James Sisnett

Benjamin Banneker
Sir George Alleyne
Dame Ruth Nita Barrow
Clement Payne
Bussa
Elijah J. McCoy
Garrett Augustus Morgan
George Washington Carver
Granville Woods
Jan Matzeliger
Mae Jemison
 Dame Ruth Nita Barrow was born on 15th November
1916. She was the sister of the late Right Excellent Errol
Walton Barrow. Dame Nita as she is affectionately called
was the first and only female Governor-General of
Barbados and held this post from 6th June 1990 until she
died on 19th December 1995.

Prior to becoming Governor-General, Dame Nita was a

nurse and humanitarian activist. She served in various
public health and public administration jobs in Barbados
and in Jamaica in the 1940s and 1950s.

Dame Nita is also well known worldwide for her

contribution to women’s rights. She sat on the boards of
many international organisations like the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO) where her contributions were highly
appreciated and accepted.

Ruth Dame Nita Barrow a true “craftswoman of our fate”.

 Clement Osbourne Payne was born in 1904 on the isle of
Trinidad to Barbadian parents. He moved to Barbados when he was
four years old. Payne later returned to Trinidad in 1927 and became
an advocate of social justice which resulted in the growth of militant
trade unionism.

Clement returned to Barbados after some time and led black

Barbadians to resist the white planters in 1937. He organised several
public meetings and these activities aroused the wrath of the police
and the government of that time. Charges were brought against Payne
for lying about where he was born. You see, Payne always thought he
was born in Barbados, but later found out that he was born in Trinidad
to Barbadian parents. Subsequently, the authorities expelled Payne
from Barbados secretly by boat in July 1937.

His deportation resulted in four days or rioting where stores were

burned and looted and cars were pushed into the sea. This led to an
inquiry by the Moyne commission who found his accusations against
the island’s rulers to be true. As a result, Payne’s proposal were
accepted, and trade union legislation was introduced.

Payne died in 1941 at the age of thirty-seven, but his legacy and
all that he fought for still lives on with us today.
 Bussa was born in West Africa he was captured by
African slave merchants and sold to the British. He was
brought to Barbados as a slave in the late 18th century and
worked as a ranger on Bayley’s Plantation in the parish of
St. Philip.
His position at the plantation was one of privilege and it
provided him with the opportunity to plan and coordinate a
rebellion with the slaves at other plantations, which would
set all slaves free.
The rebellion began on Sunday 14th April 1816 but the
troops were not led into battle before Tuesday 16 th April
1816. The signal that allowed the slaves at other plantations
to know that the time had come was the setting fire to canes.
Some slaves were against the rebellion efforts and fought
against the slaves who were trying to be free. Bussa led
about 400 freedom fighters into the battle which claimed his
life. Even though the rebellion failed at that time, the
impact that it had on Barbados was tremendous.
 Sir George Allenmore O’Garren Alleyne was born on 7th
October 1932 in St. Philip Barbados. In February 2002, Sir
George was appointed as the United Nations Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region where he
is currently serving. Sir George was appointed to his position.

Sir George studied medicine at the University of the West

Indies and graduated with a gold medal in 1957. He pursued
further studies in internal medicine in the United Kingdom and
the United States of America. In 1972 Sir George became a
Professor of Medicine at UWI and was later appointed as
Chairman of the Department of Medicine in 1976. His successes
did not stop here as he was appointed as Chancellor of the
University of the West Indies in October of 2003.

Sir George is recognised for his contributions to the medical

field and served in organisations such as the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organisation
(PAHO). He still continues to serve within these organisations
to ensure a better life for all.
 James Emmanuel “Doc” Sisnett was born on 22nd
February 1900. During his lifetime, James worked as a
blacksmith, sugar factory worker, and a farmer. He retired
from his job as a farmer at the age of 100 years old.

Having had excellent health throughout his lifetime,

James died at the age of 113 years and 90 days as the oldest
living Barbadian. This honour did not stop here he was
verified as the oldest man in the Western Hemisphere, the
second oldest man in the world and the twelfth oldest person
in the world. James was also the only verified super-
centenarian from Barbados and was found to be one of the
last men born in the 19th century.

In 2011 samples of is blood and blood from his relatives

was taken by an American company seeking to study
longevity.

James Emmanuel “Doc” Sisnett died 23rd May 2013 in

his sleep at a nursing home in Christ Church as the oldest
living black man.
 Benjamin Banneker was born on 9th November 1731 in
Baltimore County, Maryland in the United States of
America.

He was formally educated in a school established by a

Quaker by the name of Peter Heinrichs and studied there
until he was old enough to work on his family’s farm.

Throughout his lifetime, Banneker worked as a clock

maker, mathematician, astronomer and publisher. In 1953
Banneker made the first pocket watch which worked until
he died out of wood. However his work did not stop here
using his mathematical and astronomical backgrounds, he
was able to calculate when a solar eclipse would occur and
as a result, forecasted the 1789 solar eclipse before it
occurred.
 Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Canada which
was formerly known as the Province of Canada May 2,
1844. McCoy was an inventor and engineer who was
 The exact date that George Washington Carver was born is
unknown sources report he was born by January 1864 into slavery in
Missouri. What is known about him however, is the fact that he was
an American scientist, botanist, educator and inventor.

Carver is well known for his research into and promotion of

planting alternative crops such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet
potatoes as opposed to just planting cotton. He made these
 Born on 4th March 1877, Garrett Morgan began his
career as a sewing-machine mechanic having only an
elementary school education. Following this, Garrett went
on to provide the patent on several inventions including a
hair-straightening product, an improved sewing machine,
an improved traffic signal and a respiratory device that
provided the facilitation for the creation of the WWI gas
masks.

This great inventor died 27th August 1963 in

Cleveland, Ohio.
 Born in Columbus Ohio April 23, 1856, African
American Inventor Granville Woods dedicated his life to
the development of many inventions that relate to the
railroad industry.

He was known as the “Black Edison” as he invented

more than a dozen devices aimed at improving the electric
railroad cars and many more devices aimed at controlling
the flow of electricity.

This self-taught inventor who held more than 50

patents was also the first American African to become a
mechanical electrical engineer after the Civil War.

Having sold many of his devices to companies such as

Westinghouse, General Electric and American Engineer
Granville Woods died on 30th January 1910 in New York
City.
 On 15th September 1852 Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born
in Paramaribo which is now known as Suriname.
Matzeliger was an African-American inventor of shoes.

Maltzeliger helped to revolutionise the shoe industry

by developing a machine designed to make shoes last
longer by attaching the sole to the shoe in a process that
took only one minute.

Jan Matzeliger died 24th August 1887 at the age of 37.

In recognition of his accomplishment, he was honoured on
a postage stamp on 5th September 1991 in the United States
of America.
 Mae C. Jemison, born on 17th October 1956, was the
first African-American woman to go into outer space. On
12th September 1992 she went into orbit aboard the Space
Shuttle Endeavour and spent 190 hours 30 minutes and 23
seconds in space.

Jemison served in the Peace Corps from 1985-1987

after completing her medical education. She was then
selected in 1987 to be a part of the astronaut corps. This
endeavour she continued with until March 1993 when she
resigned to form a company that researched the application
of technology to daily life.

To date at age 57, Jemison is a strong advocate for

science education, and places strong emphasis on getting
minority students interested in science since she sees
science and technology as a part of today’s society.