Pieces of the Past: A Stroll Down Jamaica’s Memory Lane

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As the title suggests, the stories included in this volume are but pieces of Jamaica’s very rich past.

By: Rebecca Tortello

SKU: 094 Categories: ,

Description

There is an old Jamaican saying ‘every mickle mek a muckle’. It means every experience – no matter how small – counts, because together they form a greater whole. There is another old Jamaican saying: ‘one one cocoa full basket’ which means that parts of things slowly combined make a whole. Pieces of the Past: A Stroll Down Jamaica’s Memory Lane is as much a combination of both meanings as it is an exploration of a deep-rooted interest in Jamaica’s rich history and culture.

As the title suggests, the stories included in this volume are but pieces of Jamaica’s very rich past. Since all the defining moments of Jamaican history and culture could not be covered, the book brings together interesting people and events from the nation’s past to the general public. Stories range from the strictly historical, such as the founding of the nation’s two political parties, to reminiscences of service in World War II, to the exploration of place names and proverbs.

The book is divided into eight sections namely: Places; People; Cultural Heritage; A Nation Emerges; Trials: Natural and Manmade; Jamaicans Who Served; Famous Visitors; and Things Jamaican. Pieces of the Past is written in a clear and accessible style and is a must for lovers of Jamaican history, and anyone interested in the culture and heritage of the island.

Additional information

Weight 3 lbs
Dimensions 11 × 8 in
ISBN

978-976-8286-62-8

Binding

Paperback

Page Count

294 pages

Publication date

2007

About Author

Rebecca Tortello holds a PhD in comparative education and sociology from Teachers College, Columbia University. A former classroom teacher, Rebecca is also the author of a children’s picturebook called Nancy and Grandy Nanny (2001). She is a lecturer at the University of the West Indies in the Department of Education Studies and consults on numerous educational projects both in Jamaica and internationally.

Contents

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

 

PLACES

 A Historic Portrait: Port Antonio

 Port Royal: The Guarded City, 1690

 Our Parishes

 What’s in a Name? Place names: A Window to Jamaica’s History and Character

 A Historic Look at the Capital City

 The History of Falmouth: Early Nineteenth-Century Boom Town

 The Story of Spanish Town

 

THE PEOPLE WHO CAME

 Africans in Jamaica

 The English, Scots and Welsh

 The Jews in Jamaica

 The Arrival of the Chinese

 The Arrival of the Indians

 The Lebanese Arrive

 Germans in Jamaica

 The Arrival of the Irish

 

CULTURAL HERITAGE

 Christmas a Come

 What A Bam Bam: Jamaica Festival is Born

 Old Time Weddings

 The Fall of a Gentle Giant: The Collapse of Tom Cringle’s Cotton Tree

 The Ward Theatre

 Historic Devon House

 Museums in Jamaica

 Old Time Tellin’s: A Closer Look at Jamaican Proverbs

 Anancy: The Magical Spiderman

 

A NATION EMERGES

 Independence Bells Ring

 Gibraltar Camp: A Refuge From War

 Money: The Roots of Jamaican Currency

 Montego Bay Riots: Riots Here, Send Help at Once

 The Founding of the People’s National Party (PNP)

 The Stamp of History: The Jamaican Postal Service

 Radio: For your Listening Pleasure

 Jamaica’s Grand Hotels

 The History of Printing in Jamaica

Turning Point: The Founding of the Jamaica Labour Party, (JLP)

 August Morning: Freedom at Last: Emancipation

 Fighting for Freedom: The Triumph of Will

 Jamaica On Show: The Great Exhibition of 1891

 Taking to the Skies: A History of Aviation in Jamaica

 

 

TRIALS: NATURAL AND MANMADE

 1692: Port Royal Earthquake

 Mistresses of the Sea: Mary Read and Anne Bonny – Female Pirates

 The Mad Master of Edinburgh Castle

 The Hurricane of 1780

 Honesty is the Best Policy: The Case of the Shark Papers

 Bog Walk Tube

 Kingston No Longer Exists: The Earthquake of 1907

 Tragedy at Kendal, 1957

 

JAMAICANS WHO SERVED

 Mary Seacole: Jamaican Healer and War Heroine (1805–1881)

 Claude McKay: Jamaica’s Poet Laureate (1890–1948)

 Dr. Cicely Williams: Jamaica’s Gift to the Field of Maternal and Child Health Care (1893–1992)

 Professor Louis Grant: Famous Jamaican Scientist (1913–1993)

 Thomas P. Lecky : The Father of Jamaican Cattle: (1904–1994)

 A.J. Thomas : The Father of Jamaican Fish: (1909–1988)

 Jamaica and the Great War: ‘Old Soldiers Never Die, They Only Fade Away’

 Recollections of World War II: Lt. Col. Whitehorne and Archdeacon Maxwell Remember

 

FAMOUS VISITORS

 All Hail: The State Visit of Emperor Haile Selassie I

 Sir Hans Sloane: Captivated by Jamaica

 Henry Morgan: The Pirate King

 I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King in Jamaica

 Lady Nugent’s Journal: A Cultural Explication of Empire

 Captivated by Jamaica: Errol Flynn, Ian Fleming and Noel Coward

 Frazier vs. Foreman: Match up on the Sunshine Island, January 22, 1973

 Footprints of Glory Foretold: Admiral Horatio Nelson and his Stay in Jamaica

 Katherine Dunham: Matriarch of Modern Dance

 Simón Bolivar: El Libertador (1793–1828)

 

THINGS JAMAICAN

 Jamaican Coffee: A Beverage of Distinction

 A Paradise Worth More Than Gold: Jamaica’s Botanical Gardens

 Colourful Characters: Jamaica’s Birds

 Bounty and Breadfruit: The Mutiny on the Bounty and the Arrival of the Breadfruit

 Distinguished Drink: Appleton Estate and the History of Jamaican Rum

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