Barbados-Historic documents destroyed in fire at Archives Department
June 18, 2024
Chief archivist at the Barbados Archives Department,1 Ingrid Thompson2 reported this morning that only a few records were salvaged from Block D at the Black Rock, St Michael compound.
“The majority of the records were destroyed, and some of these records included vestry records, city council records, records of the mental hospital and general hospital and so on,” she told reporters. “In most cases, some of those documents are documents that we cannot retrieve. We may be able to retrieve some of the information from other documents, but for right now, we have to do further assessment. We’re actually in the process of salvaging what we can.”—Historic documents destroyed in fire at Archives Department
The Department of Archives is working swiftly to put steps in place to recover any available documents from the recent fire and increase the pace of digitisation to prevent future losses.
Barbados Archives Department - Digital Library of the Caribbean (dloc.com)
So sad.
My heart goes to Dr. Shantal Munro Knight, archivist Ingrid Thompson - their pain and feelings given the years long digitization program they were engaged in of these precious records and then this fire and loss. I wonder what they’ll really be able to salvage and sending them great good thoughts and best wishes.