Hartley Neita, ContributorOn February 1, 1996, The Gleaner began publishing a column titled "Interesting Historical Highlights."
Since then, it has appeared Mondays to Saturdays, except for Good Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On three other days, too, it failed to appear because of "technical difficulties". The headline was changed last month to "This Day in our Past", but the contents are similar, and so it celebrated its sixth anniversary yesterday.
The idea for this column germinated in the office of the then Editor of this paper. We were discussing the hysteria which accompanied sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in North America and here in Jamaica during the 1950s and 60s. I also reminded her of the local hysteria which was reported in The Gleaner and The Star at that time of a coffin which was seen rolling on a bier in the streets of Old Harbour, Spanish Town and Kingston with a crow perched on it. And I remembered too of being told that this phenomenon was seen in New York.
The discussion ended with her commissioning me to do articles on these two subjects.
Next day, however, I called her and suggested that she might prefer if I wrote a daily pot pourri of short interesting items which have taken place in Jamaica, or elsewhere affecting Jamaica, and about the achievements by Jamaicans here and abroad. She agreed with the suggestion. I promised to let her have it for January 1, not realising the enormity of the project, but subsequently made the new deadline one month later.
Many of you have asked where I find these items. The sources are numerous. There are the entries in my personal diaries which I kept in drawers at home, for no real reason, over the years. Another source was the books and other publications on Jamaica in my library.
The first external source was the library of the University of the West Indies where the librarian allowed me to browse through the mass of material on the shelves. For a while I felt like a student all over again, but knowing I did not have to take an examination on my research made it into an interesting hobby.
The next and what was the major source for the column was the National Library of Jamaica. There you can never stop walking through the pages of our history, ranging from political, social, cultural, botanical, biological, sports, religion, education, industrial and other aspects of our life. Management and staff, including the men and women who search for the books and bound copies of newspapers I never knew existed in Jamaica, and those who photo-copy and photo-print the records one finds have given me of their time and knowledge.
There are also the records of The Gleaner publications and its own library, and I found it fascinating to re-read some of the articles and short stories and news items I wrote over the years.
I have also picked up items from the in-house publications of companies, and of course, some information I obtain from friends.
So, now you know. Compiling the column, however, and I do this months ahead of time now, and late at nights, is the real hard work. For from all the long stories, I have to select what is the most interesting and educational aspect for readers. And I want to thank you all for your response.
My telephone number is unlisted, yet, many persons go to great lengths to obtain it; and during the first two hours of each day and a hour or two after dusk, I get all sorts of enquiries relating to items which have been read and which have provoked further thought.
And especially from children, who want to know what we "old time people" did for entertainment before television!
And I am told that the births and weddings I mention have resulted in dozens of flowers being delivered on these anniversaries. A friend even thanked me for mentioning his wedding as he was able to casually invite his wife to dinner. When she asked him what had led to his unexpected generosity, he was able to say to her, casually: "Darling, have you forgotten the special day of our lives?"
What is most rewarding, however, is that it has stirred so many happy memories among readers. So thanks to The Gleaner, and to you. I feel blessed to be able to spread this joy. And since none of you realised that Friday's column was a special anniversary one, I will say to myself:
"Happy Anniversary!"
