Community Histories
Many histories of The Bahamas exclude the experiences of actual inhabitants of the settlements on the islands. Typical chapter divisions in a Bahamian history book include the pre-Columbian Lucayans, Christopher Columbus, Spanish colony, English adventurers 1640-70, proprietors 1670-84, pirates 1695-1717, Royal Government (Woodes Rogers) and Eighteenth-Century government, the Loyalists, Nineteenth-Century Government and Present society. Non-slave African arrival and settlement at The Bahamas (from Bermuda and Black Seminoles from the United States), slavery, emancipation, subsequent African legacies, and later migrations to and from the islands are often much generalized, if at all mentioned. The histories also tend to focus heavily on Nassau and the island of New Providence at the expense of the outer-islands. Though the Bahamian Islands may share a common history, it does not mean that the people of the islands share a common experience of that history. Here, we hope to learn and share more of the community histories and contribute to a fuller understanding of insular and national identity.
Share Your Story
Contribute your history, thoughts on a topic or a memory by writing or recording it below.
By contributing, you give Finding Home and the University of The Bahamas permission to use your contributions in connection with education and research.
We would love to listen to your memories on a topic, a story, joke, poem or song. We also invite you to make a recording on a topic with another community or family member. Click below to start recording and be sure to introduce yourself. You will have 90 seconds. You may send multiple recordings if 90 seconds is not enough. Longer recordings, photos, documents and other files may be sent directly to findinghomebahamas@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!