BRILLIANT LECTURE OPENS 2004 EMANCIPATION CELEBRATIONS

The celebration of the 170th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation took off brilliantly with the second Annual Dr. Norwell Harrigan Memorial Lecture delivered by Dr. Birney M. Harrigan. The lecture focused on the role of the BVI church in education as a decisive component of the emancipation process.

The venue was the St. George's Anglican Church on Main Street. The subject of the lecture was particularly timely for this years' celebrations and also appropriate to the memory of local educator and historian Dr. Norwell Harrigan.

Dr. Birney Harrigan

Birney Harrigan, Ph.D. presented a well researched lecture that examined the early stages of an embryonic education system in the British Virgin Islands during the pre-emancipation years. She demonstrated the pivotal role played by the Methodist Church in establishing schools and educating the liberated slaves and the black population in general during the post system, and then up to the turn of the century.

“The formative beginnings into the forays of education in the middle of the twentieth century were made possible by the persistence of our ancestors, the churches, sympathetic governors, a morally-driven British government, and recalcitrant colonial legislature.  All of these forces coalesced to provide an opportunity for religious and secular instruction, which set the stage for the continual evolution of education and the development of today’s enlightened BVI citizenry and community.  Through it all, it was the churches -- the Anglican and Methodist in particular -- that were the backbone of this entire movement to educate, to liberate. Both of these churches competed for their market share -- as it were -- of followers. This feud led to a healthy rivalry, the residual effects of which might still be alive today. Despite those rivalries, however, they never lost sight of their higher mission: to educate.  The fundamental question has remained, then and now, education to what end and for what purpose? “ Dr. Harrigan said in introducing her lecture.

This was an inspiring and brilliant lecture that captured the attention of the public in attendance, and it was also an important occasion as it gave a genuine cultural dimension to the Emancipation anniversary celebrations.

The well-attended lecture was introduced by Mr. Audley Maduro and the opening prayer was delivered by St. George’s Rector, Rev. Fr. Ronald Branche followed by comments by Pastor Melvin Turnbull. Mistress of ceremonies was Mrs. Sandra Walters-Malone.

Dr. Birney Harrigan, a native of the BVI was appointed Associate Dean of Student Affairs in November 2001 at the University of Pittsburgh; she is a member of the American Anthropological Association, the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. She was recently listed among the top 50 women of influence in Western Pennsylvania. Dr. Birney Harrigan is an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University's Department of Anthropology where she periodically teaches courses in Anthropology and Caribbean History.

“Educate to Emancipate: The Continuing Role of the Church in the Virgin Islands” is being published in three instalments in The Island Sun newspaper; an expanded version will be published in book form by Laurel Publication International (issun@candwbvi.net) during Fall 2004.