The History Forum

Thelma Vaughan: Stepping in Front By Sylvan Spooner Although the wife of Barbados Attorney General, Editor of the Barbados Reporter and Minister without portfolio Hilton Vaughn, Thelma Vaughn distinguished herself and carved a niche for herself beyond the shadow of her politically illustrious husband. After leaving school, Vaughan commenced her teaching career at St. Paul’s Girl’s school. She soon resigned from the profession and shortly after joined the Barbados Welfare Limited. In 1944, she went to Jamaica where she became involved in the second social welfare course organized by Professor T.S. Simey who at that time was Social Welfare Officer of the Colonial Development and Welfare Organization. [1] Upon her return to the island, Vaughan worked mainly in the parish of St. Andrew but gave her time freely to similar welfare committees in other parishes throughout the island with special emphasis for day care services for children. In 1946, just two years after leaving the ...

Postcards from Middleton Place: UWI History Graduates in South Carolina By, Dr. Tara Inniss  The Department of History and Philosophy is immensely proud of its graduates as they continue the critical work of making Caribbean history and heritage relevant for new generations of Caribbean people. Our distinctive heritage can help Caribbean people learn about and appreciate the vast connections that our corner of the globe shares with so many regions around the world. Kakiya Doyle and Gloria Sandiford For the past two summers, graduates of the Department of History and Philosophy's postgraduate programmes have availed themselves of a unique opportunity to shadow curators and heritage managers at one of South Carolina's premiere heritage tourism attractions. Invited to participate in the 4-week programme, both Dr. Gloria Sandiford and Ms. Zakiya Doyle conducted study visits to Middleton Place ( www.middletonplace.org ) with the assistance of the site’s...

The Education Value and Tourism Potential for Newton Burial Ground By, Dr. Tara Inniss, Department of History and Philosophy, Cave Hill Campus, UWI Newton plantation is one of the best documented plantations in Barbados. Several prominent researchers, including Jerome Handler, Hilary Beckles and Karl Watson have used the records to reconstruct the lives of enslaved Africans who lived and worked on the plantation. The records provide tremendous insight into several little known aspects of African life in Barbados during the slave period. When the archaeological site of the plantation’s burial grounds was excavated in the 1970s, other aspects of the lives of Africans at Newton were revealed i.e.) Burial practices; health and nutrition; material culture, etc. Today, the Newton Burial Site is one of the only extant excavated communal burial ground for enslaved Africans in a sugar plantation context in the Western hemisphere. The site’s accessibility and interpretative value ar...