THE FRC TRAGEDY – LESSONS TO BE LEARNED

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]uch like the town of Castries, seventy years ago, sometime between 10 and 11 o’clock on the night of March 25th, 2018 the Monsignor Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre building went up in flames and everything was destroyed. The institution, located at Mount Pleasant, with its historic building, had only recently been renamed in 2017 to honour Monsignor Patrick Anthony, the indefatigable co-founder member, and had just finished meeting its loan obligations and the property was now owned free and clear by the organisation. Tragically, in an instant, the building had been reduced to an empty, lonely shell standing like an abandoned, friendless sentinel.

The research library with its oral history, research, records in a variety of formats on various media: photographs, paintings, unpublished manuscripts, audio-visual materials, computer files, and three dimensional artifacts gathered over forty-five years, all disappeared like magic to become worthless rubble.

The destruction of the FRC headquarters is a blow to all right-thinking Saint Lucians, more so the members of the FRC and those who through the years have laboured and sacrificed to build this institution. The institution has revived interest in the Kwéyòl language in spearheading and promoting a new-found respect for the folk ways of the country, particularly through the annual celebration of Jounen Kwéyòl.

Monsignor Patrick Anthony, and the young Ausbert d’Auvergne, Didicus Jules, Embert Charles, and Bernard la Corbiniere, together with stalwarts like Pat Charles and Frank Norville, among others, strove to set up this institution in 1973. Through the years others joined the band of pilgrims in various capacities – comes to mind June King-Frederick, Kennedy Boots Samuel, Robert Lee, Victor Poyotte, Kentry Jn. Pierre, Hilary la Force and Floreta Nicholas, who all contributed, along with the hundreds of Saint Lucians at home and abroad, to bring recognition locally to the institution and from academic centres worldwide.

The loss of the FRC building caused me to reflect on the island’s patrimony that is housed at the National Archives, Clarke Avenue, Vigie and the near disaster that might have befallen it. One hot, humid lunch hour in 2006, while I was just routinely patrolling the buildings, most of the staff members having gone for lunch, I noticed flames shooting up from  the electrical wire going into the meter in the building which now houses the Genealogical Centre. With no hesitation, knowing the value of our holdings, I sprang into action and quickly put off the power supply and called for help. One of the staff members grabbed a fire extinguisher and doused the flames while I ran across to the second building to put off the power at the main switch. As a result of this incident the electrical wiring at the National Archives was completely re-done. The management of the National Archives had advocated for some time for the buildings to be rewired as the old wiring was unsuitable and inadequate, especially with the number of air-conditioning units in use around the clock. This incident resulted in accelerated action from the Ministry. I vividly remember the crackling sound of the fire and how quickly flames from an electrical fire can spread. We are still vulnerable but we do what is within our power to protect our records.

The buildings occupied by the National Archives Authority were erected in 1894 by the British as part of a number of military barracks at Vigie and they have their challenges.

The National Archives Authority is dependent upon the Ministry of Infrastructure to carry out large projects like renovating the roof of the buildings which have been compromised by termites and age. When the hurricane season approaches, management and staff pray harder than usual and ensure that at the very least there is plastic sheeting and tarpaulin available to protect all materials and equipment on the first floor. Windows and doors which were installed so many years ago are in dire need of replacement and the Ministry has been so apprised.

The National Archives does not have the financial resources to truly carry out its mandate. We are aware of the constraints upon the government in managing a small open economy where competing agencies all want their slice of a shrinking pie in an era when international donor assistance has shrivelled. The National Archives is not a revenue centre and is dependent upon government support to carry out its programme. The National Archives’ digitization programme requires a wide format scanner to accommodate the large ledgers, maps and architectural drawings. This cannot be done efficiently with off-the-shelf machines available locally. The digitization that the National Archives can do at present is restricted to records and documents and photographs of a certain size and format. Ideally we would want all our records to be stored in digital format for access. That aside,  as Archivists we need to preserve and protect the actual, physical record. The record itself tells a story and constitutes part of the island’s heritage.

The National Archives has sought to have a conservation laboratory for years. Many records, because of their long use over many years and because of the nature of the records themselves and because of mishandling, deteriorate over time and arrive at the National Archives in need of some, or extensive, restoration. The process of conserving such records requires skill, specialized equipment and supplies. The resources needed to acquire the equipment and supplies are not available to the Institution and we have made several requests for funding but to no avail. Interestingly, one of the agencies to whom we applied for funding responded by informing that the work of Archives is the responsibility of the government. Ninety-five per cent of the records at the National Archives are government records.

For the record, the National Archives is supported by a  government subvention which covers salaries and utilities and, through careful husbanding of operational expenditures, some other necessary projects.

The National Archives Authority has proposed to the government that the buildings be joined together from which the resulting additional space would provide a secured vault – an important need, sorely-needed additional storage, the conservation lab and exhibition space. The Stevenson King administration began work on the drawings but the administration which replaced King had other priorities. The National Archives has resubmitted this proposal.

The National Archives had a persistent problem with people with no fixed abode using the open spaces in the verandahs and vacant spaces below the building as their sleeping quarters. The drain pipes for the air conditioners were being broken off to be used as crack pipes which littered the area where they had been used, with a multitude of spent matchsticks strewn around. Others were using the lunch tables meant for staff use for purposes for which used condoms made evident; all problems we highlighted in our annual reports. From the careful husbanding of operational expenditures (referred to above) the National Archives eventually fenced the property. We were acutely aware of the portent for catastrophe that the egregious trespass represented.

The National Archives has installed some security cameras and bright spotlights around the property to deter forced entry despite which, we have found, on occasion, the wire fencing cut and the toilets vandalized while the dastardly intruder evaded capture by the security cameras.

Walcott’s words, in A City’s Death by Fire: “Why should a man wax tears when his wooden world fails?” resonate. After a fire, all that is left are ashes and the memories of what used to be. No amount of tears could bring back what has been lost. Yet the poet’s devastation was tempered when he looked up at the hills surrounding his city laid waste by the fire. We are in the vernal equinox, a time when nature springs to new life. I think that nature itself provides a mighty metaphor for the Monsignor Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre. With the proven indefatigable drive of Monsignor Dr. Patrick Anthony and the dedicated members
of the FRC, with the help of Saint Lucians from all walks of life at home and in the Diaspora and the kindness of well-meaning people all over, the Monsignor Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre will flourish again and reign anew as the queen of cultural organisations in our beloved Island.

The National Archives Authority stands ready to assist the Monsignor Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre in any and every way possible to maintain its formidable status as a centre of excellence for research into Saint Lucian life and culture.

— Margo Thomas (National Archivist)