Rosemary C. Hanna

Father Marshall Cooper Park – Mason’s Addition

The park in Mason’s Addition is named in honour of the late Father Marshall Cooper (1846-1919), who was the second black Anglican priest in The Bahamas, the first being Father William Sweeting of Andros. The park is located at the site where Father Cooper’s daughter, Lillian and her husband Commissioner R.N. Thompson and subsequent generations of their family lived until 1969, when the Government of The Bahamas acquired the property to establish the first community park following Majority Rule. The Father Marshall Cooper Park was recently rededicated, when a new plaque was erected and Father Cooper’s grandchildren, Charles Cooper and Ellen Tate, planted a tree in his memory. Mrs. Tate is a retired educator from Colorado. Another grandson, Garth Reeves, is the publisher of the acclaimed Miami Times. He is the son of H.E.S. Reeves (the brother of C. H. Reeves, after whom one of our schools is named). The rededication of the park was also attended by former residents of Mason’s Addition.

The Oakes Estate and the Water Trenches

Cassandra Davenport describes her father George Bullard’s work at the Oakes Estate during the 40s, 50s and 60s.

The Machine Shop was a huge metal warehouse workspace, large enough to hold a small aeroplane. It was outfitted with tools and equipment needed to service the vehicles and tractors necessary to maintain and expand the Oakes Estate holdings. Apart from repairs, work was also carried out to design and make fancy gates out of wrought iron and even a small bridge was constructed on the Oakes Estate. Lengthy trenches were cut throughout the area George called “The Bushes”. These trenches were dug to collect water and dotted intermittently alongside them were Pump Houses which housed gasoline-run mechanical pumps which forced the water through pipes to a central Reservoir located in what is now called Sandyport, where it was treated and then pumped to The British Colonial Hotel, affording guests in the 1940s, 50s and until the mid 60s fresh and clean running water. Sometimes, these pumps would break down and George would receive a call late at night telling him that the water pressure was low at The British Colonial and so he had to make the trip, through the dark, bushy, unpaved and rocky roads to “The Bushes” to ascertain which Pump(s) had failed and then fix them with only the help of a searchlight, using his hands, not only to carry out repair work but to beat off the marauding mosquitoes. There was always the cacophony of frogs breaking the silence. Owls and other birds were plentiful. During the Season, George worked at night as a waiter at The Royal Victoria Hotel in order to subsidize his income to maintain his large family.

Once Government installed running water in the Western end of New Providence, there was no longer a need for The Machine Shop operation and even today, remnants of the trenches can be seen as one drives along the newly constructed highway that runs between JFK Drive and Saunders Beach. These trenches are also visible along sections of Ferguson Road in Perpall Tract. Perhaps many purchasers of lots in the Western end of the Island have found themselves faced with having to fill in parts of trenches which ran along their properties, not knowing why they were there.

Milk Stands

Mr. Austin T. Levy’s Hatchet Bay Farm Company owned and operated the Milk Stands which were strategically located on the Island of New Providence. Residents purchased fresh milk, eggs, chicken and ice-cream from the Milk Stands. On Saturday afternoons we would sometimes go to the Milk Stand on the corner of East Street and Mason’s Addition to buy our ice-cream treats that came in small white cardboard boxes, with flat wooden spoons. The Hatchet Bay Company changed hands in the seventies and eventually went out of business. Most of the Milk Stand buildings are still in use today as offices, small shops or “chicken shacks”. The building (above right) is the office of Mr Fernley Palmer, J.P. and legendary Boys Brigade Leader.

The Haynes Library photograph (bottom right) shows the modern retail stores that Mr levy built for the residents of Eleuthera. The buildings are no longer there.

Link to movie trailer: The Amazing Life & Times of Austin T. Levy by Kenneth Proudfoot

James Catalyn & Friends – Founded 1970

“Guard Our Heritage!! Speak Bahamianese! Use English Only When Necessary!” – Catalyn

James Catalyn & Friends Theatrical Group has been a tour-de-force on the theatrical scene in The Bahamas for the past 35 years. The group is presently The Bahamas’ leading troupe in ethnic Bahamian theatre and is the trailblazer in exposing theatrical performances to many of the Family Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. They have performed on every major or minor stage throughout The Bahamas, including several Garden Performances at private affairs and staging outdoor theatre at many festivals and homecomings.

The group came into existence as a result of James Catalyn, a renowned Bahamian writer, poet, satirist and actor, being invited by Messrs. Carl Bethel and Noel Hamilton of the local television station ZNS TV13 to tape a one hour television special for the station’s television series, “An Evening With…” He immediately jumped at the opportunity and gathered several of his friends around him and thus “James Catalyn & Friends” came into being. Because of earlier performances with James Catalyn, Noel Hamilton became the first “and Friends”.

That was in December, 1979. As a result, they have enjoyed their own Television Series, “Laughin’ at Wesef” on ZNS TV13. (The phrase was coined by James J. Catalyn as a result of some of his expatriate “friends” saying that he was “making fun of the Bahamian people”, as if it was their exclusive right to laugh at Bahamians). In addition, they have done numerous televisions Christmas, Valentine and Independence Specials. Their plays “I Remember Dat”, “The Courtship” and the Musical “Guanahani” have also been televised on ZNS TV13.

