Thelma Vaughan: Stepping in Front

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 teaching profession she was awarded a Scholarship to the London School of Economics (LSE) where she obtained the Diploma in Social Science. She returned to the island in 1948 and one year later was appointed to the post of District Officer when the social welfare department was created.

Hers was a rapid rise given the relative lack of mobility for women during the period. After acting in the post of District Officer for a mere nine month she was promoted to Senior District Welfare Officer following the departure of Ms Betty Arne in 1950. After a decade, her appointment was finally confirmed effective September 25^th 1960. After a storied and successful career in education and later, the social services, Vaughn died on March 10^th 1966. The Thelma Vaughan Memorial Home, established in 1971[2] with Violet Baird as its first Matron[3]  which is situated at the Glebe in St. George is named in her honor. Today the home caters to children and adults with both physical and development challenges ranging from age 3- 18. In addition to being the wife of Hilton Vaughan she was also the sister of the late Daphne Joseph Hackett. The Thelma Vaughan Memorial is a lasting testament to the legacy of Thelma Vaughan.

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[1]  T.S. Simey.  Welfare and Planning in the West Indies p314.

[2] Challenge to Change. January- April 2007 p, 11.

[3] http://www.cbc.bb/obits/index.php/item/87-baird-violet-helena

Philip Scher: Landship, Entrepreneurship and the Ship of State: The Many Uses of Heritage in Barbados

Postcards from Middleton Place: UWI History Graduates in South Carolina

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 Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Tracey Todd.

Dr. Gloria Sandiford was the first UWI Cave Hill graduate intern at Middleton Place in 2013. She is a PhD graduate in History whose doctoral thesis examined Georgetown's modern dilemmas with the interpretation and preservation of its colonial heritage in Guyana. This past summer, Ms. Zakiya Doyle, a graduate of the MA Heritage Studies programme who now teaches at The St. Michael School in Barbados, was selected to follow Gloria's lead and was the second CARICOM national to spend some time on one of South Carolina's former rice plantations.

The historical connections between South Carolina and Barbados date back to the 1670s when a group of Barbadian settlers and their enslaved workers re-settled in the present-day Carolina Lowcountry around the port city of Charleston, South Carolina. The connection is encapsulated in the history of the Middleton family and its progenitor, Edward Middleton, who emigrated from England to Barbados in the mid-17^th century. In 1678, he moved to South Carolina after receiving large land grants near Goose Creek. Successive generations of Middletons and their slaves continued to inhabit the area. Within a century, the family became one of the wealthiest landowners in South Carolina, owning in excess of 50,000 acres and 800 enslaved persons. The Middletons became one of South Carolina’s most prominent families and during the Civil War (1861-65) some members of the family fought as unionists and others in defence of the secessionist cause.

Begun in 1741, Middleton Place was the headquarters of the prominent Middleton family and today it contains America’s oldest landscaped gardens, an important House Museum and an outdoor living history museum called the Plantation Stableyards. Well entrenched in the history of the United States, Middleton Place was the home to one of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence, Arthur Middleton (1742-87). Providing some insights into the living history of the former plantation, several re-enactments and museum displays take visitors back into time to experience the working life of the stableyards where enslaved Africans once worked as fieldhands and artisans.

Both graduates have produced reports of their experience at Middleton Place and will present their observations at a special History Forum seminar entitled, “Postcards from Middleton Place: UWI History Graduates in South Carolina.” 

Oak Tree at Middleton Place, South Carolina

Gloria’s visit included several tours of the property, including an evaluation of its landscape and outdoor living history. Reporting that the enslaved experience and South Carolina’s rice history’s African connection were integrated into the tour script, Gloria found that the tour of the stableyard was “edifying.” She further related that the tours interpreting the heritage of enslaved Africans were engaging and brought the experience to life. Gloria’s visit took her to other heritage sites such as the Old Slave Mart Museum, Aiken-Rhett House Museum, Charleston Museum and First Baptist Church. Of her informal education during her stay, Gloria says, “I was totally bowled over by the friendliness I encountered on the streets and shops of Charleston… I must confess I fell in love with the city of Charleston.” She found greater connections with her hometown of Georgetown, Guyana than with Bridgetown, Barbados: “Just like Charleston, Georgetown is low-lying, prone to flooding and protected by a sea wall.” The street layout with its tree-lined sidewalks and wooden architecture was reminiscent of Georgetown at the turn of the 20^th century.

