(Trinidad Express) For many years, the archives and library of Trinidad and Tobago’s first prime minister, Dr Eric Williams, housed at The University of the West Indies’ Alma Jordan Library, has been a key resource for many academic papers, theses, lectures and books.
“Now housed in a national library, there is the opportunity for it to reach so many more, to once again teach the public, the man and woman on the street, as Eric Williams himself did on Woodford Square,” said Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, The UWI St Augustine pro-vice chancellor and campus principal.
Antoine was speaking last Tuesday at the official opening of the Eric Williams Memorial Library at the corner of Knox and Pembroke streets, Port of Spain.
The Eric Williams Memorial Collection, The UWI’s largest research collection, consists of the personal papers of Dr Williams, inclusive of his extensive personal library, as well as a museum dedicated to him.
The collection is owned and curated by Dr Williams’ daughter, Erica Williams-Connell, and managed by The UWI.
Also speaking at the event were Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Williams-Connell and Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.
The UWI is expected to begin moving the collection from the St Augustine campus to the Eric Williams Memorial Library over the next few weeks.
Antoine said she was thrilled and moved to be part of the meaningful and symbolic partnership between the Government and The UWI, St Augustine.
“It is meaningful not just because of who we celebrate, but the content and substance of his life’s work—a much prized gift to the nation,” she stated at the opening.
She said with the library now at the world’s disposal, writers, researchers, students and the public will be able to utilise its resources.
“It allows for augmented services and offerings such as walking tours and events. It will promote scholarship and education at all levels, dissent even, which is critical to its academic underpinnings and the sober and unvarnished writing of history,” she stated.
Antoine noted that in 1989, Williams-Connell, who had worked for over four decades to preserve her father’s legacy, generously placed the material on deposit with The UWI.
“Mrs Connell’s vision, and ours, has always been that the collection should not simply comprise the 7,000-plus books and journals from Williams’ personal library; or the published and unpublished works, research notes, papers, policy reports, newspaper clippings, personal, political and official correspondence; or indeed the plethora of photographs and memorabilia—from love letters to his wife, to Queen Elizabeth II’s message of regret at his impending 1973 retirement from office; or even the replica of Williams’ private study,” she said.
Antoine emphasised that the collection was far more than a repository for the vast historical archive, but had, over the decades, actively engaged the local and regional community in dynamic programmes that it promoted, which rewarded excellence and attempted to bring innovative solutions to the intractable problems facing society.
She said these included history prizes; an annual Eric Williams “School Bags” essay competition in 17 Caribbean countries; an annual Eric Williams Lecture at Florida International University (19 to date); the re-publication of Williams’ books, particularly his magnum opus, Capitalism and Slavery, translated into nine languages; Williams’ final unpublished work, which is soon to be under contract with UWI Press; an Oral History Project comprising more than 130 interviews on Williams; a discography containing over 150 calypsoes mentioning Eric Williams by name, and an anti-teen pregnancy community service project.
“In addition, several Eric Williams conferences and symposia have been facilitated by the collection, co-sponsored by prestigious universities, including Oxford, Harvard, the University of London, Princeton, Havana, Boston University, to name a few,” Antoine said.
She said T&T’s 60th Independence anniversary was a particularly fortuitous time for the launch of the library.