The first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Eric Williams, left a legacy that belongs to everyone, even his critics, according to his daughter Erica Williams-Connell.
She was speaking at a gathering called Preserving the intellectual legacy of Dr. Eric Williams through digitization at the Central Bank in Port of Spain.
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Williams-Connell thanked Patricia Raymond, a public worker, who had carefully stored a collection of Williams’ speeches for 20 years up to their digitization by Caroline Kangalee, a librarian at Nalis.
Williams-Connell cited Williams’ autobiography Inward Hunger to argue that history was more of a chronicle of human progress than a catalogue of wars, dates, and politicians.
“On this auspicious occasion we are indeed making history in the long overdue website launch of 238 of my late father’s speeches.”
She said that she had looked in vain for her father’s speeches for years, but unbeknownst to her, a clerk/typist had secretly preserved them.
“This person who wished to remain anonymous but who has been outed had literally kept these documents in safekeeping for more than two decades,” she said, “waiting for the opportunity to deliver them into competent and appreciative hands, those of Caroline Kangalee in 2008, so that we might arrive at this juncture of preservation, politics and history.”
“It matters not if you are an aficionado of Eric Williams, his committed opponent, or just indifferent.
“This treasure trove of documents is our history, for better or worse – all of our history, both the good and the bad.”
She claimed that these works were a part of the national heritage.
“It deserves to be safeguarded, if only so that future generations can choose to utilize it as guideposts or warning signs against the same steps.
“If we don’t pay attention to the past, the future begins to lose its point of reference. That’s one of my favorite quotations.”
Williams-Connell then moved her focus to another nation, one that she said had formerly been a vibrant first-world democracy and was now subject to daily attempts to shamelessly rewrite history, claiming, “T&T would do well to avoid such blunders.”
She said that efforts to rewrite history in that foreign nation were not haphazard; rather, they were calculated, immoral, and purposeful.
She turned her focus back to T&T and related, “As an aside, during a previous administration, one top official in the Ministry of Information seemed to take a special delight in informing me when asked, that in terms of video material, edited versions of Eric Williams’ administration were being erased so that the tapes could be ‘re-purposed’. “Imagine my incredulity, my utter disbelief. This is a lesson I have never forgotten.”
She bemoaned the fact that despite being hailed as the Father of the Nation, there were still rumors that Williams had not merited special treatment.
Otherwise, she was grateful for the occasion since it would allow T&T’s children to learn about and debate Williams’ records.
She thanked everyone who had contributed to the initiative, including permanent secretary Marie Hinds and planning minister Pennelope Beckles, who had taken over from Camille Robinson-Regis.
“As a late-comer to the benefits of history, indeed as a daughter, I am deeply grateful. Thank you.”
