By Clyde W. Thierens
African and Coloured Guyanese women made significant contributions to the society of British Guiana in the period after Emancipation. Many of these contributions have not been adequately recorded because, as is the case almost universally, most of our history has been written from a male perspective. However, this shortcoming is being addressed by a number of Guyanese historians including Hazel Woolford, Cecilia Mc Almont and others.
The social environment of British Guiana in the period just after Emancipation was one that was heavily influenced by skin colour. As the descendants of former enslaved African parents, African Guianese men and women were perceived as being of lower social status than the lighter skinned Coloureds who were the offspring of European men and African or mixed women. Many of the Coloured members of the population, in pursuit of upward social mobility, made every effort to associate with, and, if possible pass for whites. The Coloureds eventually became the main component of the emerging middle class in the society as, over time, they replaced the white skilled artisans who were of lower status in the white segment of the population.
With full Emancipation, in 1838, there was a massive withdrawal of African women and children from the estates. This withdrawal, along with that of significant numbers of African men, resulted in the planters in the colony being forced to take steps to deal with a dramatically reduced supply of labour. The earning power of African men improved significantly in this period primarily because planters were forced to recognise and treat with the newly freed workers by offering inducements, fair and punctual payments and recreational opportunities in order to satisfy their labour needs. African workers who continued to work on the estates were empowered to demand that planters pay them more than they may have been prepared to.
It is clear that African women, by the withdrawal of their labour, impacted upon the economic situation in the colony. The loss of labour suffered by many planters forced a number of them to abandon their estates as they could not afford to pay rising labour and other costs needed for the continuation of their operations. Many others could only continue operations with the importation of significant numbers of immigrants to fill the void created by the reduction of the labour force.
African women also impacted upon the economic development of the colony as they took up occupations as hucksters, haberdashers, roadside vendors, babysitters, seamstresses, washerwomen, domestics, small stock rearers and provision farmers. They sought opportunities to earn their own livelihood as they saw this as one sure way of asserting their independence. Quite a number of them opened small shops where they sold retail items to the new wage earning class. However, many were eventually forced out of business as a result of the commercial expansion of the Portuguese. Despite the many serious challenges they faced, they continued to play a major role in the huckster trade. They provided much needed items as they travelled the length and breadth of the coast selling “almost every article of dress and luxury”, in addition to foodstuff and other essential commodities. The involvement of these enterprising women in business contributed to a vibrant economic climate and, at the same time, they increased their economic power in the society so that by the early 1840s many of them were making enough money to properly support their husbands and families.
Guianese African and Coloured women were also involved in property transactions. African women were members of groups of Africans who pooled their money to buy villages as the newly emancipated class sought to acquire their own pieces of ground on which they could establish themselves and assert their independence of the estates. Coloured women rented out houses, while a number of African women enhanced their income by subletting their homes.
In the immediate post-Emancipation period African women found domestic work particularly attractive because, in addition to such work providing women the opportunity to earn money, they were quite capable of performing household tasks satisfactorily. However, from around the period of the 1880s, many of these ordinary women could obtain a primary school education which empowered them to break into other fields of employment. A number of them became Primary School teachers after being trained as pupil Teachers.
Women also became engaged in the Nursing profession. This was partly due to the policy adopted by the authorities in the late nineteenth century that, instead of drafting young women into the lowest ranks of the Civil Service, they should be trained to become nurses instead. This resulted ultimately in young African and Coloured women taking over the profession from the young males who up to that time had predominated.
As African and Coloured women began to access secondary education from early in the twentieth century, they increasingly began to find employment outside of domestic work, teaching and nursing. Many Coloured women, because of their lighter complexion, started gaining jobs in commercial offices. Starting in this period also, women pioneered the development of non-traditional, small scale cottage industries. They became engaged in basketry and produced other items such as guava jelly, guava cheese, milk and milk products. The development of these cottage industries resulted in the increasing diversification of the economic activities in the colony while, at the same time, allowed these women to provide themselves with employment and earning power especially at a time when jobs were generally hard to come by.
After Emancipation many African women chose to become homemakers. They devoted their energies to the care and nurturing of their children. Many of these women recognised the power of education as a means of upward mobility and therefore dedicated their efforts to sending their children to school. So successful were the efforts of African mothers that, in the space of one generation, many Africans had been educated to the point where they could become school teachers, artisans, mechanics and other skilled workers. Many of these women were so focused on maintaining their independence and self reliance that it was said that they often “did not really need the security of marriage”. They depended upon their own efforts to earn enough for the upkeep of themselves and two or three children. A manifestation of this was the presence in society of a number of unmarried African women who were independent, industrious, strong, resourceful and capable women who headed single-parent families. Many children raised by these women became outstanding personalities in the society and had no hesitation in attributing their successes to the influence of these mothers, and, in some instances, grandmothers.
African and Coloured women comprised a significant part of the membership of many church organisations, Friendly Societies and Lodges that engaged in humanitarian work that sought to bring relief to working class women in times of sickness and death of family members. They were also heavily involved in charitable endeavours that sought to provide help for the needy in the society. It must be borne in mind that, while many of these early ‘recognised’ women’s organisations were headed by European women who were the wives of Governors and other officials, African and Coloured women formed a significant part of the membership and thus played important roles in carrying out work on the ground. Among these organisations were the Young Women’s Christian Associa-tion formed in 1895, the British Guiana United Home Industries formed in 1913 and the Infant Welfare and Maternity League formed in 1914.
African and Coloured women made significant contributions to the cultural life of the colony. They played a meaningful role in enhancing social cohesion in the colony through their participation in playwriting, dancing, acting, mixed choirs, elocution and drama clubs. Many of them became excellent violinists, pianists, organists and singers. Among these exceptionally talented females was the outstanding soprano Alyce Fraser-Denny 1896-1988. This world-acclaimed singer was employed by Marcus Garvey as Conductor of the United Negro Improvement Association’s choir. Ms Denny championed the cause of African people worldwide and the international acclaim and respect that she gained served to inspire Guianese women while enhancing the cultural image of the society as a whole.
African women were in the forefront of the migration of Africans to the urban areas after increasing difficulties in the African villages forced many to seek better opportunities. It was often easier for women to find employment and accommodation in the towns. In addition to the cultural impact of their presence in urban areas these women also affected the commercial activities at various levels.
There is no doubt that African and Coloured Guianese women had a profound impact on the society of British Guiana in the period after Emancipation. In another installment the issue of the political contributions of these women will be examined.
