Preserving the Past, Creating the Future

Preserving the Past, Creating the Future West Indiana and Special Collections Division, The Alma Jordan Library
 The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

Satira Maharaj
 Masters of Science in Gender and Development Studies Institute for Gender and Development Studies

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#ExploreLearnKnowCreate #Internship #UWISpecialCollections #AJLSpecialCollections #WestIndianaAndSpecialCollections #WISC #TheAlmaJordanLibrary #TheAJL #InstituteforGenderandDevelopmentStudies #IGDS #PostgraduateStudies

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Satira Maharaj
 Masters of Science in Gender and Development Studies Institute for Gender and Development Studies St Augustine Unit Blog posts by Satira Maharaj from her 2020 internship at the West Indiana and Special Collections Division (WISC), The Alma Jordan Library (AJL), The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus as part of her Masters of Science in Gender and Development Studies.   Ms. Maharaj lectures in Gender Studies at the Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperative Studies.

She is an engineer with ten (10) years experience in the oil and gas industry.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she enjoyed Latin dancing with the Salsa Vive dance team.

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Introduction to West Indiana

I have always loved the smell of books. I have lived in a couple different cities, and visited many places, but libraries and bookstores always smell like home.

This semester I am doing an internship at the West Indiana & Special Collections Division of The Alma Jordan Library at The University of the West Indies in St. Augustine.

I am a post-graduate student at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies. What does that mouthful even mean? Basically, we are gendered beings, and gender underpins much of our everyday experiences and lived realities.

During this internship, I will look at knowledge creation. I want to understand how different pieces of history become connected through the organization of material. I will explore who produced the knowledge that we use. I also want to see what (and who!) have been left out of our Caribbean knowledge production. I will be sharing my learnings and thoughts through this platform.

The Division includes General, Rare Books and Special Collections. It also contains Dr. Eric Williams’ personal papers and library along with a museum dedicated to Dr. Eric Williams. The General section houses books written about Caribbean topics by authors from the Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora. Frankly, I did not know so much was produced from within the region. The Rare Books are just that, books that are exceptional or of historical value.

The Special Collections are what drew me to this Division. They contain archival material – manuscripts, personal papers, letters, and organizational documents. It is fascinating to unearth the stories that these collections hold. The C.L.R. James Collection includes manuscripts, correspondence and personal papers of this writer and political activist. There is a collection on Christian Prayers in Yoruba, which contains wooden plaques etched by Mr. Joseph Joseph, otherwise known as Mr. Zampty from Sierra Leone Village in Diego Martin. The Making of Caribbean Feminisms collection includes documents

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and correspondence on various projects within the Caribbean women’s movement. There are also collections on West Indian Calendars, Posters and Prints.

The Head of the Division, Dr. Glenroy Taitt, describes the Division as a library within a library. Staff members facilitate and assist users, who may be students of the university, independent researchers or visiting scholars. They are also responsible for cataloguing and indexing material within the section. In addition, the Division undertakes the acquisition of material for its Special Collections.

My primary responsibility during this internship will involve the analysis of Caribbean First Day Covers to determine their potential as a source for gender research. First Day Covers are commemorative envelopes issued by official postal authorities. These envelopes typically contain stamps that are specially designed for the event being celebrated or commemorated.

To be honest, I had barely ever heard of First Day Covers before I started this internship. I would not have thought of envelopes and stamps as a source of data. I am genuinely curious to see if and how these covers can be used by persons interested in gender issues.

I will be delivering a lecture on my findings at The Alma Jordan Library.

I also plan to curate a small exhibition for display at the library. Along the way, I will be sharing my experiences and adventures on this page.

Be sure to stay tuned!

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J. D. Sellier Collection

Jaishri opens an ancient tome carefully, laying it on a satin pillow. I admire the flowing script on the yellowing pages. Some pages are fragile.

Jaishri uses white cotton or latex gloves on these pages. The gloves prevent further damage to the pages. They also ensure the ink does not stain her fingers.

The volume is part of the J. D. Sellier Collection, acquired some time ago by the West Indiana and Special Collections Division (WISC). As an intern, I am learning about the work that goes into making archives available to users. Jaishri kindly oered to show me some of her work.

J. D. Sellier and Company was founded in 1882

by Jean-Baptise Denis Sellier. The collection includes deeds and probate documents which are one hundred years old.

Jaishri, who currently works in the Division, is an attorney-at-law. This makes her uniquely qualified to dig into the probate documents.

