CARIBBEAN BIOGRAPHICAL PROJECT

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0074 LMA/4462/K
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: CARIBBEAN BIOGRAPHICAL PROJECT
Date(s)	: 1978-1995
Level of description	: Collection
Extent	: 0.05 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Caribbean Biographical Project

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Work on a series of biographies on Caribbean individuals began in 1981 with letters to authors telling them about the series and asking them to write about specific individuals. The first meeting of the Caribbean Biographical Project committee was in September 1992. The group wanted to correct what they perceived would be a future imbalance in the record of the presence of Caribbean people in Britain and the Caribbean. The project was to be both autobiographical and biographical. Prominent individuals were asked to record or give interviews about their experiences and authors were requested to write biographies.

The biographies were aimed at eight to thirteen year olds and were to be a maximum of 8700 words interspersed with sketches.

The committee was sub-divided into core groups which then went on to hold their own meetings.

Core groups and leaders:
Arts: June Baden-Semple, Oscar Abrams
Education: Waveney Bushell, Winston Best
Faith and Community Care: Hewlett Anrew, Sybil Phoenix
Health Care: June Baden-Semple, Lennox Thomas
Publishing: Eric Huntley, Jessica Huntley
Supplementary School Movement: Cicely Haynes-Hart, Ansell Wong

These individuals were highlighted for biographies or autobiographies: Claudia Jones, C L R James, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Louise Bennett, Walter Rodney, Tubal Uriah 'Buzz' Butler, Cipriani, Marcus Garvey, Paul Bogle, Marryshaw, Mary Secole, Franz Fanon, Constantine, Maurice Bishop, Audrey Jeffers, Althea Jones-La Cointe, Grantley Adams.

The group were concerned by the lack of women on the initial list and Rhoda Reddock at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica sent a list of Caribbean women.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Caribbean Biographical Project, including correspondence from biographers and authors; draft biographies and minutes.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

These records are arranged into one series: LMA/4462/K/01 CORRESPONDENCE.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Their archive collections were the first deposit from the African-Caribbean community to be made to the London Metropolitan Archives, in 2005, with additional deposits since that time.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Friends of Bogle-L'Ouverture funded and assisted in the publication of the biographical series (LMA/4462/H).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
November 2009 to February 2010