Among the very early performers of James Catalyn & Friends were, Irma Albury, Cheryl Albury, Claudette “Cookie” Allens, Juliette Barrett, Francelia Bosfield, Velda Sands Campbell, Keva Cartwright, Esther Hanna Culmer, Betty Fisher, Sonia Cox Hamilton,, Gwen Forbes Kelly, Cyprianna McWeeney, Laura Ritchie, Shirley Wright, Dwight Allens, Norman Berry, Kirk Catalano, Andrew Curry, Alx Curry, Douglas Duncombe, Michael Darville, Noel Hamilton, Lowell Mortimer, Pat Paul and Marcel Sherman.

Audiences clamour to their annual “Summer Madness revues, (now in its 31^st year) which presents a satirical look at every aspect of Bahamian life, from politics to religion to social commentary. “Summer Madness” is a review of typical, topical and timely topics.

With their many and varied productions, feature length or one act plays, skits and poetry, folklore and cultural revues, they have been able to highlight many facets of the Bahamian life and society through the medium of comedy. There is also a serious side to the group. They have addressed from the stage, such delicate topics as HIV/AIDS, Drug Abuse, Old Age, Family Planning, Education & Marital Abuse, the ills of Gossiping through thought-provoking, feature length plays. Although the themes are of a serious nature, James Catalyn & Friends has the unique aptitude of injecting the right amount of humour into the scripts for a proper blend.

James Catalyn & Friends are well known throughout The Bahamas, having performed on numerous occasions in the country’s second city, Freeport, Grand Bahama; Governor’s Harbour, Hatchet Bay, Palmetto Point, Rock Sound, The Bluff and Lower Bogue, Eleuthera; Harbour Island; North, Central and South Andros; Marsh Harbour, Abaco; Bimini; Inagua; San Salvador; Cat Island and Exuma. They have given annual performances in George Town, Exuma for more than fourteen years and became the highlight for many of the yachting crowd visiting Exuma during the high yachting season. Eleuthera and Harbour Island have become “second homes” for the group.

The group is also internationally known, having given several performances in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama; in New York City at the United Nations’ Dag Hammarskjold Theatre and in the Bronx, New York and in Auckland, New Zealand as part of the Commonwealth Arts Festival.

Members have also given performances in St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois, USA; in Toronto, Canada as part of The Bahamas’ Independence Celebrations; and at CARIFESTA in Trinidad, West Indies. In 2001, James Catalyn & Friends was invited by the Cheju Organizing Committee to represent The Bahamas at the month long 2nd World Islands Festival in Cheju, South Korea, where they received top honours for their performances.

James Catalyn & Friends is a non-profit organization, where funds gleaned after production expenses, are used for travel purposes to the Family Islands of The Bahamas, to promote Bahamian Theatre and Culture and to assist local organizations and charities of those islands and elsewhere. Members are not paid for their performances.

Many benefit performances given by James Catalyn & Friends, have supported Organizations such as The Beaux Arts Masked Ball Committee (of the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts);The Kiwanis Clubs; The Rotary Clubs; Abilities Unlimited; The Bahamas Association for the Mentally Retarded; The Grand Bahama Centre for the Deaf; The Salvation Army; The Pilot Clubs; Business & Professional Women’s’ Associations of Nassau and Grand Bahama; The Anglican Parishes in Exuma, Andros, Bimini, Inagua and Grand Bahama; The Anglican Diocese; Holy Cross Parish Praise Team; The Long Island Association; The Ranfurly Homes for Children; The AIDS Foundation; Drug Action Services; The Cancer Society of The Bahamas; The Cancer Society of Eleuthera; The Abaco Pathfinders Association (Marsh Harbour); The Andrew Curry Music Education Foundation; the “Woman” Expositions; The Retired Persons Association of Grand Bahama; The International Year of Older Persons Committee; The Bahamas Red Cross Fair; The Bahamas Academy Elementary Division; The Nassau Beach Hotel Sports & Social Club; Mary Star of the Sea Catholic School; The Pineapple Festival Committee (Eleuthera);The Lower Bogue Association (Eleuthera); Inagua Homecoming Association; San Salvador Homecoming Association; the All Andros & Berry Islands Regatta Committee; The Cat Island Rake & Scrape Festival; The Nassau Bahamas Association, New York; The Bahamian American Federation, Miami, Florida.; The Bahamian Student Association, Florida International University, Miami, Florida., and many other charitable groups and organizations. They also have the distinct honour of “Roasting” Prime Minister, Rt, Hon. Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling on the Occasion of his 25th Anniversary as a Parliamentarian, 9th July 1981.

James Catalyn & Friends Theatrical Group is also called upon regularly to perform at Motivational seminars and have assisted several well know establishments in The Bahamas in this vein, including The Princess Margaret Hospital, Sandilands Hospital, The Royal Bank of Canada, the former Cable Beach Hotel, the Industrial Training Centre, Life Underwriters Association, several Ministry of Education School Teachers Seminars and Parent Teachers Associations and the College of The Bahamas.