Her job is to record the documents that were included for each client. She uploads these

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records to a database using software called

I notice that a vase was listed. To me, vases are

Archivist’s Toolkit. When the project is

just ornaments. In those days, they were

completed, researchers will use this database

markers of wealth. Their worth was significant

to determine which parts of the collection

enough to contribute to the value of the

could be useful to them.

estate.

Jaishri has uncovered some interesting trends

My grandmother grew up on a cocoa estate

hiding in these ancient pages. For instance,

in the 1920s. Her family lived underneath a

the probate documents include many cocoa

cocoa drying house. They used the existing

estates.

roof, and built walls to turn the drying house into a dwelling. As I drove home that day, I

Dr. Taitt, Head of the West Indiana and Special

thought about her story, as a child of cocoa

Collections Division, had earlier explained the

workers. I thought about the stories in these

link to me. Much of the cocoa industry at the

books, wealthy families who profited from the

time was owned by prominent French-Creole

labour of families like hers. I thought about

families. The founder of the J. D. Sellier law

how their dierent lives intertwined to create

firm was also from a French-Creole family.

my experience in the archives that day.

Many of the French-Creole families, who happened to be in the cocoa business, conducted their business through the firm.

The probate documents typically include a list of assets belonging to the deceased. These could get quite detailed, even including drawings and blueprints of buildings on the estate. Jaishri shows me lists of personal belongings, including house furniture and even jewellery. These were used to determine the value of the deceased’s estate.

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Ephemera I have a small collection of funeral programmes at home. I knew these people, and I decided to keep these delicate paper reminders of their lives. I have mixed feelings when I look at them. There is usually sadness, an expected sense of loss. Another feeling has evolved with time, a sense of gratitude that I have known these people and been witness to their lives.

Funeral programmes are one type of ephemera.

Such documents are meant to be short-lived. Other printed ephemera can include calendars, flyers, wedding invitations, restaurant menus, postcards, and first day covers.

During my internship at the West Indiana Division of the Alma Jordan Library, I will be indexing and analyzing a specific type of ephemera known as First Day Covers. These are commemorative envelopes issued by oďŹƒcial postal authorities. The envelopes typically contain stamps that are specially designed for the event being celebrated or commemorated.

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One Caribbean scholar believes that although the word ‘ephemera’ itself suggests that the material does not have much research potential, the opposite is actually true. Ephemeral material provides information about everyday life at various social levels. They help us understand how people have fun and how they mourn. They show how people observe rites of passage. They bear witness to the social and political struggles of the people. Moreover, they have a certain energy and spirit often missing from stoic official documents.

It is fitting that I will be working on ephemera. One of the most interesting assignments during my postgraduate program at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies involved the use of archival ephemera. I analyzed art images on local calendars using Caribbean theory. This was a nontraditional ephemeral source in feminist knowledge production. This assignment, together with related visits to the West Indiana Division, sparked my first thoughts on this internship.

Formal academic knowledge, especially writing, is often privileged over other types of knowledge.

Writing can be defined by its exclusions as much as its inclusions. Who produces academic knowledge, and what are the subjects they study?

The dominant narratives in our knowledge were

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often produced by specific people, about particular things, and with certain agendas in mind. Ephemeral material allows us to look beyond this formal knowledge. It can allow us to see what has previously been hidden or invisibilized.

During my assignment using art images on local calendars, I realized how a colonial gaze can be perpetuated via the trope of the ‘washerwoman’, an iconic figure in early local art. Postcards can be used to study how the Caribbean is portrayed and sold to the world. Programmes for religious functions can bring to light the practices of minority groups. Restaurant menus can be used to find out about diets and patterns of consumption.

I wonder how future scholars will look at the ephemera of our time. Who knows? Perhaps someday people will even write about Carnival culture using fete advertisements or tickets as their primary research material.

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Kwailan La Borde

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A stamp on a 1974 Trinidad and Tobago First Day Cover contains images of Kwailan La Borde and Harold La Borde to either side of a boat. The boat stands out against a backdrop of a stylized blue globe, and is captioned the “Hummingbird II”.

Tiny text reads, “First Anniversar y Circumnavigation of the Earth 1969-1973.” My curiosity is piqued.

I came across this particular stamp while indexing First Day Covers from various Caribbean countries. First Day Covers are commemorative envelopes issued by official postal authorities.

