"One UWI, One Alumni Family" 

A new Exhibition is now available at The UWI Museum at the Regional Headquarters in Jamaica. It is entitled “Changing Landscapes: 75 Years of Change At The UWI.” The exhibition runs from dates October 6, 2023 - February 23, 2024.  

Photography is an important archive through which we are able to document changes in time, record the impact of events, and demonstrate the ways in which we, as human beings, occupy landscapes. This collaborative exhibition, in honour of the 75th, provides an inclusive visual aid of change on the first three landed campuses since the publication of the Richards, Minott & Fraser photographic collection UWI: A Photographic Journey (1999) in honour of the 50th anniversary of The UWI. Providing an opportunity to showcase the special collections of the three libraries and the museum, this exhibition will also provide slide shows of the photographs in the collection at the three libraries with an in-person exhibition at The Regional Headquarters at the UWI Museum. 

Figure 2: Aerial photograph, St. Augustine campus courtesy of Alma Jordan Library Special Collections

In Trinidad and Tobago, the St. Augustine Campus was opened in October 1960 through a merger with the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) which had been in existence since the 1920s. In 1921, one hundred acres of the St Augustine Estate were handed over to the new West Indian Agricultural College (WIAC). Established on a former sugar estate, a government farm (1900), and the Central Yaws Hospital (1880 -1921), the WIAC opened its doors to 15 students in October 1922 and the first principal, Sir Francis Watts, moved into St. Augustine House. The old Yaws Hospital was refitted to house offices, laboratories, classrooms, and the library. Based on suggestions for a name change from Rhodes Trustees, WIAC was renamed the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture (ICTA) in 1924. In 1960 ICTA became a branch of the University College of the West Indies (UCWI). In 1962, the University became independent by a Royal Charter, as the University of the West Indies, with St Augustine as one of the landed campuses.

Three years after, 1963, the College of Arts and Sciences was established in Barbados and eventually became the Cave Hill Campus. 

Figure 4: Students using a reading room at Mona Library in the 1950s. Courtesy of the Mona Library Special Collections Department

Temporarily located on lands adjacent to the Deep-Water Harbour, Primer Errol Walter Barrow identified a more suitable location on a solo flight across the island. He spotted a large parcel on a hill looking out to sea near Bridgetown, which comprised of 18 non-producing sugar plantations on 46 acres of land. Apple Grove plantation became the prime spot to locate the Main Campus, Cave Hill. On this beautiful panoramic spot, The Chancellor, Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, laid the foundation stone for the College of Arts & Science on a bright sunny day on Wednesday, 26th January 1966. Sixty years after its establishment, the landscape of the Cave Hill Campus blossomed to be a beacon of the West. is a collaborative exhibition drawn from the rich photograph collections of the Special Collection Departments of the Mona, Alma Jordan (St. Augustine), and Sidney Martin (Cave Hill) Libraries. These collections show the remarkable changes to landed campus landscapes since their establishment and their evolution from former sugar plantations, to a modern regional institution shaping the Caribbean. 

More importantly, this exhibition shows how we as alumni occupy the institutions’ multiple landscapes. Did you take photographs of your time at The UWI? Did you participate in clubs and societies? We at the UWI Museum are interested in your memories and photographs. 

If you are interested in sharing your memories, please contact us at uwi.museum@uwimona.edu.jm and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Figure 5: All Stars Cycle Sports taken by Own Minott in either the late 1940s or early 50s. Owen Minott was one of the first 33 students in 1948. Courtesy of the Owen Minott Collection, UWI Museum