Under the Evergreen Tree - Oral History Project

The need for this project was reinforced in December 2008  as I attended funeral services for Richard “Richie” Allen, a former newspaper and television journalist and ex-press secretary to several Virgin Island governors. Allen was also a native of Montserrat.

 I never met Richie Allen, although near the end of his life we lived a few miles apart in Tampa Bay, Florida. He was my wife’s relative and so we received the news of his death from a cousin in Connecticut who was flying to Florida for the funeral. That weekend I learned about Mr. Allen’s work as a journalist, his humble upbringing in Cudjoe Head, his involvement in the expatriate Montserrat community in St. Thomas, and his dedication to his family and his faith. During his lifetime, Allen met presidents and other dignitaries. He made a difference. It would have been wonderful to sit and talk with him about his life in Montserrat, what inspired him, his influences and record his life story for posterity . Unfortunately, I never had that opportunity. Standing at Mr. Allen’s gravesite in Tampa,  I was struck by the urgency to begin an oral history project for the Montserrat diaspora. Gathered for that solemn occasion were dozens of fellow Montserratians who had immigrated decades ago; some had never returned to home, but all cherished vivid memories of their childhood, adolescence and young adult hood on the island. Their memories are frozen in time. They deserve to be collected, shared and saved to inspire future generations.

Montserrat is a nation of immigrants. Many Montserratians grow up and aspire to leave the 39- square- mile British colony to seek their education and fortunes abroad – England, America, U.S Virgin Islands, Europe and Africa.

During the nineteen fifties and early sixties, Montserrat experienced significant waves of  immigration  to England  to fill the void in the labor force caused by the devastation of  World War II. Those immigrants, gone more than half  a century, are fast exiting the stage and their stories of struggle and perseverance are being lost to history. Now is the time to reach out and document their long overlooked personal narratives.

The eruption of Soufriere Volcano in 1995 and the violent deadly explosions two years later set off an unprecedented exodus. More than any time in the island’s history, Montserratians have been scattered around the world. Only a brave remnant soldier on. In time that remnant will be outnumbered by an influx of immigrants from other islands in the region. Already we see the Spanish influence of Dominicans immigrants who have relocated to the island. Indian dances at the Montserrat Christmas festival events portend the cultural shift. That influence is not always a negative one, but therein lurks the peril. Our open embrace of other cultures usually comes at the expense of our own. Our sense of identity as a people and as a culture is endangered.

Currently a number of projects are undertaken to preserve our national identity for future generations. I propose Under the Evergreen Tree, as an addition to those efforts.

Under  the Evergreen Tree will be patterned on the Story Corps,(www.storycorps.net) listening  project, which allows ordinary Americans to visit audio booths and record their  families’ history romances, struggles and triumphs of everyday life. Like Story Corps, Under the Evergreen Tree is predicated on the unshakeable premise that stories matter. This is an audacious attempt to honor that belief and gather our history before it’s too late.

Just imagine, there already is a generation of Montserratians who are too young to remember what it was like to live in Plymouth before the volcano erupted; they have not experienced a Christian crusade or a political rally at the War Memorial, a walk down Parliament Street at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoons,  the majesty of the Evergreen tree at the round about, the magic of Boxing Day at Sturge Park. If we don’t collect these stories now, all future generations will have only pictures. Under the Evergreen Tree is an attempt to provide the stories and the historical context.

          This is an opportunity to gather family and personal histories of all Montserratians wherever they may live. The stories will dwell on various themes - family, natural disasters such as hurricane Hugo, the 1974 earthquakes, immigration, family, love, the volcano eruption, the 1960s Plymouth fire, education, religion, recreation, culture, calypso, sports and village life, the Lasso man episode of the early seventies.

Under the Evergreen Tree includes five major components:

 

1. Collection: The first step is to invite Montserratians from the four corners of the globe to sit down and digitally record their stories - sons can interview fathers, daughters their mothers, grandfathers and grandsons, uncles and nephews. I and other professionally trained individuals will visit cities with large Montserrat communities and conduct interviews. I also plan to travel to major cultural events where Montserratians are gathered, such as the Caribbean carnival weekend in Atlanta on Memorial Day weekend, Labor day in Brooklyn and Columbus Day weekend in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, to personally collect  stories for the archives. The St. Patrick's Day events are a perfect venue to begin collecting those stories.

