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Edgar F. Gordon

Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon (20 March 1895 – 20 April 1955), born in Trinidad and Tobago, was a physician, parliamentarian, civil-rights activist[1] and labour leader in Bermuda, and is regarded as the "father of trade unionism" there:[2] "he championed the cause of Bermudian workers and fought for equal rights for black Bermudians, thereby laying the groundwork for much of the political and social change that came about after his death".[3] He was president of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) 1945–55.[4] Gordon has been described as "perhaps the only black charismatic leader to have emerged in the island's modern political history",[5] and as "Bermuda's most dedicated Pan-Africanist".[6]

Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon
Born(1895-03-20)20 March 1895
Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Died20 April 1955(1955-04-20) (aged 60)
Other namesMazumbo
Occupation(s)Physician, parliamentarian, civil-rights activist
SpouseClara Marguerite Christian
RelativesMoira Stuart (granddaughter)

In 2011, Gordon was honoured as a National Hero of Bermuda.[7] Other posthumous honours he has been accorded include the Peace & Social Justice Award 2016 from the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda.[8]

Early years and education edit

Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon was born to Olympia Jardin and Frederick Charles Gordon in Port of Spain where he received his early education at Queen's Royal College (QRC),[9] graduating as one of the school's most brilliant scholars.[10]

In 1912 he went to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh (also becoming involved with the Afro-West Indian Society and pan-African politics).[11] There he met and married a fellow medical student, Clara Christian (who had previously studied music in the US at Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, and Oberlin College, Ohio).[3][12] To the displeasure of her father George James Christian, a Dominican barrister who had settled in the Gold Coast in 1902,[13] she abandoned her medical studies to begin a family with Gordon.[3][14]

Medical career edit

Qualifying as a doctor at the age of 23 in 1918, Gordon was for some time a medical practitioner in the small Scottish town of Kingussie.[15] In 1921 he returned to the Caribbean with his wife Clara and young family. He briefly worked in Trinidad, then went on to become chief medical supervisor in Dominica.[3]

Move to Bermuda edit

In 1924, Gordon went to Bermuda, where he would set up a busy medical practice on Heathcote Hill in Somerset.[3] According to biographer Ira Philip, Gordon "was brought to Bermuda by Sandys businessman William Robinson to fill a void caused by the death of black Dr Arnold Packwood. The all white local medical board was embarrassed when Dr Gordon passed what he termed was an impossible examination which he contended was calculated to fail him."[16]

Gordon began to take up the cause of black nurses and the discrimination they faced in employment in Bermuda, writing a series of letters dating from 1929 to the editor of The Royal Gazette criticising the refusal of the Bermuda Welfare Society to hire Blacks as district nurses.[3][17] After decades of lobbying, the first black district nurse to be hired was Leonie Harford in 1963.[3]

Political life edit

After standing unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1933 and 1943,[18] Gordon won a seat in St George's in 1946.

Name change edit

On 22 June 1947,[19] in protest at the fact that his fellow parliamentarians persistently refused to address him by his correct title, and that a Bermuda newspaper, the Mid-Ocean News, prefixed "Mr." to the names of white members of Bermuda's Parliament (second oldest in the world), but called him simply Gordon,[19][20] he announced that henceforth he was to be known by the African name of Mazumbo, with no prefix.[3] His notice to this effect in The Royal Gazette read:

"I, Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery of Edinburgh University, President General of the Bermuda Industrial Union, President of the Progressive Bermuda League and Member of Parliament for St. George's, hereby declare that from henceforth I shall be known as Mazumbo."

He gave as explanation: "The name Gordon, which I inherited, reminds me very painfully that some Scotsman in some other age compelled a grandmother of mine to submit to his desires. In Bermuda I am black and treated as Bermuda treats the black people.[21] So I want to be called by a name that belongs to my race and requires no prefix." He was further quoted as saying that he had taken his new name from "a famous West African chieftain, who had once been received by Queen Victoria".[22] This was a reference to a 19th-century Trinidadian lawyer called Emmanuel Lazare, popularly known as Mazumbo (or Mzumbo) Lazare, about whom Maureen Warner-Lewis has written: "although born in the Antilles, Lazare appropriated, or condoned the use of, an overtly African designation. The name was a symbol of his identification with black people and the poor. He was a defender of their rights, joined the Pan-African Association founded in 1901 in England by fellow Trinidadian Henry Sylvester Williams, and became a moving spirit behind democratic political reforms at the turn of the twentieth century." This characterisation of Mazumbo Lazare is additional evidence for Gordon's motivation in associating himself with the name.[23]