The envelopes typically contain stamps that are specially designed for the event being celebrated. I am processing this collection as part of my internship at the West Indiana Division of the Alma Jordan Library.

I shared my discovery with a staff member. He explained that the La Bordes did several long distance sailing voyages. I found out that the La Bordes were awarded the Trinity Cross, the highest national award at the time. Their second child was born during their circumnavigation of the globe. I wondered what it was like to be pregnant at sea, to give birth in a foreign location away from family and friends. As a Gender Student, I wanted to learn more about the lived experiences of this woman.

Women’s experiences often go unrecorded.

Sometimes they are not considered important enough, or valuable enough, or historical

enough. When they are officially recorded, it has historically been through the writings of men.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to learn about this fascinating woman, Kwailan La Borde, from her own personal account.

Her book is titled “Wind, Sea and Faith.” On the cover, a silhouetted woman gazes at a vibrant ocean sunset. I would not have to learn about this woman through the eyes of someone else; I could read about her experiences from her own perspective.

She was born in 1933 and grew up in Belmont.

Her christened name was Mary, but her father called her Kwailan, for the “exotic flower that lends its therapeutic powers to the villagers of Zhongshan in mainland China, where he was born.”

Kwailan worked at the French Consulate, then later on as a well-paid secretary at Dominion Oil. She later transferred to a subsidiary company in Venezuela. She was already engaged by this time.

She believed Harold had assumed they would get married and sail away together. As she says, “I had other ideas for my own life and I told him so.” She decided to “create some geographical distance from Harold and his awe-inspiring dreams.” She “had to figure out where (her) own dreams lay.“ When she returned home from Venezuela, Harold asked if she would accompany him

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She stayed in Venezuela for about a year when she learned her father had died. On her trip home for the funeral, Harold asked if she would accompany him on his voyage to England. Until that point, she had not known her answer. She agreed to go with him. She mentions her internal negotiation. “Does it seem that I was giving in to Harold’s dreams? Maybe I was, but it was worth it for what I would have in return, a loving husband and the adventure of a lifetime.”

In 1960, at twenty-seven years old, Kwailan and Harold, together with their friend Buck, set off on their first voyage for England in the Humming Bird I. The boat had no engine, and no toilet.

She speaks about cooking on the kerosene stove at sea. “First you had to pump up the stove to build up sufficient pressure, the pour methylated spirits into a little cup under the burner (quite a challenge on a bouncing boat) and ignite that.

Once dispersed, you then turned a little knob, and kerosene coming out of the hot nipple would vaporize. You then struck another match, applied it to the burner, and voila, you had a nice blue flame. However, if the burner was not hot enough, a red flame would emerge shooting upwards like an erupting volcano, and you had to contain it quickly, or else.”

On their first voyage, Harold had difficulty navigating using a sextant. His first calculation told him they were at the Orinoco River in South America. Kwailan summoned her high school

mathematics and was able to work out a close approximation of their location. It was cause for celebration.

Kwailan refers to the Humming Bird II as their dreamboat. Kwailan took a job to allow Harold to work full time on the boat. She worked as an account executive with an advertising company.

Their first son, Pierre, was born while the boat was under construction. Harold and Kwailan decided to take Pierre with them on their second voyage, a circumnavigation of the earth. Kwailan would educate him on board.

Some women were envious of Kwailan’s supposed ‘romantic sailing life’, but this perception was far from truth. She enjoyed the ocean in good weather, but also faced the challenges of rough weather, boat leaks, and the complexities of visiting certain places. Kwailan and Harold passed through South America, the Panama Canal, The Galapagos, Polynesia, Tahiti, Rarotonga, Tong and Fiji.

Kwailan became pregnant on this voyage. She recalls her visit to a doctor in Tahiti, when she found out she had developed a hernia. She would require surgery after the birth of her baby. She was advised to avoid heavy lifting, an essential part of boat life.

She alludes to the importance of the Caribbean extended family, that network of women. She

had “no mother to call on for help, and no sister on whose shoulder I could cry. The La Borde men in their phlegmatic way could not understand my plight, and their only attempt at consolation was, ‘Don’t worry, you’re as strong as a horse!’”

She left Fiji by plane for New Zealand to have her baby and hernia operation. She babysat for a family, and had a comfortable room in their large, two-storey home in Auckland, and meals. She speaks about feeling peace in New Zealand, being in touch not only with her “Maker” but also “with His Mother.”

She gave birth to her son Andre in March 1970.