They are also frequent performers at the many schools in Nassau, especially during the observation of the schools’ Cultural Month. Including COBs “English in the Park”; at Art Exhibitions and Fairs; and also make numerous appearances on a variety of church, civic and cultural programmes.

They play a major role in the cultural aspect of the tourism industry, having given many performances for visiting business groups, conventions, travel agents, meeting planners, etc. In years past, they also gave special performances for visitors at the Nassau Beach Hotel, and were an integral part of the Best Western Hotel’s Christmas entertainment calendar. They have also given performances at the prestigious Lyford Cay Club and at the International Cultural Weekend Festival. Troupe members can also be heard and seen in many of the locally produced television and radio commercials on Radio Bahamas and ZNS TV 13 and other electronic and print media.

James Catalyn & Friends assisted the Cultural Affairs Department (then attached to the Ministry of Education, when the late E. Clement Bethel was Director of Culture), in launching the Department’s Summer “Theatre in the Park” series (a creation of Ms. Keva Cartwright), in 1982, with their production of “The Settin’ Up”. The performers in “The Settin’ Up” were: Irma Albury, Gwen Forbes Kelly, Claudette “Cookie” Allens, Arlene Miller Martin, Esther Hanna Culmer, Sonia Cox Hamilton, Alx Curry, Noel Hamilton, and Michael Darville. Performances were given gratis by the performers with no admission charges to the capacity audiences, at the Southern Recreation Grounds on September 11th and at the Fox Hill Park on September 12th of that year, 1982. (These performances resulted in the installation of lighting in both parks to the delight of the communities.) They continued the trend through the ensuing years with performances in Rawson Square, Gambier, Adelaide and the College of The Bahamas’ basketball court. They were also frequent performers at Goombay Summer Festival Street and Folklore Shows and have also performed during The Bahamas’ Independence Celebrations in Nassau and Harbour Island.”

James Catalyn and Friends also helped launch the “Woman” Shows in the 1980’s, with performances of their one act plays, “Other People Business” and “The Other Woman”.

Their stage credits include their annual “Summer Madness” Revues (now totalling 33 annual shows).

Full Length Features: “An’ A Don’ Mean Cola” (a play about drug abuse), performed in Nassau and Freeport; “I Remember Dat”; “A Weddin’ Tale”; “The Settin’ Up” (performed in Nassau and Freeport); “Lost Love” (a play about old age), performed in Nassau and Freeport; “The More The Merrier” (a play about family planning), performed in Nassau and Freeport; “A Season of Our Lives” (a play about HIV/AIDS) performed in Nassau and Freeport; “The Courtship”; “School Days” and “You Say, I Say”(a play about the ills of gossiping).

One Act Plays: “The Gossips”; “The Other Woman”; “Other People Business”; “Sat’dy Night In Der Pond”; “I Does Live Here”; “The Sweetheart” and “Anglicans Alive”

Cultural Shows: “A Bahamian Folklore Revue”, “Bahamas! My Bahamas!”” and “We Is All Bahamian”.

Musical: Original Musical: “Guanahani”, based on Columbus’ supposéd discovery of The Bahamas and performed in Nassau, Freeport, Exuma and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., USA. Music for “Guanahani” was composed by Andrew R. Curry I.

All works performed by the group are written by James J. Catalyn, a well known Bahamian Dialectician, Poet, Playwright, Comedian and Actor. Other writers for the group include Valentine Maura, Graham Thordarson, Jevon Butler, Neil Cleare, Dwain Wallace, Juliet Holmes, Trevann Thompson and Kennedy Storr. Members of the group are encouraged to develop their writing and theatrical skills. Workshops for the group are conducted by Chrystal Bethell.

Stage Directors for the group include; Neil Cleare, Blaize Darling, Rachel Rolle, Veronica Toppin, Chrystal Bethell, Omar Williams, Valentine Maura, Celi Moss, Graham Thordarson, Dwain Wallace, Chigozie Ijeoma and Viveca Watkins (deceased). James Catalyn serves as Director-in-Chief. It should be noted that Celi Moss went on to become one of The Bahamas’ leading film makers.

Keva Cartwright serves as Lighting Mistress and technical advisor; Tyrone Miller serves as Music Director.; Omar Williams as Set Designer and decorator; Godfrey Basden and Conrad Maycock, sets construction and Stephanie Braynen as Makeup and Graphic Artist. Choreography for the group was created by Portia Johnson (deceased).

James Catalyn wanted the troupe to be versatile and over the years has formed within the group a choral section “The Pickereely Singers”, (led by Chigozie Ijeoma), a dance group, “The Quadrille Dancers” and a Rap group, “The JC Rappers” (led by Neil Cleare). They also boast a Folk Singer, Keva Cartwright and could quickly form a Rake & Scrape group.

James Catalyn & Friends can tailor-make a show to suit the need and the occasion, from comedy routines specially written for the occasion, to music and dance, to a full folkloric revue, to a complete evening of poetry readings.

James Catalyn & Friends is pure Bahamian and takes great pride in keeping The Bahamian Culture and Heritage alive through their many and varied performances. They are at home on any stage; have performed on every “two by four” stage in Nassau and The Bahamas and have worked and performed under challenging conditions that may have daunted many performers. They are troupers to the core.

