The History Forum

SYMMONDS, OLGA aka PATRICIA SYMMONDS, 1925- PRESENT By Alvesia Weatherhead, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI Cave Hill Campus  Dame Olga Patricia Symmonds, GCM, DBE, commonly known as Patricia Symmonds, educator, politician, and member of the senate, was born on 18 October 1925 to Alga Ianthe Symmonds and Algernon Symmonds. She is the elder sister of Barbadian diplomat, the late Algernon Washington Symmonds, and aunt of Donna Symmonds, a prominent lawyer. Symmonds lived in both Strathclyde and Bank Hall Road in St. Michael while growing up. Symmonds currently resides in Strathclyde and is 94 years old. Dame Olga Patricia Symmonds She was first educated at a private school ran by Mrs. Maude Haynes, widow of a Moravian Minister, at 5 years . At 10 years, Symmonds won a St. Michael’s Vestry Scholarship to Queen’s College (QC), which was a First Grade School for girls at that ti...

By, Ariel Moore, Student, HIST 3030 The Evolution of Social Policy in Barbados, Department of History and Philosophy, The UWI Cave Hill Campus Women’s groups are increasingly becoming vehicles for social, political, and economic empowerment (NEHA KUMAR, 2018). Caribbean women advocated for women's rights drawing on a historical legacy of women's resistance and influenced by the first wave of the international feminist movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their history of organizing includes religious and social welfare organisations, civic and political organisations, trade unions, and women's arms of political parties (Rawwida Baksh, 2013). The Women's Self-help movement was one of the earliest manifestations, where a colonial governor’s wife organised white women to teach poor women housewifery skills and initiated income generating projects based on needle work skills. The Women's Self-help association in Barbados was a charitable organisation foun...

By, Tara Inniss, Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Newton Slave Burial Ground, Christ Church, Barbados Some of us in Barbados and the Diaspora saw some posts and short videos on social media this past weekend showing a ceremony taking place in Ghana of Barbadian officials burying the “remains” of an “unknown” enslaved African burial/space from Barbados to Africa. Those present described it as a very emotional experience. I have no doubt that it was. Confronting the theft of our culture and the erasure of lives lived during enslavement in Barbados is an extremely visceral experience that would touch any one of us if we had the opportunities to do so.   When we take our students to the spaces that exist here in Barbados, it is also an emotional experience. If I were to describe it, I would say the emotion is more of revelation and connection than it is of reflection and communion. It is a revela...

Theatres in Historic Bridgetown By, Zakiya Doyle, History Teacher, The St. Michael School, Barbados and PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies If we cast our minds back to the days before TV and technology ruled our lives and provided entertainment, we would see theatre spaces in Bridgetown as important aspect of the city’s cultural life. Like many cultural and recreational pursuits in Bridgetown, theatres also reflected the social segregation of Bridgetown society, so there were many more theatre spaces in Bridgetown to accommodate disparate social classes. Operating since at least the early 18 th century, theatres were located throughout the city. Eighteenth-century theatres were not purpose-built, but were located in buildings that served other purposes. Visiting professional and local amateur dramatic companies performed in the spaces. And in the 18 th and early 19 th centuries, Bridgetown was an important stop on the Atlantic circuit with production ...