Elsa Goveia is revered among Caribbean Historians both for her leading role in the introduction and teaching of Caribbean History as a specialised area of study and as a pioneer in West Indian Historiography. All leading historians of The University of the West Indies from the late 1950s to the end of the 1960s were influenced and, in some cases, mentored by Goveia. Over the years, both the Mona and Cave Hill campuses of The UWI have hosted annual lectures by leading historians in her memory, an honour not accorded to any other Caribbean historian to date.  

This collection, published under the auspices of the Department of History and Philosophy of The UWI Cave Hill Campus, is a selection of lectures delivered in Goveia’s honour at Cave Hill – some by former colleagues like Woodville Marshall and a young Hilary Beckles and by others who all acknowledge her influence on their careers as historians and academics.