Current Executive Team: Jevon Butler, President; Chigozie Ijeoma, Vice President; Dwain A. Wallace, Director, Marketing & Public Relations; Valerie Pinder-Lynes, Secretary; Neil Cleare, Artistic Director and James J. Catalyn, Founder & Consultant (Ex-Officio).

Ex-officio Executive Team members: Nikolette Elden, Events, Juliet Holmes & Leslie Ellis-Tynes, Communications; Antoinette Knowles, Travel Coordinator,

Other members (current) include: Stephanie Braynen, Chrystal Bethell, Natasha Davis, Rakel Dean, Kimberly Duncombe, Geneen Evans, Indeira Green, Angelique Hall, Kiana Hall, Rose Mary Hepburn, Shonara Mackey, Yolanda Pawar-Bain, Rachel Rolle, Sophianne Smith, Trevann Thompson, Veronica Toppin, Eric Adderley, Godfrey Basden, Blaize Darling, Dion Farquharson, Sony Jacques, Dion Johnson, Conrad Maycock Sr., Lemorn Miller, Brentwood Thompson, Matthew Wildgoose, Omar Williams, LeChante Wright and Tyrone Miller, Musical Director.

Update: James Catalyn was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of The British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in January 2016, for culture and acting.

“Guard Our Heritage! Be Bahamian and be Proud!

I know of other cultures, but for me they do not speak.

I claim no other but my own.

I have no need to copycat others

Nor have them force their culture on me.

Made and Born in The Bahamas

I am Bahamian!”

(Catalyn)

Link to “Let’s Get Stewpid” video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cijeoma242/videos/vb.607854135/10153733064709136/?type=3&theater

James Catalyn & Friends, P. O. Box N896, Nassau, Bahamas

Jevon Butler, President

Telephone 461-1016, email: dismenow@hotmail.com

Chigozie Ijeoma, Vice President

email: cijeoma@gmail.com;

© James J. Catalyn (Founder & Consultant)

Telephone 393-8239 / 357-5546, e-mail: julcat61@hotmail.com

November 2015

Everette Butler Family – Fort Fincastle / Palmdale

I was three years old when my uncle, Everette Butler, and his wife, the former Gregoria Monge (Aunt Goyita) came home from Spain with their infant daughter, Maria. I remember that we were at the Butler family homestead on Market Street and I was leaning against Aunt Goyita’s knee playing with the baby on her lap. Uncle Everette purchased the property on which he built his first home from Aunt Jessie Caroline McSweeney, my grandmother’s sister, who lived next door. The house was built by Melchoir Francis. After Uncle Everette and Aunt Goyita moved to their Fort Fincastle home I often stopped there on my way home from Mrs. Smith’s school to play with Maria and Clarissa, or my other cousins Calliope and Annette Thompson whose lived next door with Aunt Jessie.

Although Mother always instructed me to return directly home from school, I invariably stopped to play and Allan would come to collect me in the late afternoon and ride home with me sitting on the cross bar of his top of the line three-speed bicycle. I got a spanking on a few occasions but soon forgot and continued socializing on my way home from school.

Aunt Goyita did beautiful handwork and she embroidered the pretty little pink dress that I wore as flower girl in my cousin Roy Butler and his wife Freda’s wedding that was held at Our Lady’s Church.

Uncle Everette enrolled in the Hotel Training School at the Dundas Civic Centre and he subsequently went to work at the Montagu Beach Hotel, where he met a wealthy German industrialist who together with his Spanish wife (the Lewines), vacationed in The Bahamas frequently. The course of Uncle Everette’s life changed when he accepted the Lewines’ offer to join their employ in Germany. So, as Terry states, her father became not only the Butler in residence (Mr. Butler, the butler), but he was also the English Language tutor for the three Lewine sons. And thus began Uncle Everette’s twelve year sojourn in Europe – firstly for three years in Germany beginning in 1933 and then after 1936, nine years in Spain.

The rise of Hitler in Germany caused the Lewines to leave that country and relocate to their summer home in San Sebastian, Spain, and they eventually established their main residence in Madrid. This was where Uncle Everette met Aunt Goyita when she came to work in the Madrid residence as the family seamstress. At the end of the Spanish Civil war and then the Second World War, Uncle Everette returned to The Bahamas with his wife and infant daughter, Maria, the first of their six children. Aunt Goyita recounted the story about the rampant segregation they encountered on their journey to The Bahamas when travelling by train in Philadelphia. She took her seat with baby in her arms and when her husband went to take his seat, he was directed to the back of the carriage. When Aunt Goyita asked why, she was told that “Negroes” had to sit in the back, whereupon she responded, “Well, if he’s Negro, I’m Negro too!” and she followed her husband to the back of the train.

