On Monday, May 15, 1950, a daughter was born to the late John and Eloise “Aunt Lorna” Craigwell in Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, in British Guiana, later Guyana. As the last girl, Jean Bernadette was preceded by Floreen, Louis Urbane, Claudette, and followed by Antoine.
When Jean was four years old, the family moved to New Amsterdam. There, she attended All Saints Scotts School, Berbice High School, and Bishops High School in Georgetown, where she obtained a scholarship. When she had completed her studies, she taught at Berbice Educational Institute and worked at the National Library. She left to study at Leeds College in the United Kingdom, where later she obtained a Master of Arts in Library Science.
She returned to Guyana and worked as the librarian at Kuru Kuru Cooperative College, located on the Linden, Soesdyke Highway, where she established and maintained the library. A year later, she took a position as the librarian with the National Archives, working alongside nationally renowned Archivist Tommy Payne, where for five years she was responsible for indexing and research. Following her stint at the Archives, she worked as an information specialist with Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation to establish and maintain the company’s information service.
Jean was the head of the Cataloging Department at the University of Guyana Library where she was responsible for the technical processes for maintaining accurate records in the library, and using available data, initiated the computerization of books on science and technology. She later became the subject divisional librarian for Science and Technology responsible for providing specified subject related information and training staff on computer literacy and library related software applications. When required, she acted as the head of the Readers Services Division and for two years was the coordinator of the Women’s Studies Group.
Jean accepted a position as the acquisitions librarian with the Organization of American States (OAS), and for the next 20 years, was responsible for the formulation of policy for the selection and collection of materials, with an emphasis on expediting related processes. Until her illness forced her into early retirement, she functioned as a catalog librarian who was responsible for the technical processes involved in maintaining accurate records of the holdings of the Columbus Memorial Library (CML), and initiated the establishment of the library’s online public access catalog.
While Jean’s life was full with lots of friends, throughout her professional career, she received recognition for her work, including a United Nations Industrial Development Organization Fellowship for Industrial Officers and Documentalists, and a Government of Guyana and Inter-American Development Bank Award for graduate studies. She also has published several articles, presented papers at many national and international conferences, and has been acknowledged by several authors in books about Guyana.
With her interest in gender studies, Jean was a consultant on various information and gender related projects for agencies such as the Commonwealth Secretariat in England, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Guyana Women’s Affairs Bureau. She was a member of many professional organizations in Guyana, the Caribbean, Britain, Canada and the United States, including from 2003 to 2004, as president of the District of Columbia Library Association, and the Washington DC Chapter of the Bishop’s High School Alumni Association. Jean authored “Guyana: A Bibliography of Books and Other Materials in the Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States”, published in 2000 by the OAS CML.
She was a supporter of GuyAid, involved with the Garden Club of Beltsville, a Ranger (a senior Girl Guide), was a patron of the Smithsonian, and held several executive positions with the OAS Federal Credit Union. During her life, she traveled extensively, visiting many different countries from as far north as Alaska to as farthest south as Tasmania. She had hoped to traverse the continental United States by train.
Family was important to Jean. She follows her sister Claudete (1999) and mother (2006), and was the aunt of the late Pelham Cadogan. She is survived by her sister Floreen, and brothers Louis and Antoine, nephews Dwight Ross, Parrish Cadogan Louis Craigwell, Jr., and niece Paige Cadogan; great nephews Shannon Cadogan, LeAndre “Akeem” Sampson and Pelham Wayne Cadogan, and great nieces Crystal Cadogan and Maliyah Ross. She was also close to her many cousins, Constance and Rima, and others of the late Inez Agnes; Lorraine and Joy, and others of the late Elaine McLean; and Keith and Oswald of the late Oswald McCurdy. She is also survived by her godmother Stephanie Carrington and godfather Brinsley Trotman, both in New York City.
By: Antoine Craigwell
