ABOUT
THE ERIC EUSTACE WILLIAMS COLLECTION OF SPEECHES
HISTORY
The genesis of this project lies with Ms. Patricia Raymond, the first Librarian at the Ministry of Planning and Development’s Library Services Unit (LSU). Ms. Raymond, in adherence to her duty collected and compiled, from a diverse range of sources, Dr. Williams’ publications in the form of speeches, addresses to the nation, magazine articles, and press releases, among others.
In 2010, under the leadership of then Head/Systems Librarian, Ms. Caroline Kangalee, a digitisation project of the collected documents, mainly speeches and addresses, was initiated. However, due to circumstances, the project was tabled until its resumption in 2018, again under Ms. Kangalee’s leadership and subsequently completed under Librarian III, Lisa Lingo (deceased).
Further to the completion of the digitised objects, the Ministry of Planning and Development’s IT Department, with input from the LSU, created a web page to host the digital objects and provide access to the public.
GOALS OF THE PROJECT
The goals of the project included, but were not limited to:
• Making these valuable resources digitally available and freely and easily accessible.
• Contributing to online scholarship on Dr. Eric Eustace Williams.
• Preserving the original, physical print resources which are fragile by eliminating handling of same.
• Reducing the LSU’s, and by extension the Ministry’s, carbon footprint by eliminating photocopying of the physical objects.
• Providing 24-7 access to the resources.
PHASES OF THE PROJECT
This project was a labour of love that involved several phases and required multiple skills including planning and organisation, time management, scanning, editing, and attention to detail, among others. The general phases, with the digitisation phase, being the longest.
VALUE OF THE PROJECT
Dr. Williams, who was considered a renowned orator, often accepted invitations to speak from local communities and national, regional and international organisations on a myriad of subjects. Therefore, this collection contains documented speeches and words of Dr. Williams from diverse occasions such as addresses to the nation, press releases, graduation ceremonies, condolences and congratulations, among others.
As the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the first Minister of Finance, Planning and Development (as the Ministry was then named), Dr. Williams’ words are important heritage resources with historical and research value, not only to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago but also to international scholars, researchers, and students of history.