documentary heritage on enslavement from other territories.
Other Potential Nominations Suggested at the Annual Meeting of the Museums Association of the Caribbean.
Alissandra Cummins reported on another presentation she had given in the Dominican Republic during the previous week to members of the Museums Association of the Caribbean. Some members were enthused to consider submitting nominations as follows:
Dominican Republic - Resistance Archives
St.Eustatius - Slave Records
St.Croix - Slave Shipping Records

- Engineering Records(Sugar Machinery on estates)

Preparatory Activity

It was decided that prior to travelling to St. Lucia prospective participants would be required to submit a draft of their nomination which would be perused by the facilitators. The intent and outcome of this approach was that the activity would be a hands-on session with participants working on improving their nominations. Having read the draft nominations, the facilitators provided comments to the nominators as to how their nominations could be improved. The only participant who was unable to take advantage of a pre-workshop review was Mrs. Cathalina given the lateness of the invitation to Curaçao to attend the event.

The Workshop
The workshop began with a power-point presentation which was prepared by Miss Alissandra Cummins and presented by herself and Mrs. Roslyn Russell. This presentation was an overview of the programme and the level, type of information and details required by the various sections of the nomination form. Participants also gave a brief overview to the workshop of their nominations. This occupied the first morning of the workshop. Most of the remainder of the first day was taken up with individuals working on their nominations and each nominator benefitted from intensive one-on-one consultations on their nominations.

Requiring participants to draft nominations for preview prior the workshop worked very well as it enabled most participants to spend their time in St. Lucia on strengthening their nominations. At the end of the first day, participants gave a brief report on the achievements they had made and also asked questions which were of general interest. Participants were also encouraged to comment on/ask questions about each other's nominations as this helped the nominator to develop a better nomination form. The second day was spent mainly doing further work on individual nominations.

The final session of the workshop had two segments. Two participants spoke on their
nominations - Mrs. Beckles and Mr. Gibson were asked to make presentations as their
nominations were considered to be in the most advanced stage of preparation. Their presentations outlined the various steps they had taken, challenges encountered as well as achievements accomplished in order to bring their nominations to the stage they had reached. This is generally considered to be more than 95% completed. This helped the others to understand that any pressure they may be feeling in terms of completing their nomination forms is a universal experience. The other participants were encouraged by these presentations.

 

The second part of the last session was spent on brainstorming about potential nominations from the region. Among the suggestions were:
Barbados - Errol Barrow Archives (with UK re independence)
Dominica - Carib Archives
Jamaica - Maroon (Peace Treaties and documents giving legal autonomy)
Jamaica - Bob Marley
Netherlands Antilles - Slavery Records - (Salt Mining)
Regional - Panama Canal Records (Barbados, Jamaica, others)
Regional - Kweyol Language (Dominica, St.Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti)
Regional - Windrush Migration records (with UK, including London Transport)
Regional - Sonny Ramphal Archives (with Commonwealth Secretariat)
Regional - Richard Allsopp - Caribbean English Usage (with Spanish/French add.)
Regional - Caribbean Artists Movement
Regional - BIM Magazine (Frank Collymore, George Lamming, etc)
Regional - Rex Nettleford - Culturalist/choreographer/dancer
Regional - Indian Migration to the Caribbean (possibly intraregional w/the Pacific)
Regional - Chinese Migration to the Caribbean
Regional - Dame Eugenia Charles archives (with USA re Grenada Intervention)
Regional - 1930s Riots and the Moyne Commission (incl.Labour Unions develop.)
Development of National Committees
Participants were requested to encourage their National Commissions for UNESCO to establish
MoW National Committees in countries where these do not exist. Barbados shared their experiences about the importance of appointing people who have an interest in preserving the documentary heritage rather than using the approach of naming titular heads of units/departments/institutions with relevance to the documentary heritage.

Outstanding matters
Given that the nominations from Dominica and St. Kitts were very similar it was felt that on their own that they could not meet the criteria of uniqueness demanded for listing on the International Register. Rather it was felt that given the institutionalization of the Slave Register process between 1807 and 1834 by the British in its colonial territories, the focus should be on developing a nomination which elucidated this chapter in the post Transatlantic Slave Trade environment where the colonies constructed new mechanisms for economic and social control within the region. This phenomenon had been extensively researched by Prof. Barry Higman drawing on the Slave Registers from both island and mainland territories. Thus, it was felt that these nominations along with records of a similar nature from other territories could be combined together to make this a highly significant nomination. Ms. Robin agreed that she would do the necessary research for Dominica. Mrs. O'Flaherty was to be contacted for the same information and it was agreed that Dr. Downes would craft the summary, justification in relation to criteria and other comments that was required to make the nomination acceptable for submission. It was felt the Australian Convict Records provided a suitable model on which to structure this nomination. Once the general statements had been drafted these could be circulated to all other relevant territories for additional comment.

Perceptions

All of the participants felt that the workshop was beneficial and that it also helped them to understand the details of the MoW Programme better - especially how to complete the nomination forms.

Other matters
Participants were also apprised of the following:

1. The IAC meeting held in Pretoria, July 2007

2. The offer by Barbados to host the 2009 IAC meeting.

3. The intent to hold a regional continuing education event around the time of the 2009 IAC meeting that would benefit the MoW programme in the region. The value of holding this activity at this time is that it would take advantage of the expertise of persons attending the IAC meeting.

4. The 3rd International MoW conference which will be held in Canberra, Australia, Feb 2008.

Acknowledgments

All of the participants were very warm in their acknowledgments of the workshop and the arrangements thereof. The indicated that they had made progress on their nominations and indicated that they would continue to work on their forms. Participants were reminded that they needed to have their nominations sent to Paris BEFORE March 31 2008.

Mrs. Joie Springer's assistance in making the workshop possible was recognized by the body.

Mrs. Russell's sterling contribution to the event was duly noted by all participants as was the assistance provided by the other facilitators. The contributions of the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO and its MoW Committee to making this workshop a reality were also acknowledged. The St. Lucia National Commission for UNESCO was also thanked for its facilitation of the local arrangements.

 

BARBADOS SEMINAR

On Thursday, November 15 2007, an afternoon seminar on the MoW Programme was held at the Barbados Museum. The main presenter at this event was Mrs. Roslyn Russell. Also making presentations were Miss Alissandra Cummins and Miss Elizabeth Watson. Invitations were sent to the National Library Service of Barbados, the Department of Archives, The Land Registry Department, The Library Association of Barbados and the Main Library of The University of the West Indies. There were 9 participants plus the facilitators at the event. Participants represented not only institutions but also among the group were individual researchers and two visitors to the island - one of whom was a Professor from a Washington DC university. She was very excited to learn about the programme and was able to identify a Black American collection that had the potential to be nominated to the international register. This collection related to the work of a blind black philanthropist who had established a number of institutions in Africa to help the blind in a number of countries on that continent. As most people who attended the event had never heard of the MoW programme before, the presentations served as an important means of disseminating information about the programme.

 To download the full report click here:http://infolac.ucol.mx/mow/informes/mow_barbados_2007.pdf