#tobagohistory

[zeebartels]

RePosted • @nationalarchivestt #OnThisDay in 1977, Janelle “Penny” Commissiong was crowned Miss Universe in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. This victory made her the first black Miss Universe in the history of the pageant, as well as the first Caribbean contestant to take home the crown. . Before 1977, there were only a few Caribbean women in the competition who had made it close to the Miss Universe title: Miss Haiti 1962, Evelyn Miot, who was the first black woman to reach the semi-finals; Miss Haiti 1975, Gerthie David, who place second in 1975; and Miss Curaçao 1981, Anne-Marie Braafheid, who placed second in 1981.  . When Commissiong was crowned in 1977, her success was celebrated widely—in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and across the African diaspora. That year, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago awarded her the Trinity Cross for her achievement. In 1978, the legendary Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Kitchener made a tribute to her in his calypso, “Miss Universe.” . Photos 1) and 2) show Penny Commissiong among fellow contestants in the 1977 Miss Universe pageant; courtesy of the Trinidad Express, Express Woman, 40th Anniversary Tribute, published on July 16th 2017. . References: Bastien, Elliot, and Sandra Bernard-Bastien. World Class Trinidad & Tobago: An Area of Abundance; Profiles of Performance. Sekani Publications, 2006. . #nationalarchivestt #nationalarchives #anarchiveis #knowyourhistory #trinidadhistory #tobagohistory #caribbeanhistory #didyouknow #pennycommissiong #missuniverse https://www.instagram.com/p/CCuMM7rJ_eT/?igshid=1kr6mq9l47525

[mirnayonis]

#CaribeEnAgenda #CaribbeanAgenda #History #regionalism #regionalintegration #WestIndies #easterncaribbean 🚩Atc my students of #SemCaribe #EEI_UCV UCV #SoyInternacionalista #SoyProfeUCV ..... Reposted from @nationalarchivestt The earliest recorded attempt at regional integration in the Caribbean was the formation of two federations in the Eastern Caribbean—namely the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands—in the 1800s. The British Government created these federations to monitor smaller British West Indian colonies under two administrative units, each with a central colonial government. Tobago was considered part of the Windward Islands until it became a ward of Trinidad in 1889.  . This photo shows a map of the Eastern Caribbean c. 1780s, long before Tobago became a ward of Trinidad. Do you notice how the shape of Trinidad differs from what we know it to be today? This is because the practice of cartography and the tools used for mapping have evolved significantly since then. . References: “CARICOM: Our Caribbean Community, An Introduction” by the CARICOM Secretariat. Ian Randle Publishers, 2005; CARICOM’s main website: https://caricom.org/our-community/who-we-are/ . #nationalarchivestt #nationalarchives #anarchiveis #knowyourhistory #trinidadhistory #tobagohistory #caribbeanhistory #westindianhistory #caricom #caricomhistory (en DesdeCasa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRl38YxAzbh/?utm_medium=tumblr

[zeebartels]

RePosted • @nationalarchivestt Today we celebrate the life and legacy of a revolutionary labour leader and community activist, Elma Francois, whose role in the labour movement of the 1930s has been heavily downplayed in our history books. Francois dedicated her life’s work to fighting for the improved living and working conditions of working-class people in her birthplace of St. Vincent and later, in Trinidad. Throughout her life, she elevated the concerns of black working-class women, encouraging them to deepen their political involvement. Francois was a founding member of the National Unemployed Movement (NUM)—which later became the Negro Welfare Cultural and Social Association (NWCSA)—the Seamen and Waterfront Workers’ Trade Union (SWWTU) and the Federated Workers’ Trade Union (FWTU)—now the National Union of Government and Federated Workers (NUGFW). Following the Labour Riots of 1937, she was arrested and accused of sedition. In February 1938, she became the first woman to be charged with sedition in Trinidad and Tobago. The charges were later dropped. She is remembered fondly as a captivating public speaker, who always encouraged those around her to expand their political consciousness through reading and political organizing. . Photo of Elma Francois taken from page 25 of “Elma Francois: The NWCSA and the Worker's Stuggle for Change in the Caribbean” by Rhoda Reddock. Published by New Beacon Books (1988). . References: Reddock, Rhoda. “Elma Francois: The NWCSA and the Worker's Stuggle for Change in the Caribbean.” New Beacon Books, 1988; Reddock, Rhoda. “The Women In Revolt.” The Trinidad Labour Riots of 1937: Perspectives 50 Years Later., by Roy Thomas, UWI Extra-Mural Studies Unit, 1987. . #nationalarchivestt #nationalarchives #anarchiveis #knowyourhistory #trinidadhistory #tobagohistory #caribbeanhistory #westindianhistory #labourhistory #elmafrancois #womencrushwednesday #wcw https://www.instagram.com/p/CCHfXD9J3bi/?igshid=1fn9bbuemw7vc

[zeebartels]

Yesterday was also Labour Day in Trinidad & Tobago, a national holiday. 🇹🇹 - - RePosted • @nationalarchivestt Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler was born on January 21st, 1887 in Georgetown, Grenada. At age seventeen, he joined the first contingent of the British West India Regiment, travelling to Egypt and Palestine to represent the British Empire in World War I. Following his return from the war, he formed the Grenada Representative Government Movement and the Grenada Union of Returned Soldiers. In 1921, Butler moved to Trinidad, where the oil industry was booming. He worked as a pipe-fitter at the Roodal Oil fields. He also became actively involved in the Moravian Baptist Church, becoming the Church’s chief pastor by 1931. . Appalled by the low wages and poor working conditions he and his co-workers faced, Butler joined Captain Arthur Andrew Cirpriani’s Trinidad Labour Party (TLP) (formerly known as the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association (TWA)). In March 1935, Butler led a hunger march from the Apex oil belt to Port of Spain in protest of the injustices faced by workers nationwide. By 1936, Butler was a well-known activist with a reputation for defending the humanity of working class people in Trinidad and Tobago. He formed his own party, The British Empire Workers and Citizens Home Rule Party (BEWCHP), and held public meetings and sit-down strikes throughout the oil belt to continue mobilizing his peers. . Photo of Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler from NATT Photo Collection. See more about and his role in the Oilfield Workers’ Riots of 1937: https://natt.gov.tt/sites/default/files/pdfs/ButlerRevisedBoards11June.pdf . References: https://www.nalis.gov.tt/Resources/Subject-Guide/Labour-Day#:~:text=Labour%20Day%20celebrations%20in%20Trinidad,in%20many%20sectors%20of%20society.; “The Challenge for Labour” by Tony Fraser: http://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.424898.3b73264b9f . #nationalarchivestt #nationalarchives #anarchiveis #knowyourhistory #trinidadhistory #tobagohistory #caribbeanhistory #westindianhistory #oilfieldworkersriots #uriahbutler https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqnxy3J45b/?igshid=18n1em1l58e2c