Recovery effort on for fire-ravaged national archives

The government has embarked on a comprehensive operation to salvage and restore documents and artefacts damaged in last week’s fire at the National Archives, according to the minister responsible for culture.

Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight, the minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, conducted a tour on Monday of a new secure location where the salvage process is underway. Speaking to reporters afterwards, she emphasised the collaborative effort between the government and private sector to rescue as much material as possible.

“From day one, as soon as this happened, we had companies reaching out to help us,” Senator Munro-Knight said. “The private sector has really stepped up in this effort and we’re appreciative that they have been able to do so. We need to be able to preserve this material as much as possible, then it can be treated.”

The minister highlighted the public’s response to the incident, noting that it reflected a growing interest in national heritage. “From everything that we have been doing in the Division of Culture, I think we understood that there are plenty of Barbadians who are knowledgeable [and] who are interested in learning more about their history,” she said.

Senator Munro-Knight insisted that the government is committed to providing all necessary resources for the recovery effort.

“This is an ongoing conversation, the team does daily debriefs, and of course, if there is anything that needs to be done, whether that is in terms of materials or equipment, it’s nothing that the government is going to say that we can’t do, given the importance of these records to Barbados,” she said.

Anne Bancroft, the head of conservation and collection care at the Barbados Museum, described the current efforts as a “national response”, with various institutions collaborating to assist the archives department. While the new site’s capacity is limited, Bancroft said additional locations have been secured to accommodate the volume of documents requiring restoration.

Heritage consultant Anisah Wood detailed the initial preservation techniques being employed.

“Essentially what we are working on is to quickly dry the objects that we’ve been able to receive here,” she said. “We are using various processes and approaches to dry them; for example, for the bound objects which are the larger books and ledgers that you have, we are placing what we call plotters – absorbing paper – to absorb that moisture.”

Wood added that fans have been installed to create a “wind tunnel” effect to allow for air-drying the records soaked by firefighters.

The Department of Archives, housed in a colonial-era leper asylum since its establishment in 1964, has risen in importance to the nation, Senator Munro-Knight declared.

“If you look at the amount of visitors the archives were having this year alone, we understood that there was a renewed interest – post-COVID – by Barbadians to understand, connect and value [their history],” she said.

The fire which firefighters said was sparked by a lightning strike just before midnight on Monday, destroyed a significant portion of the department’s records. The documents housed in Block D of the compound that was burnt out included records of the Vestry, the former local government system that dates back to the 17th century; the city council; records of the mental hospital and general hospital; historical court proceedings including the Court of Chancery; newspaper archives and other official documents. Chief Archivist Ingrid Thompson said most of the records in that building were destroyed, and some were irreplaceable.

Details of the fate of some of the most precious documents from the island’s 397-year-old past have not yet been released. These include the landmark 1661 Slave Code, the proclamation of the abolition of slavery in 1834 and the royal warrant approving Barbados’ Independence in 1966. The archives are also home to baptism, marriage and death records, deeds and wills. (SB)