Personality in Parliament edit

As a Member of the Colonial Parliament (MCP), Gordon was a fiery and sometimes controversial orator. After the death in July 1948 of the Speaker of the House of Assembly Sir Reginald Conyers (who in his will left money for the Port Royal School in Hamilton, providing it was "used for the education of white children"), Gordon told a public meeting that he had only attended Conyers' funeral to "make sure he was put in the hole".[3] According to the historian and activist Eva Hodgson, Gordon's "dramatic personality, his drive, and his unabashed theatricals had done what no one else either could do, or chose to do. He had alerted the Negro masses, he had given expression to their unvoiced despair and anger, often his words had given shape and form to emotions which they themselves could hardly define."[24]

Bermuda Workers' Association (BWA) edit

Championing the rights of black and working-class Bermudians, Gordon was asked to become president of the Bermuda Workers' Association (BWA) in 1944, which fought for trade union rights and was committed to the removal of segregation and the adoption of universal adult suffrage. Membership of the BWA had by then dwindled to 200 but under Gordon's vigorous leadership it increased to 5,000 in 1945.[25] In 1946, he began his campaign to petition for social and constitutional change, and in that year the Legislature passed Bermuda's first Trade Union and Disputes Act,[25] which was designed to curb the fledgling BWA, making it illegal for a union to have a newspaper or operate a business.[3] Gordon took the lead in the subsequent establishment that year of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU),[26][27] and the BWA for the time being continued as its political arm.[3]

Petition to British Colonial Office edit

During an extended visit to England from December 1946 to March 1947, Gordon presented a petition containing more than 5,000 signatures[28] to the British Colonial Secretary from the Bermuda Workers' Association outlining various concerns, including the limited franchise, segregation, and restricted occupational opportunities.[29][30] Only seven percent of the population could vote, and (as Meredith Ebbin notes) there were more votes cast than actual voters because a property owner could vote in every parish where he owned land. It was a system that gave "the monied classes a distinct and definite control over the election results", Gordon said, pointing out that while the UK and its dependencies had undertaken voting reforms, Bermuda had operated under the same system since 1620.[31]

The matter was debated in the British Parliament, which while condemning many of the practices highlighted in the petition refused Dr. Gordon's request for a Royal Commission to investigate social, political and economic conditions on the island. The Colonial Secretary subsequently issued a document (Command Paper 7093), sent to the Governor, Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham, strongly recommending positive and progressive changes to the colony's discriminatory laws.[17][29][32] A Joint Committee of the Bermuda Legislative Council and House of Assembly was formed to study the matter; however, its report in April 1948 recommended against changing the colony's Jim Crow laws,[33] holding that "the early adoption of adult franchise would be prejudicial to the best interests of Bermuda".[17] (It would not be until 1959 that segregation ended, with the BIU playing a key role in the civil disobedience that brought about the change.)[33]

At the 1948 election, Gordon lost his House of Assembly seat – a setback attributable to his preoccupation with a dock workers' dispute that year, which had limited the time he could devote to his Parliamentary duties – but he was re-elected in 1953.[17]

Queen's visit to Bermuda edit

In November 1953, when the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II made Bermuda the first (24-hour) stop in her tour of the Commonwealth,[34] Gordon learned that of more than 1,000 guests to be invited to a Government House garden party in her honour only 60 were black, and that not a single black Bermudian had been asked to attend the official state dinner.[17] With the intention of focusing world attention on Bermuda's racially stratified society, Gordon passed this news to the British press and Reuters reported the resultant angry protests from the Daily Mirror and the Daily Herald. In its editorial the Herald stated: "Perhaps others may benefit from this instance of gross ill manners. It is time everyone from Governors downwards grasped the facts about this British Commonwealth. Within its frontiers coloured people outnumber whites by more than eight to one. One of the moral pledges by which it is held together is that the colour bar should be utterly destroyed as speedily as possible...."[17] As Bernews notes: "The Queen set foot in Bermuda the day the story broke. She was photographed that same afternoon meeting a broadly smiling, tail-coated Dr. Gordon in St. George’s."[17]

Cricket edit

Keenly interested in cricket, Gordon believed that Bermuda would benefit by closer contact with the islands of the West Indies, which were then gaining ascendancy in Test cricket. He championed the Bermudian cricketer Alma Hunt, who in 1933 went to Trinidad to take part in the trial games from which would be selected the West Indies team for the Test series in England that summer. Although proving himself both on and off the field, Hunt was not eventually given a place.[35] Gordon pointed out that Hunt's status would have been more assured had there been an official body to deal with finance and represent him, and advocated for a Bermuda Cricket Board of Control, which was eventually formed in 1938. Gordon was instrumental in bringing about the first ever West Indian cricket tour to Bermuda in 1939, which was headed by Trinidadian Ben Sealey.[36]