Each interview will be recorded on CD and sent either by mail or in electronic form over the internet to designated collection points to be processed, catalogued and archived.

2. Archiving:. Oral histories on CDs will stored at the at the Montserrat National Trust or other designated  Montserrat location. The archived material will form part of a permanent multi-media exhibit that can be hosted at the Cultural Center. One can even envision that in the future, this initiative could be part of a stand alone multimedia, interactive Montserrat historical and cultural center to showcase all aspects of  what makes the Emerald Isle special.  I also plan to approach Florida A&M University and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y., to serve as U.S depositories of the stories so that scholars in future generations will have access to Montserrat history.  Similar partnerships are being sought in England.

3. Sharing: The aim is to share stories with family members and the wider community. We will provide each interviewees with a copy of their CD, keep a copy at the archive and, with the family’s permission, air segments weekly on Radio Montserrat and other outlets. Podcasts and YouTube versions will also be created.

4. Marketing. A major part of this project would be the outreach to the Montserratian communities scattered throughout the world. This initiative will require tremendous legwork. I plan to travel to New York, London, Boston, Birmingham, Atlanta, Washington D.C, St. Thomas and other places with significant Montserrat communities to visit churches, homes, businesses and community groups to spread the word. Traditional media outlets that serve ethnic communities will also be targeted to get out the message to this unique audience.

Under the Evergreen Tree will be heavily promoted on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Hi-5. Presently there are dozens of online Montserrat related communities forged by a common love and longing for a prosperous Montserrat.

 I also plan to create a web site where visitors can click and hear podcasts of the stories, and upload their own stories and pictures.

5. Organization and Operation: As part of the process, interviews can be catalogued and archived at the Montserrat National Trust or the Montserrat Cultural Center. Each week Radio ZJB will air one segment, one family’s story. Businesses will be encouraged to sponsor the broadcasts. The goal is to establish permanent booths and liaisons in each city. These individuals will coordinate the interviews, process the CDs and ensure they get posted to the web,  sent to the National Trust, aired on radio, and given to each family. 

This project will  be accompanied by an aggressive promotion campaign world wide, using free media interviews over Caribbean radio programs, internet email list etc. to get Montserratians to sign on to this project. I plan to tap into the vast network of Montserrat associations abroad. With the easy availability of technology, however, many individuals and families will be encouraged to conduct the interviews in their own homes and email the audio or upload directly to the web site for editing and listening.

Interviews will be catalogued and cross indexed in various ways. By geography for example, , former residents of  St. Patrick’s could be grouped together. The interviewers will try to get interviewees to talk about significant family and national happenings, wedding, births, hurricanes, epidemics, the earthquakes of the 1970s, and life during World War II. The volcano experience will have a separate category.

 As envisioned, a permanent booth will be set up at the National Trust or  the Cultural Centre and or studio space provided a ZJB radio to allow Montserrat residents and Montserratians visiting from abroad to come sit and record their stories. To enhance the visuals of this project we will be encourage people to submit copies of  family photographs, obituaries and death notices of Montserratians, career announcement notices etc. Funeral announcements on Radio Montserrat will be added to the  Under the Evergreen Tree archives.

 As part of this project, Under the Evergreen Tree’s web site will display old family photos, pictures of Montserrat etc. The site will allow people to listen to the interviews and upload their audio files of interviews to be edited. There will be detailed instructions to show people how to submit their stories.

This initiative will be conducted under the auspices of a  soon to be created nonprofit entity, with an active board of directors. The not for profit corporation will work in partnership with the Government of Montserrat and civic groups who support the goal of gathering and safekeeping Montserrat history. Success and longevity will require financial, logistical and moral support from a variety of government, philanthropic and individual donors.

If you're interested email me at drewskerritt@gmail.com.