Upon his return home Uncle Everette worked as Maitre’d at the Royal Victoria Hotel. As his family grew they moved to Palmdale in 1955 at the corner of Montrose Avenue and Madeira Street where Maria’s daughter Tanya and her husband Todd now have their dental practice. Maria’s first husband was Ian Mortemore and their elder daughter, Elena is a lawyer. Both Elena and her husband James work in the banking industry. Maria subsequently married Bernard Taylor. Clarissa married David Honnett and they and their two daughters Jacqueline and Nadia and their families live in Calgary, Canada. Uncle Everette’s other children are Carlos, Teresa (Terry), Margaret (Maggie) and Carmina. Maria, Maggie and Carmina are bankers and Terry, was a Civil servant and former Senior Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister.

CLEAN UP BAHAMAS!

The Bahamas is a naturally beautiful country and it is being destroyed by pollution and indiscriminate dumping on land, beaches and in the sea!

The situation on the Island of New Providence is out of control and many citizens have lost their sense of pride when it comes to keeping their surroundings ‘clean, green and pristine’. It disturbs me to see the proliferation of road side car repair garages and the tens of thousands of derelict vehicles that are strewn all over the Island, and that’s not an exaggeration! And the cries of those of us who care are falling upon deaf ears of the inept authorities who are charged with enforcing our environmental laws and prosecuting the lawbreakers. One only has to look at the rot and decay in most of our Government buildings as evidence of this failure.

On my street, for example, a filthy scrap metal business grew and grew over the years until it started to spill onto the street. My neighbor used a drone to take aerial pictures of the site and we also had ground level photographs which were sent to the Department of Environmental Health, whose Minister visited the site; we complained to our parliamentary representative, and finally we found the owner of the property who issued a cease and desist order to the person who is operating the dump and guess what, after years of complaining, the operation is still going on!!! What is one to do in these circumstances?

On Lumumba Lane, not too far from where I live, a roadside garage was finally shut down only after someone who was ‘connected’ complained. Regretfully however, the operators slowly returned to ‘business as usual’ and despite being given notice by the Department of Environmental Health more than two months ago to remove the derelict vehicles from the street within 14 days, as of this writing, the cars are still there. A total disregard for the law and no follow up by the authorities to ensure compliance.

Credit must be given to some individuals and civic organizations who have taken the initiative to clean up certain areas of the Island, including some of our beaches. But it’s very disheartening when the litter bugs return to pollute the environment with their garbage. Often times when an area is cleared or an old building is demolished the site is very soon used as a garbage dump.

Come on people! Where is your NATIONAL PRIDE?

Let’s CLEAN UP BAHAMAS!

Kishan Munroe, Social Artist, Photographer and Historian

Kishan Munroe (born 1980, Nassau, Bahamas) is a multidisciplinary social artist, whose work agitates for social change, transcending physical and cultural boundaries while speaking to the universality of mankind.

In 2003 Kishan obtained BFA degrees in Painting and 3D Visual Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design. He went on to pursue graduate work at his alma mater on a graduate fellowship and concluded his studies in Painting in 2005.

Kishan’s work has been exhibited in the Caribbean, North and Latin America. His work is included in many public and private collections and has also received numerous awards and accolades.

On the 21st of August 2008, Munroe, embarked upon a multi-media expedition entitled ‘The Universal Human Experience’ – the first ever project of this magnitude attempted by a solo artist.

Munroe charted an ambitious trek around the world, a fact-finding mission, investigating various conflicts and resolutions that have shaped cultures of opposition. This solo journey was also designed to challenge Munroe’s physical and emotional endurance as well as his ability to adapt and to empathize. Through his documentation of these socio-political issues he captures the reality of a world affected by the plight of human history while placing emphasis on the process of reconciliation as key to the redemption and sustainability of a more peaceful coexistence.

Armed with what he calls “weapons of mass progression” (his artistic tools) Munroe has shown his commitment to be an ambassador of art, as well as an activist for social change. After nearly two continuous years of documenting life in the Americas, Munroe returned home (The Bahamas), completing Phase I of his expedition.

Phase II of his project commenced in 2010, which drew into focus The Bahamas and its relationship with Cuba. Munroe crafted a multi-disciplinary, analytical project that was not only designed to function as appealing visual, audio and literature art, but which also simultaneously wrote a major part of The Bahamas’ history that had for far too long gone uninvestigated contextually. This phase of the project used the tragedy of the sinking of HMBS Flamingo in 1980 as a point of dissection, to address further historical and cultural nuances that have shaped Bahamian culture.

In 2013 Munroe was granted a solo exhibition at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, which made him the youngest artist to be awarded a national show at the institution. The revolutionary exhibit “Swan Song of the Flamingo” went on to receive international acclaim.

In 2014, The Senate of The Bahamas, under the leadership of Senator The Hon. Sharon Wilson (President) identified Munroe’s work as being exemplary of a new standard of cultural intervention and historical documentation. On these merits Munroe was afforded another prestigious honor in being the first Bahamian artist granted the opportunity to exhibit artwork within the Upper House of Parliament. Until then the only paintings to ever grace the walls of the Senate building or the House of Assembly were limited to that of European portraits of British monarchs.

Based on his outstanding research and artistic works on the sinking of HMBS Flamingo, Munroe went on to receive the prestigious Bridget Jones Award for Caribbean Studies in 2015, which was awarded by the Society of Caribbean Studies (UK).