He was baptized in New Zealand. When Andre was four months old, Kwailan moved back on board the Humming Bird II. Some time later along the journey, Andre became sick. Kwailan suspected gastroenteritis. Their stock of drugs did not make any difference to his condition. The nearest island to seek help was a hundred miles to the west. Once they landed, Kwailan went ashore. Harold and Pierre had to stay on board, as the anchorage was not a good one.

Kwailan found no transport, and she set out along the road, walking with Andre on her hip.

She walked until she found a village, where a young girl offered her a coconut to drink. Kwailan walked three more hours with her baby. Around midday, the acting District Officer came along in

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a Land Rover. He took them to a small hospital.

No doctor was available. An intern diagnosed him with gastro and gave him an injection and medication.

Kwailan decided that, even if it took all her savings, she would take Andre from New Guinea to Canada. He would stay with her mother, who was living with Kwailan’s brothers. She declares, “There was no way I was going to take any more chances with my baby – not for Harold, not for the voyage and not for anyone else.”

It was decided without argument. “Harold loved his son as much as I did, but only I, the mother who had borne him, could make such a decision.

I wanted to see him grow up to be a man. It was as simple as that!”

From Cape Town, they began the journey home.

They sailed to St. Helena, Ascension Island, Barbados and Grenada. She reunited with Andre in Grenada. From Grenada, the La Bordes sailed home to Trinidad, where they were celebrated.

Stamped with history: A gendered look at first day covers at West Indiana

By Satira Maharaj

I used to think of history as objective truth – straightforward facts that told a story. As a gender studies student, I learned that knowledge does not simply come to exist. It is constructed within specific contexts (historical, cultural, political and economic), sometimes with particular agendas in mind. Dominant narratives become difficult to question.

Intrigued by the materials at UWI St Augustine’s West Indiana and Special Collections (WISC) Division within the Alma Jordan Library, I wanted to question the underlying assumptions about gender in our historical archives, attending to how knowledge is not just uncovered, but created. West Indiana houses a general section, rare books, and Special Collections. The Special Collections are what drew me to this division. They contain manuscripts, personal papers, letters and organisational documents that offer fascinating opportunities for examining how we construct history.

As part of my MSc programme at the Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), I undertook an internship at WISC. I worked with a collection of Caribbean First Day Covers, which are commemorative envelopes issued by official postal authorities. These envelopes usually contain specially designed stamps for the event being celebrated. This collection became an archive for my research.

Could each cover be useful for research on gender? I recorded information about relevant covers, such as postmark date, the event it commemorated, the number of stamps, a short description of each stamp and the monetary value of the stamp. This will be uploaded to the Special Collections database by the WISC staff, so that future researchers have access to the information.

My findings covered six themes. The first was the Invisibility of Women in Building the Caribbean. The covers celebrated many men who contributed to building the Caribbean nations, but few women.

The second theme examined the Underrepresentation of Women in Sport. I looked at unequal power relations that led to the extreme visibility of men’s sports like cricket and football, but did not similarly celebrate women’s participation in sports like netball and cricket.

The third theme looked at Women’s Organisations, such as the Soroptomists Clubs and Girl Guides. Their valuable work is often framed as volunteerism, service and care work, or “women’s work”. It was not seen as important as the “nation-building” activities for which men are celebrated.

The fourth theme, Representations of Women in Art, showed the colonial male gaze through which women are often depicted in artistic stamps. The fifth theme involved Christmas and the Sacred Feminine. Through Christmas stamps, I examined the role of the Virgin Mary figure and religious influences in contributing to Christmas as an idealised, domesticised, nationalistic but syncretic festival. The final focus, on Caribbean Women Artists, catalogued stamps which featured the art of women artists, like Weme Caster, Paula Walden, Eva Wilkin and Sybil Atteck. These artists told women’s stories from the perspective of women.

Overall, my internship experience was wonderful. WISC is a library within a library, since many general library functions are carried out on a smaller scale. Staff members facilitate and assist university students, independent researchers and visiting scholars. The staff showed me their ongoing projects. One was working on the JD Sellier Collection, which was acquired from an old, prestigious law firm. Another was documenting a series of taped interviews. All these materials are available for further exploration.

This internship reminded me why I love libraries. It contributed to my academic development, and enabled me to document how stories can come to appear as historical, gendered truths. Next, I will be sharing my findings through an online lecture. Look out for further information on the Alma Jordan Library Facebook page.

https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/article12.asp

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