Source: Loop Caribbean
Women on St Kitts and Nevis have made many important strides over the last few decades as the world moves to become an equal space for all.
From the field of medicine to politics and the arts, women on St Kitts and Nevis have been making their mark and paving the way for taboos of females in these spaces to be a thing of the past.
In celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we’ve compiled a list of five female trailblazers from St Kitts and Nevis that you should know.
Dr. Jean Lenore Harney is a woman of many firsts in the then colony of Saint Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla.
In 1942, she was the first female student from St Kitts to win the Leeward Islands Scholarship. She used her scholarship to study medicine at Liverpool University in the United Kingdom and upon completion of her program; she became the first female doctor from St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla.
Fast forward to the 1960s, Harney earned her private pilot license to become the first female aviator from St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla.
Harney was passionate about her community having served at the Cunningham Hospital for several years. After leaving the Cunningham Hospital, Harney served as a public health professional at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO) across the Caribbean and Central America.
Immediately following her work with PAHO and WHO, she held the post of Chief Medical Officer of Barbados for over ten years.
When you research politics in St Kitts and Nevis, the name Marcella Liburd will be listed as a trailblazer for gender equality in the island’s male-dominated political landscape.
Liburd, who is a trained teacher, barrister and solicitor, became the first woman to serve as the Governor-General of St Kitts and Nevis when she replaced Tapley Seaton on February 1, 2023.
Her appointment as governor-general tops off a political career that saw her become the first female Speaker of the National Assembly and the first woman elected as Chair of St Kitts and Nevis Labour Party in its 81-year history.
Inez Barker is the first female photographer and studio owner on St Kitts and Nevis. She was trained by her husband George Barker, who was an accomplished cyclist and photo-enthusiast from Guyana
Using the skills learned from George and her calm easygoing disposition, Barker helped raise the profile of photography on St Kitts through her splendid work and ability to make her subjects look and feel their best.
Barker’s photographic work was not limited to the studio as she captured images of cricket and football matches on St Kitts as well as the island’s colourful Sugar Mas festivities.
The field of nursing is one that has great respect in the Caribbean and one woman that has been at the forefront of this noble profession on St Kitts and Nevis is Bronte Agatha Welsh.
Welsh started her career in the medical field at the age of 19 as a nurse.
Welsh joined the staff of the Cunningham Hospital where for three years she worked as a general nurse until she obtained her certificate in General Nursing and Midwifery and attained the rank of staff nurse.
Welsh then entered into the Preventive Nursing field where she became the first Public Health Nurse to be recognised in St Kitts and later the first local to be Superintendent of Public Health Nursing.
Welsh’s work in the community saw her be part of a team that effectively vaccinated over 14,000 people on St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla against tuberculosis.
In her later life, Welsh, who became wheelchair-bound in 1971 after a back injury, was an avid spokesperson for St Kitts and Nevis’ disabled community. She wrote a booklet entitled Nursing – A Calling or a Career and the proceeds from the publication assisted the Society for the Handicapped to purchase a van for transporting the physically challenged.
Another pioneering woman in politics on St Kitts and Nevis is Ada Mae Andrews.
Born on the island of Antigua, Andrews was trained as a teacher and rose through the ranks of the service in her homeland and St Kitts and Nevis.
Following her retirement from the civil service, Edwards entered the trade union movement and became the acting editor of The Labour Spokesman, which was a publication of the St Kitts Trades and Labour Union.
In 1978, following the sudden death of Speaker Glasford, she was elected by Members of Parliament to be the first female Speaker of the House of Assembly.