Kishan Munroe is based in Nassau, Bahamas but continues to work within other societies around the world using his creative resources as a catalyzing tool for social intervention.
© Kishan Munroe – October 2015

Link to ‘Swan Song of The Flamingo‘ photo gallery: http://www.rosemarychanna.com/photo-gallery/

Link to interview on The Bahamas – Then and NOW TV show: http://www.rosemarychanna.com/the-bahamas-then-and-now-kishan-munroe/

Link to Kishan on The Bahamian Project: http://www.bahamianproject.com/2013/03/kishan-munroe/

Link to The Bahamas Weekly: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/arts-and-culture/Artist_Kishan_Munroe_unveils_new_painting_for_Flamingo_Anniversary35012.shtml

How Bahamian Homes Were Built Over 100 Years Ago

By Ann Marie Albury

The home where my cousin lived in Roses, Long Island, that was destroyed by Hurricane Joaquin was over 100 years old. The photos are paintings by Jeanie McLean, a visitor to the island and that was published in the calendar on two occasions. My Great-grand mother, Lelia, my Grand mother Theresa Major, and Grand Uncle Julius Major and His wife Effie, and now Inez lived in this home.

This home is a Traditional Out Island cottage built in the tabby construction method with wood-shingle hip roof, but given its height probably originally intended to include a garret (or attic) chamber later with addition of dormer windows positioned to set up a cross-current and become the coolest room in the house. The dormers never went in. In order to build, rocks and conch shells were gathered, trees cut and all toted on site. A kiln was made to burn it all converting the stones and shells to lime. Sand and chopped sisal were added to the mixture and the walls of the cottage were constructed using that mixture of slime (mortar) and rocks until the structure was erected. They used wooden forms to hold the mixture and added to the height as the mixture hardened. Notice the height of the foundation. Master Bedrooms usually were built with wooden floors, I am told, to prevent injury to babies should they fall from the bed. Notice the walls in the photograph after the hurricane and the rocks are visible. Nowadays the same technique is costlier. Steel will be used every so many feet in columns strengthening the walls. A beautiful house. The hard work and effort involved in building it should not be forgotten.

The technique has not been lost and the addition of steel columns in the corner and centre of the walls should be the answer to another Joaquin with the addition of hurricane straps to tie down the roof more firmly. Gauging the modern hurricane wind velocity, Bahamians should experiment with their own hurricane straps of a higher grade metal than sold in hardware stores. I have been asking whether vehicle grade tin is an answer and if it is thicker than current hurricane straps it should be a means of creating a local industry out of derelict vehicles. One hundred years ago, the construction of a house was a goal of young men whose parents had sent them “to trade” and they left school at 13 or 14 years of age. The families provided the building materials and food. Labour was contributed by family and friends. The grand occasion was “wetting the roof” and family and neighbours provided the food for the festive event. And of course the libation too. A bottle of liquor was broken when the roof went up. After that it was “finishing” work shingling, putting in windows and doors and painting or “white-washing” and you could get that in other colours too yellow and pink were standard in The Bahamas you got it by the pound in the hardware stores in Nassau and mixed it with water and applied it with a large brush like the stone-masons used to wet surfaces before plastering (I forgot the name of that brush somehow).

The next celebration was the wedding of the young man because the purpose of the exercise was to assist the eligible bachelor who had finished school and learned his trade to, using another colloquialism, “cage the bird,” i.e. get married. The building pictured demonstrates the skills of the old-fashioned stone-mason and carpenter and in a social setting illustrates now-lost customs which once bonded and strengthened ties in a community and kept our Out Island Settlements open. The value and respect of the young for their elders was repaid by things like this and when that house was built it was professionally rendered because those helping supervise were skilled artisans. Elderly relatives and friends who could not tote rock or mix lime (actually slime) supervised the younger friends of the young man and viewing this you can see that they got it right. I notice in the rear (on the right of the house) a small portion of a dry rock wall which might be either the boundary of the land or the demarcation of the beginning of the cow, sheep and goat pasture. Usually, an out building at the rear housed a fire hearth and it was there that food was prepared and cooked, produce was preserved and stored and the thought of store-bought jellies, jams, yellow grits was unheard of. One or two Mandarin orange rinds were kept on nails in the rafters to make tea — the true Bahamian Orange Pekoe — when special guests visited. The folks lived closer to the soil and the lady of the house kept these preserves on hand in jars, some lasting the entire year. The Oven was also built out of rocks and mortar and positioned in vicinity of the outside kitchen.

Remarkable is that 100 years ago a young Bahamian man left school at 13/14 years of age, learned a trade by age 21, which then the legal age of majority when he could marry without written parental consent, he acquired land, had no BGCSE or other qualifications beyond a School Leaving Certificate, but the New Bahamian is kept in school until 16 or 17 and shoved to the wolves after an expensive prom and cannot tune up the engine of the car he used to take his escort there. Hurricane Joaquin is telling us many things.

Thanks to Sidney Dorsett for sharing this valuable information.

