Jamaica and the Great War

November 8, 1915 Attention!!!! listen up magets we are about to go to war o hey my name Major W. D. Neish and i just sent off the first Jamaican contingent to serve in the First World War. Some of you may be killed, many will be wounded, but in bidding you farewell, I hope that those who fall may fall gloriously, their faces to the foe, victory gleaming on their bayonets. band play "Soldiers of the King," will we pray for a safe return. me and my 500 sailed of. The world had been at war for over a year.

Tragedy at Kendal

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 Hello the day is Sunday, September 1, 1957 and im just on my way to Kington from Negril. i am about 100 yards away from the Kingston Railway Station. I see hundreds of members of the Holy Name Society of St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church and 100 known criminals just boarded the train. its about 11:30 and we just took a pit stop. o were leaving now a we are gaining speed. OMG!!!!!! the train just derailed!!!!!

its about 2:00 and im lucky to be alive i have several diffrent broken bones but im happy to be alive. as i wake up i see Fragments of human bodies and scores of twisted metal. I see about 200 people lieing dead, and about 700 sustained injuries. this was the worst rail disaster in Jamaica's history, and the second worst rail disaster in the world at that time

The dead bodies from the tragedy a kendal

Claude McKay: Jamaica's Poet Laureate 1890 – 1948

hi im Festus Claudius McKay and i was born in Clarendon in 1890. My parents are Thomas and Hannah McKay they are farmers. I am the youngest of eleven children and i am one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. i am an avid reader and i began writing poetry at the age of ten.

1906, i was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker after the trade school i was supposed to attend was destroyed by the 1907 earthquake. In that same year, something far more propitious occurred i acquired a mentor by the name of Walter Jekyll. Jekyll, an Englishman who became an avid collector of Jamaican folklore, encouraged McKay to write in Jamaican dialect.

Claudius McKay

Hurricane of 1780

today is a morning.o hey today is October 3, 1780. the sky is crisp and clear like a typical Jamaican day. my cousin In the southwestern part of jamica said  there was a slight wind and a few intermittent showers, but all in all things were calm and looking to remain so. at about 12:00 all that changed. Colonel John Dalling who is the governor describes the change of events while in his official report to London: "The sky on a sudden became very much overcast, and an uncommon elevation of the sea immediately followed. Whilst the unhappy settlers at Savanna-la-Mar were observing this extraordinary Phenomenon, the sea broke suddenly in upon the town, and on its retreat swept every thing away with it, so as not to leave the smallest vestige of Man, Beast, or House behind."

I was kind of nervous when i heard that, but as i look at theocean i can tell that was only the beginning of the destruction. The catastrophe that i heard the governor talking about was followed by what many called the most devastating hurricane to have hit the island up to that point in its history. by about 2:00 buildings on the southwest coast of the island began to sway back and forth as if they were balancing on a tightrope. Fires broke out and spread. By 4 p.m. the full force of the hurricane had arrived and the town of Savanna-la-Mar lay directly in its path. OMG, a mighty wave has risen out of the boiling sea and is about to sweep over the coast. Along with the debris of the homes and businesses, two ships and a schooner were carried along and left stranded among mango trees. that is all isaw before i ran to shelter

The destruction from the hurricane of 1780

The Road To Freedom

Yes sis, i have have to do this quickly because master wants me to get back to work. i think today is Friday, August 1, 1834. Ive been hearing whispers of freedom. me and alot of others are going to walk up hills and climbed trees to clearly witness the literal dawning of our freedom. After  that we are going to go to a church called "Divine Services" to give thanks and praise. word on the street is that today marked the emancipation of all slaves in British colonies but it was a case of freedom with conditions.  i heard Abolition Act stated that i was free but only my kids were truly freed.  they said that i was still in a six-year apprenticeship

Slaves in Jamaica

                                                                     

Martin Luther King Jr. visits Jamaica

 

Hellomy name is Anthony Allen, and i have a dream  that one day Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King will visit Jamaica. i am a medical student at the University of the West Indies, and a member of the Chapel Management Committee. Actually i was one of those people who nominated Dr. King to deliver the sermon at the 1965 valedictory service. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 20, 1965 my dream came true, when Rev. Dr. King arrived in Jamaica with his wife, Coretta. while he was here he gave a speechthat was entitled "Facing the Challenge of a New Age"

"If it falls to our luck to be street-sweepers, sweep the streets, like Raphael painted pictures, like Michaelangelo carved marble, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, and like Beethoven composed music. Sweep the streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth would have to pause and say ... ...Here lived a great street sweeper"