Middleton Place, South Carolina 

Zakiya’s visit was spent shadowing specialists who look after the gardens and the museum’s collections to ensure their safekeeping and preservation. She was impressed with the meticulous management of the site but was particularly struck with the number of teaching materials available for teachers and students visiting the property: “As a teacher I have learned that having this kind of information beforehand is important as it prepares you to be engaging and knowledgeable about what is taking place during the tour… and introduce lessons related to the field trip in the classroom.” Zakiya believes the internship was a “fantastic” opportunity which should help her to integrate authentic learning experiences in the classroom.

Drawing on experience gained from UWI’s history and heritage programmes, both Gloria and Zakiya made recommendations to improve the visitor experience at Middleton Place. Zakiya, for example, recommended that more feedback mechanisms for visitors be introduced and indicated that greater representation of the role of African women in rice processing techniques was needed. Mr. Tracey Todd, the internship coordinator, has been most impressed with the knowledge and expertise of our graduates and is looking forward to continuing the programme so that the Barbados-Carolina connection can be maintained to provide an arena for exchange and development.

The Department of History and Philosophy is committed to ensuring that our graduates continue to hone their skills as they prepare for the 21^st century global job market. History and Philosophy graduates continue to be sought after as participants in heritage internship schemes such as these and in the workplace as educators, heritage practitioners, policy analysts, and researchers in a number of career paths in history and heritage and much further afield -- in law, journalism, finance, banking, and international relations. We hope to share some more postcards from our global graduates in the near future.

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Pt. III: Sustainable Heritage Tourism: The Education Value and Tourism Potential for Newton Enslaved Burial Ground

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 are significant assets for the development of Barbados’ cultural heritage. The site has also been specially designated for its potential as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is currently on Barbados’ Tentative List for the Story of Sugar and Rum: The Industrial Heritage of Barbados.

Although there are several tourism attractions that speak to the experience of enslavement on the island, there are very few monuments or other sites that can viscerally reflect what it was like to live and die as an enslaved person on a plantation. Just as the churchyards of Historic Bridgetown command a certain reverence and quiet contemplation of lives passed, Newton Burial Ground demands the same attention, even though it remains a quiet pasture in a relict sugar landscape.

The value of this site for both local and foreign visitors is testimony to the role Barbados can play in bringing attention to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery. Moreover, the narratives collected from the Newton records also reveal the importance of resistance and freedom among the enslaved population at Newton. These are all valuable stories that need to be transmitted to younger generations.

After the feedback from the Africa Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) Conference held in September, 2012, it is incumbent on the Government of Barbados and the Barbados Museum and Historical Society to work towards the sensitive development of the site as a place of quiet reflection and learning for visitors (please see the Reflection offered by Dr. Marcia Burrowes in Pt. II of this series). In addition to the experiences shared by ADHT delegates, I have also personally encountered Barbadian and Caribbean students who have asked me when the site will be made available for the reception of visitors as it is not currently in a state that demonstrates its value to Barbadians.

I strongly believe that it is incumbent on the Government of Barbados to safeguard this space for not only all Barbadians and future generations, but also for the heritage of humankind. 

Barbadians and visitors deserve access to open spaces so they can contemplate and reflect on the past. Newton Burial Ground provides a legacy for all of humanity to remember the nearly forgotten history of African enslavement. Furthermore, recreation space is at a premium in Barbados because of its plantation history whereupon almost the entire island was used for sugar cultivation. Open spaces must be literally carved out of their plantation past after Barbadians have spent generations being alienated from it. We are custodians of this legacy and we must be in constant remembrance of how our ancestors shaped the landscape without being equal partners in its ownership.

There is simply no greater value that can be put on the lives of our enslaved ancestors who helped to forge a modern Barbados based on the basic freedoms that they could not enjoy. We must acknowledge their contribution as we chart our nation’s social and economic development.