October 2015

Surviving Hurricane Joaquin and Longing for the Place Where She Belongs: Inez Major’s Story

By Ann Marie Albury

Seven weeks before her eightieth birthday, Inez Major a resident of Roses, Long Island, found herself seeking refuge in the last tiny portion of her home that was left standing. Her life was in grave peril as the brutal unforgiving winds of 130 miles per hour and gust winds even higher, whipped everything in its path and torrents of rain fell as avalanches of water from the category 4 hurricane, Joaquin, devastating the southerly islands of the Bahamas. The many residents of these islands found themselves helpless as they yielded to the fierceness and magnitude of the storm that was upon them.

Inez said they knew a storm was traveling, however, not one that was so big and strong. According to her, they got NO GOOD WARNING! No time to evacuate. She said on her radio, ZNS transmissions would come in for about 2 minutes and go right back off.

As the skies darkened with storm clouds and the winds began to rustle the trees around her home, she made the decision to hunker down right there in her house that was more than 100 years old. Those walls had protected our great grandmother, Lelia, grandmother, Theresa, grandaunt, Effie, granduncle and her in times past, weathering many, many other storms, the most recent being Noel in 2007.

The downfall of the rain intensified and the winds bellowed forcefully, prompting Inez to take refuge in the newer portion of her home, with her grandnephew, Edwin. A few years earlier, an addition was built onto the old homestead to house a kitchen and bathroom. She figured that this newer part would withstand the ravages of the storm. After a few hours of drenching rains and howling winds, crouched in a corner, Inez suddenly sprang to her feet scampering for safety as the newer section and the older homestead were ripped apart as if it were mere tissue paper, opening up to the iron-fisted forces of the storm. Shortly after they moved, the roof blew off and the new concrete walls crumbled down. Inez now huddled for refuge in a room of the older part of the house which was made of lime kiln.

Once again, but for a short while, they seemed to be safe, but Joaquin showed no mercy on this old home and its occupants. The constant downpour of rains saturated the lime kiln walls and they began to crack and crumble. A Strong bitter gust raised a portion of the roof causing the onslaught of the wind to rip the beams one by one just above where Inez and Edwin now rested, revealing the massive storm clouds hovering over them and the brightness of jagged bolts of lightening separating the sky transforming the darkness, but for a moment. Yet again Inez and Edwin had to run to another section of the house to find haven from the storm. This cat and mouse chase between the residents of this once historical quaint home and the unrelenting elements of Joaquin continued throughout the early morning hours as they were forced to relocate from one place to yet another, to find shelter as the forces of Joaquin tore apart the remaining portions of this old homestead bit by bit.

Eventually, the place that Inez had known as home for her entire life had crumbled under the tempestuous forces of nature, wild and untamed. Nevertheless, the storm was not over. Stripped naked of all protecting cover, this seventy-nine year old woman looked around to see where they could find some type of shelter. It was still too fierce to run to any neighboring homes, just too dangerous. Noticing the walls of a small closet still standing with an overhanging portion of the old roof, Inez and Edwin quickly maneuvered their way through fallen debris to find refuge there. They covered themselves with whatever remnants available to avoid the pounding pellets of the rain and debris flying as ammunition in the gale, holding on to whatever they could to anchor themselves against the forceful winds. In the morning hours Joaquin abated, leaving behind smatterings of rain and wind. Inez Major and Edwin took this reprieve provided by nature to emerge from their shelter to find a safer place to rest. They made their way through a ravaged environment that looked like a war zone, to their closest neighbors home, that of Diana Darville.

Inez said during moments of the storm she thought all hope was lost. She felt she and her grandnephew would have perished in this storm. So many thoughts raced through her mind. She thought of many family members, whom she loved and felt she would never see again. She paused here as she told her story, as remembering her experience brought tears to her eyes. She continued sharing. But when it got so bad as the house crumbled around her leaving nothing but the closet where she huddled, in her greatest moment of desperation, she said she cried, “God, please don’t let me die like this.” In those moments of utter despair she began to pray to live. Inez Major and Edwin survived the storm. She lost everything she owned, but her heart is filled with gratitude for life and is thankful for all lives spared throughout the southerly islands during this terrible storm.

On Wednesday, 5 days after the storm was over, Inez Major and Edwin were evacuated….her feet lifting off the soil of Long Island for the first in her entire lifetime as they took flight (first plane ride) in a chartered airplane, thanks to her nephew Daniel and the graciousness of Father Turnquest. She is now resting in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama surrounded by her loving family.

After this horrific experience and fight for survival, she is now enjoying a well deserved relaxing VACATION. That is what she calls it. Her heart yearns to return to the place she has known all her life, Hogan Road, Roses, Long Island. She longs for her home to be rebuilt and to return “to the place where she belongs!”

