The establishment of the Social History Project (SHP) in 1979 aimed to encourage, direct and support the study of Jamaican social history at the University of the West Indies, Mona. The work of the Project represented an extension of the well established tradition in the Department of History of researching and disseminating information on various aspects of Caribbean History. No doubt, the decision to start the SHP also reflected the Department’s aligning with the significant shifts in the historiography of the 1970’s that focused increasingly on people from below. Consequently, the SHP has fostered a broader understanding of the history of “ordinary” Jamaicans and their day to day life experiences. In the 25 years since the bold step of its “founding fathers”, the SHP has truly evolved into a research base within the Department and the Faculty of the Humanities and Education as a whole – garnering literary and oral source material, publishing research findings, and hosting symposia to share these findings with the broader public.

Furthermore, the SHP has assiduously pursued the publication of materials, many of which have been of tremendous use to teaching in secondary and tertiary institutions. Special mention should be made of publications which cover aspects of the CXC and CAPE History syllabi. These include, The Jamaican Censuses of 1844 and 1861 (1980) Adjustments to Emancipation (1988), Jamaica 1938. The Living Conditions of the Urban and Rural Poor (1990), A Description of the Island of Antigua (1996), Women in Caribbean History (1999), Land We Live In. Jamaica in 1890 (2000), and Squalid Kingston. How the Poor, Lived, Moved and Had Their Being (2000), Crime and Punishment in Jamaica, 1756-1856 (2000) and Not For Wages Alone: Eyewitness Summaries of the 1938 Labour Rebellion in Jamaica (2003). It is commendable that the Project has in its immediate plans the publication of Lectures in CAPE History which will support the delivery of the new CAPE History syllabus.

The SHP’s programmes have certainly benefited from the stewardship of several of our past and present colleagues and the Department of History and Archaeology is certainly deeply indebted to them for their dedicated service. We note and welcome the plans of the incumbent Executive and assure them of the Department’s continued full support.