Martin Luther King Arriving in Jamaica

The Earthquake of 1907

Hello the day is Monday, January 14, 1907 and the timeis 3:30 p.m. i am about to go walking. It looks like a regular day, sunny and hot ­ with a cloudless sky and a faint breeze. just as was about to leave out the house at 3:32 p.m, a Sudden sound came rushing. it sounds like mighty winds, followed by the sound of a train roaring in a tunnel and the violent shaking of the earth. shortly after, while i was running back in the house, i saw men and buildings being tossed about like puppets. all i hear are loud screams that splits the air. I encounter alot terrifing shocks. I waited about a minute or two. when i go back out there thousands lay dead and dying buried beneath mounds of rubble and dust. at 3:33 p.m.  i felt three more shocks and every building in Kingston seemed to have had some damage.

The Damages From The Earthquake Of 1907

Birth of Independence

The Flag of Jamaica

 

What is this beautiful sound that rings through the air from Savannla-La-Mar to Morant Bay, from Above Rocks to Port Maria, as the clock struck midnight on August 5, 1962. O that's our national anthem we heard. It was the first time we heard it. while it was being played Union Jacks were lowered and the Jamaican flag unveiled.

Jamaica's Botantical Gardens

 

The year is around the 1750's and I came back from Jamaica, the queen ask to see me. When I arrived at  Queen Isabella's castle, she asked me to describe the island of Jamaica. I was lost from words so I said that Jamaica "is a paradise and worth more than gold.". To me the island's ecosystem embraces tropical, sub-tropical with temperate plants. Out of everywhere I've been I haven't seen flowers like I saw in Jamaica. People say that Jamaica is a horticultural paradise. 

Jamaica's Beautiful Botonical Gardens

The Story Of Spanish Town

 

HURRY UP!!!! O sorry I was talking to my fishing buddy Fred. well today is May 10, 1655 and we are heading out for turtles off of Port Morant. OMG what is that!!!! Let me get a better look. O it looks like a lot of ships moving towards us. The British had arrived!!!! O, I forgot all about the Turtles , we got out of the boat spread the word. God help us it is so many people on that boat. It looks like they out number us 2 to 1...

The day is May 5 and The capital city has fallen. but I am on my way to Cuba. Stupid British men most of us are gone already. OMG!!!! where's Fred!?!?!?! We left him back in Jamaica. A few days after I reached the shore I meet up with fred and he said that the British burned down many buildings in anger.

The british troops in Jamaica

The Great Exhibition of 1891

 

Hello, The year is 1851 and my name is A. C. Sinclair. I have been thinking about going to do an exhibition in my home town Jamaica. The people in Jamaica already know me because I was One of the compilers of the annual Handbooks of Jamaica. The 1851 Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace really got me acting...

So now the year is 1889, and I have tried so many times but it is hard to find support for an independent project like this. Word on the street is that Jamaica has a new governor. I heard his name is Sir Henry Blake or something. So I went to persuade William Fawcett, a chairman of the Institute of Jamaica to help me present my cause to Governor Blake. Telling Governor Blake was such a great idea, right after I told him he addressed my exhibition at a public meeting on September 19, 1889. he put three resolutions before the leading gentlemen of Kingston, one of which requested Jamaican gentlemen to act as guarantors to the extent of 10 pounds or more. The response was so overwhelming that over 800 pounds was collected at that same meeting. Shortly after that a special committee received over 10,000 pounds in guarantees in Kingston alone and the country parishes raised nearly 17,000 pounds more by the end of June 1890. I overheard some people saying that this Exhibition is " the most extraordinary commercial event in the history of the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies," ...

 Now the day is January 27, 1891 and I am officially on my exhibition. WOW!!!! does time fly it is already May 2, 1891 know my exhibition is coming to a close. I had a great time and changed a lot of lives.

A flyer to promote the great exhibition

Port Royal Earthquake of 1692

O, MY GOD HELP!!!!!!!! The year is 1692 and a massive earthquake has struck Port Royal, Jamaica. Well its June 7 and as i am looking at my pocket watch it is exactly 11:43 a.m. It is kind of hard to find a safe place it be safe in one of the busiest and wickedest ports in the West Indies. O MY GOSH are those pirates. The earthquake caused most of the city to sink below sea level and I see a lot of dead people. Everywhere I put my foot down there is a died body. I have to go, the pirates are walking my way

Port Royal Before And After The Port Royal Earthquake of 1692