Images of Long Island devastation: https://www.google.bs/search?q=hurricane+joaquin+damage+long+island+bahamas&espv=2&biw=1745&bih=828&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBoQsARqFQoTCOP_4dKS5MgCFQZcHgodzNkOSg

Damage to Mangrove Bush Primary School: http://www.tribune242.com/photos/galleries/2015/oct/14/damage-caused-hurricane-joaquin-mangrove-bush-prim/

October 2015

Thompson Family – Market & Hay Streets

This Heritage Site, situated at the corner of Market and Hay Streets, is the home of the late William Edward Thompson and his wife, the former Corene Hutcheson and their children: the late Archdeacon William Edward Thompson (Willie), pictured at right, Bishop Gilbert Arthur Thompson (Arthur), pictured at left below, and Dr. Philip Thompson. The Thompsons were Baptists. Their grandfather was Reverend Gilbert Thompson who was a pastor in New York. He also pastored at St. John’s Baptist Church, Meeting Street and Metropolitan Baptist Church, Hay Street. Reverend A. E. Hutcheson was Corene Thompson’s father, and she also had a brother the Reverend Ernest Asquith Hutcheson. The Reverend Dr. H. W. Brown, long serving Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Meeting Street, was her mother’s brother. His father had been the Methodist Society Steward at Hatchet Bay, Eleuthera.

When they were infants, the Thompson brothers were prayed for in the Baptist Church. However, they were taken to St. Agnes Church by their cousin, Mae Adora Strachan, when she came from Rum Cay and lived with her aunt, Mrs. Maud Harriet Deveaux Thompson. Mrs. Thompson, who had been baptized at St. Christopher’s Anglican Church, Rum Cay, by Father Marshall Cooper, the second black Anglican priest in the Diocese, abut 1890, married the Reverend Gilbert Thompson, a Baptist minister. On his death she returned to the Anglican faith. Mrs. Thompson was matriarch of the family, a proud descendent of the Deveaux family of Port Howe, Cat Island. Bishop Thompson recalls that he and Willie were about five and six years old respectively, when they were baptized by Father George Loran Pyfrom at St. Agnes. When they were children the brothers attended Sunday School at St. Agnes as well as Bible study classes at Transfiguration Baptist Church.

In their formative first twelve years everyone in the immediate Hay Street and Market Street neighbourhood got along well and there was no snobbery. They all had pride in their community and strong bonds of friendship. The Brown yard on Market and Hay Streets where mostly people from Cat Island lived, was the usual site for the jump in dance at night on festive occasions. Children were mostly spectators. The children were involved in sporting events such as cricket and softball; they attended the movies and played cowboys and crooks. Bishop Thompson also recalls that in the forties Mrs. Agnes Mackey always took a band with her when she travelled to Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera for the August Monday excursion. He also noted that Mrs. Diana Newbold of Hay Street East, who was a member of St. Agnes Choir, had an organ and a piano in her house. She was the grandmother of the Pinders. Her son, William, before moving to Florida, was the organist at St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Nassau.

[Archdeacon Thompson was married to the former Rosemarie Bailey. In December 1999 he retired as Rector of St. Agnes having served in that capacity for 32 years. Tragically, in May 2000 he was shot during an attempted armed robbery at the rectory and succumbed to his injuries a month later in June 2000.]

Activities and events at St. Agnes included early exposure to classical musical preludes that were played on the Hammond organ before church services, concerts, plays and tableaus directed by Sister Thecla Mary. The tableau was a format in which a story was read while individuals acted the parts as the story was being told. The concerts, tableaus and plays were regular events at St. Agnes. Bishop Thompson recalls that on some occasions Cleveland Reeves came and played jazz on the piano which was not very familiar to many at the time. During the late forties there were the Boys and Girls Brigades led by Fr. Pyfrom. The boys’ uniform was composed of red jackets and blue trousers with yellow stripes. Before the Anglican Young People’s Association (AYPA) was formed the club of St. Agnes’ youth was called the Gardenia Club. It was open to all the young people in the area.

Bishop Thompson is married to the former Olga Louise Major. The Thompson family is pictured at left on the occasion of the Bishop’s 50th Anniversary to the Priesthood. The service was held at Christ Church Cathedral, George Street., Nassau, Bahamas. His daughter, Angela, who is separated from Patrick Williams, has a daughter, Falon. Heather, who is married to Clement Maynard, Jr., has two daughters Amelia and Mary. Gilbert who is married to Dr. Jahzeel Thompson, the granddaughter of Commissioner James Campbell, has a son Gilbert III. Angela is a music teacher and Gilbert and Heather are lawyers.

Bishop Thompson remembers the lessons that he and his brother learnt while sitting on the porch and listening to conversations of the adults who usually gathered there to socialize and discuss world and local affairs. Sometimes the group moved to the porch of their cousin, Wilfred S. Coakley, Sr. on Lewis Street, but the Thompson house was the main site because more people travelled on Market Street and stopped to join in the conversations. The discussions were led by Reverend Jerome Hutcheson, the Pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church, Hay Street, and they were often joined by persons such as Lawyer A. F. Adderley and Sir Alvin Braynen. There, the two older Thompson brothers listened as their elders talked about history, World War II and the Nazis, and as a result, the art of conversation became a part of the learning experience. Bishop Thompson commented that in those days Messrs. Adderley and Toote were the only two black lawyers around and, as a mark of respect, they were referred to as Lawyer Adderley and Lawyer Toote.

Dr. Philip Thompson is a surgeon who practices at the Lucayan Medical Centre in Freeport, Grand Bahama. He was born almost tirteen years after his second brother and became the “pet” of the family. Prince and Willie “Mays” Francis, who lived across the street, also spent a lot of time at the Thompson house.