 |
 |
 |
|
September 2017
|
On August 17, The UWI St. Augustine’s Alma Jordan Library in collaboration with The UWI Press and Republic Bank Limited launched the book Returned Exile: A Biography of George James Christian of Dominica and the Gold Coast, 1869-1940 authored by Margaret D. Rouse-Jones and Estelle M. Appiah. Dr. John Campbell, Senior Lecturer, History Department, The UWI St. Augustine gave an instructive and insightful review of the book, which illuminated a dimension of the African experience not adequately captured – the story of returnees from the British West Indies to Africa. Specifically, the book tells the story of the life of pan-Africanist George James Christian who retained his Caribbean roots as he fulfilled his desire to make Africa his home. From relatively humble beginnings in Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean, Christian travelled to London in 1898 to train as a Barrister-at-law at Gray’s Inn, after which he migrated to the Gold Coast where he made his home until his death in 1940. Rouse-Jones became interested when Appiah mentioned at their first meeting that “she was from Ghana but had West Indian roots.” This chance meeting set the stage for the authors’ decision in 1991 to write the book together – they then began to do research in London, Dominica and Ghana. In 2005, The George James Christian Papers, constituting more than 5,000 items, were donated to The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus by Mrs. Essi Matilda Forster, Estelle Appiah’s mother and they are housed in the West Indiana and Special Collections Division of the Main Library. The collection was closed for ten years and opened to the public in 2016. The launch was chaired by Karen Lequay, University and Campus Librarian of Open Campus Libraries and Information Services. Afterwards,the authors signed copies of the book. |
