Before there was American Idol, there was Pat Cameron, who as host of the influential radio show, `On Show Young Guyana,` helped give recognition to the musical abilities of many young Guyanese. Pat was born on October 3, 1924 to Lilian Gertrude Christiani and Henry Perot Christiani. A Bishop’s High School graduate, she worked in the Guyana Civil Service and was trained as a Social Welfare Officer in Jamaica. She entered the world of broadcasting…
Vesta Lowe (1907 -1992) was a multidimensional woman-teacher, singer, musician, folk song collector, and rural development professional. She was a pioneer in so many aspects of life. She was among the first batch of teachers to graduate from the Teachers’ Training College. She is considered to be the first Black woman to graduate from Tuskegee Institute with a B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Home Economics. Lynette Dolphin described Vesta Lowe as “the pioneer in the field…
Monica Chopperfield, aka Lady Guymine (1932-2009) was a Guyanese calypso and cultural phenomenon. Popularly known for her hit calypso “Granny Fit” (which you can watch her singing in the clip below), she was born on July 31, 1932, in Berbice, Guyana and would grow to become “an important 20th century calypsonian.” Her performing career started in a show produced by Zelda Martindale at the roofless Olympic Cinema on Lombard Street and she went on to…
MASHRAMANI, often referred to as “Mash”, is the equivalent of Guyana’s Carnival and is an annual festival that celebrates Guyana becoming a sovereign Republic on 23 February 1970. The first Mashramani festival was celebrated on Feb 23rd, 1970 in the mining town of Linden and has since become a major national annual event . There are spectacular costume competitions, float parades, masquerade bands, and dancing in the streets to the accompaniment of steel band music…
Ms. Valerie Rodway (1919-1970) was a teacher and Guyanese composer. She is best known for her national songs, which include, “O Beautiful Guyana,” “Kanaïma,” “Hymn for Guyana’s Children,” “Arise, Guyana,” and “Guyana the Free. She also put to music the famed Guyanese independence poem by Martin Carter, “Let Freedom Awaken.” Ms. Rodway was a member of one of those families whose contributions to Guyana are still evident. Her father, Newton Berthier Fraser was born in…
Born on November, 26 1930 in New Amsterdam, Berbice, Viola Victorine Burnham was the youngest of eight children of schoolmaster James Nathaniel Harper and his wife Mary (née Chin). Viola attended the All Saints Scots School from which she won a Government County Scholarship to the Berbice High School. After her father’s death the family decided to move to Georgetown where she entered Smith’s Church Congregational School. There she won a Government County Scholarship to …
“A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own even if she never wants to or needs to… A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. something perfect to wear if the employer or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour… A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE … a youth she’s content to leave behind…. A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …. a past juicy enough that…
Born in Guyana in January 1923, Patricia Gomes has purposefully dedicated more than half of her life to theatre and along the way has been quite accomplished in other areas. She has, as they say, “done it all” – from stage plays to storytelling to dancing her life away, much to the enjoyment of the audiences she thrilled. In 2010, Ms. Gomes was named by “Special Person” by Kaieteur News, and in an interview…
The daughter of Guyanese immigrants, Justice Juanita Westmoreland-Traore is the first Black Dean appointed to a law school (University of Windsor Faculty of Law) in Canada’s history, and the first Black Judge appointed to the Bench in history of Quebec. Judge Westmoreland-Traoré, was born on March 10, 1942 in Verdun, now part of Montreal, Quebec. She studied at Marianopolis College, and subsequently obtatined a law degree from the Université de Montréal (1966) and a doctorate…