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NEWSLETTER November 2012

Dear Members and Friends,

I trust that you were not seriously affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Again we had to reschedule our monthly talk as follows:

Thursday 15th November at 6pm - Marion Bethel on “Woman’s Sufffrage in The Bahamas”.

The Bahamas Historical Society is pleased to announce the publication of the new book:

“The History of The Bahamas in Pictures”

Foreword: The History of The Bahamas in Pictures
The Bahamas Historical Society

A depiction of Bahamian history was painted on several screens by the English-born artist Diana B. L. Pullinger over fifty years ago. Originally owned by the memorable Nassau Shop on Bay Street, it was later donated to the Bahamas Historical Society. Diana Pullinger befriended members of the Erickson family who had a home in Nassau and owned a salt-operation in Inagua, the West Indian Chemicals Ltd. Through her friendship with the Ericksons, she visited Nassau and other West Indian, Central and South American countries where she continued painting. Her marriage to Clive Cavil was fortuitous, as he was appointed Director of Public Works by The Bahamas government.

While living in Nassau she continued painting including large murals for various organizations. Jim Lawlor, President of the Bahamas Historical Society, intrigued by the screens outlining Bahamian history, examined them closely and had the idea to produce a booklet describing the historical scenes as depicted by Diana Pullinger in 1957. Jim offered to draft the text which begins with the Lucayans and ends with the General Election of 2012.

I should like to thank and congratulate Jim Lawlor for his initiative in writing the text. This publication gives a concise account of the major periods in Bahamian history. The Bahamas Historical Society is grateful to the late Diana Pullinger for her artistic depiction of our history. My hope is that the booklet will be read by Bahamians and visitors alike, and that it will whet their appetite to conduct further research into our fascinating history. This publication is another great achievement for the Bahamas Historical Society made possible through the generosity of the Lyford Cay Foundation.

D. Gail Saunders
Scholar-in-Residence
The College of The Bahamas

Price $20

Launch: THURSDAY 29TH November At 6pm

Jim Lawlor will present the book

The Right Hon. Prime Minister Perry Christie MP will give remarks.

Followed by sale of Bahamian books, refreshments and Christmas/classical music

High Speed Airmail to USA is $16.50 for first lb (1 book) and $3 per extra lb (book).
High Speed Airmail to UK is $19.50 for first lb (1 book) and $3 per extra lb (book).

Great News:

"The History of The Bahamas in Pictures" has arrived and is now on sale.
The Bahamas Historical Society is now on Wireless internet and has its own email address: bhs1959@batelnet.bs
The 2012 BHS Journal is almost ready and will be sent to paid up members only

NEXT Talk: Thursday 15th November at 6pm – Marion Bethel on “Woman’s Sufffrage in The Bahamas”.
(Robert Dorsett has setup a channel on www.ustream.com for the Society which allows for the live streaming of events. The channel is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bahamas-historical-society

If persons are not able to attend the meeting they can view it online by simply going to that site in real time - Eastern Standard Time in USA - 7pm in Bermuda, 11pm in UK and 8am in Eastern Australia
Here is the link for the Bahamas Historical Society's YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/BahamasHistSociety

The Bahamas Historical Society is pleased to announce the launch of the new book: “The History of The Bahamas in Pictures”: A depiction of Bahamian history was painted on several screens by the English-born artist Diana B. L. Pullinger over fifty years ago.

Ron Lightbourn photographed the screens and Jim Lawlor wrote additional text.

First paragraphs of Introduction
The word Bahama comes from the Arawak language – Ba (large), ha (upper), ma (midland) which is the original name of the most northern island of Grand Bahama. The seven hundred islands were shown on early maps as Isles Lucayes, the home of the Lucayans but on later maps appeared as The Bahamas.
The composition of the rocks in the Bahamas, tell us that they came from the bottom of the sea. In time forests of two distinct types became predominant. The more northerly islands of Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros and New Providence developed mainly forests of the Long Leaf yellow pine - and the more southerly islands mainly hardwood forests of madeira, horseflesh, mastic, lignum vitae and many others. Christopher Columbus wrote, "I walked among some trees which were the most beautiful I have ever seen". The islands as they existed in all their virginal beauty and pristine magnificence - set like jewels in a crystal sea. He continued, "All the other things and lands of these islands are so lovely that I do not know where to go first and my eyes never weary of looking at such lovely verdure, so different from that of our own land".
The earliest settlers in the Caribbean were the Ciboney and then about 500 CE three major groups of the Arawak speaking peoples migrated from the forests between the Orinoca and Amazon rivers of South America; the Tainos to Cuba, Jamaica and Haiti; the Borequinos to Puerto Rico and the Lucayans to the Bahamas. Lucayan is made up of the Arawak words Lukko meaning man and Kairi meaning island - hence the name ‘Island People’.

And last paragraph of Introduction
People were to come to these islands that would create a history of The Bahamas through their use of the land and the sea and the eventual modern economy of tourism, banking and ship registry. The modern Bahamas is comprised of descendants of the ‘old inhabitants’, Puritans, indentured servants and exiled law breakers from Bermuda, pirates, settlers from England and Huguenots from Germany, France and Switzerland. These ‘old inhabitants’, comprising of white, black and mixed race were described by the incoming Loyalists as ‘Conchs’ because conch was a popular ingredient of their staple diet. The descendents of West African slaves and Liberated Africans now form the majority of the Bahamian population estimated in 2011 to be .313,312.

Here are the links for Marion Bethel's presentation of 15th Nov - "Women's Suffrage In The Bahamas"

http://youtu.be/fgQJE6fb-aU
http://youtu.be/7_Guxq0aQtw
http://youtu.be/-3VRyKe8P3E
http://youtu.be/4cdjmeJwf8k
http://youtu.be/Veh5Y_kMcck
http://youtu.be/s9VUUTTfCAo
http://youtu.be/yMuK8HKXT-I
http://youtu.be/UWdB5NeqmVA

Here are 2 treats courtesy of Jerry Curry:

My father Thomas C. Curry was born in Harbour Island in 1899 and died in 1982. He was a very avid movie taker long before home movies were very popular. We made many summer visits back to Harbour Island and over the years have accumulated a few movies. Some of them are of historical importance (at least I think so). While others are simply of people of the day. The earliest are in the mid to late 1940s. These are films that have never been seen outside of our family. They portray the life and times of the people in Harbour Island mainly. Twenty years ago I converted them to a digital format as the original film was deteriorating a great deal. I can cut the clips/portions that are of the Bahamas and make them available. I just posted one to the Harbour Island facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/HarbourIslandGuide#!/HarbourIslandGuide

and from Andy Marshall