Family life edit

Gordon and his Dominica-born[37] wife Clara, who joined him in Bermuda, had six children: Barbara, Joyce, Evelyn, Marjorie (mother of BBC broadcaster Moira Stuart),[38] Edgar (familiarly called Teddy, and later known as Hakim),[39][40][41] and Kenneth (who was born in Bermuda in 1927).[42][43] Clara would organise cultural gatherings, including musical soirees, at their home.[3]

By a subsequent relationship Gordon had other children;[44] his last child Pamela F. Gordon, born six months after her father's death, would become Bermuda's youngest and first female premier in March 1997 when she replaced David Saul as leader of the United Bermuda Party until that party was defeated for the first time in a general election, in November 1998.[45][46][47] Another daughter is MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, who having served in various ministerial positions in the OBA Cabinet[7][48][49][50] was announced as OBA interim leader after the change of government in July 2017.[51][52][53]

Death edit

Dr Gordon died in Bermuda at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, following a heart attack at the age of 60, on 20 April 1955. Two days later thousands of people turned out for his funeral service at St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Hamilton and burial at Calvary Cemetery, Devonshire Parish.[54][55] According to reports, "Many of Bermuda's blacks wept at his graveside. That they had a better future was in very large part due to his tireless efforts on their behalf over more than two decades."[34]

Legacy and honours edit

  • The Progressive Labour Party was formed in 1963 as the political arm of the labour movement originally organised and energised by Gordon (some of the party's founders describing themselves as "Gordonites").[17]
  • On 1 May 2000, a commemorative pack of postage stamps was issued honouring Dr Gordon as one of three "Pioneers of Progress" – the others being Sir Henry James Tucker and women's suffragist Gladys Misick Morrell (1888–1969) – who made a significant and lasting contribution to Bermudian society.[56][57]
  • Also in 2000, a ward of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Paget Parish was renamed the "Dr. E. F. Gordon Ward" after him.[58][59]
  • The Dr E.F. Gordon Memorial Hall at the Bermuda Industrial Union building is named after him,[55] as is Dr E.F. Gordon Square on Dundonald Street.[60][61]
  • An annual Dr E. F. Gordon Memorial Lecture was initiated by educator and author Dale Butler.[62]
  • On Bermuda's National Heroes Day in June 2011, Dr Gordon was hailed – alongside Dr. Pauulu Kamarakafego (Dr. Roosevelt Browne) and Sir Henry "Jack" Tucker – as one of the architects of modern Bermuda.[63][64][65] In the words of one columnist in Bermuda's Royal Gazette newspaper: "The most challenging times cry out for great leaders who move people and move society forward. The United States had Franklin Roosevelt and Dr Martin Luther King. We had Dr EF Gordon."[66]
  • On the launch of a City of Hamilton Walkway of History, a plaque was placed at "Beulah", Gordon's former home[67] – one of 25 such plaques placed at sites and buildings of historical and architectural significance.[68]
  • A portrait of Gordon is one of 80 painted by Esther Dai for display at the Historic Museum in Bermuda.[69]
  • On 2 February 2015 a mural featuring a portrait of Gordon, as well as the slogan "United we stand, divided we fall", was installed at the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) headquarters by The Chewstick Foundation as part of their Community Art Program, honouring him as an icon in the history of the BIU and the evolution of Bermuda's political and social growth.[70][71]
  • On 20 March 2015, a celebration of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Dr. E. F Gordon was held in front of City Hall in Hamilton, hosted by Imagine Bermuda with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and the Chewstick Foundation.[72][73][74]
  • In October 2016, Gordon was honoured with the Peace & Social Justice Award 2016 by the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda,[8][75] for his "sterling contributions as the father of trade unionism and for championing the rights of Bermudian workers and black Bermudians generally".[76]
  • On 18 June 2018, National Heroes Day, Bermuda's Department of Community & Cultural Affairs issued a number of posters portraying those who have made "significant positive contributions to the growth and development of society", including Dr Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon.[77]

Notes and references edit

  1. ^ Rosemary Jones, Bermuda: Five Centuries, Chapter 18: Growing Pains, Ministry of Education, Bermuda, 2011.
  2. ^ "Our history", website of Bermuda Public Services Union – BPSU.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Meredith Ebbin, "Dr. Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon, March 20,1895 – April 20, 1955 – Physician, parliamentarian and labour leader", Bermuda Biographies.
  4. ^ Bermuda Industrial Union website.
  5. ^ Frances Henry (ed.), Ethnicity in the Americas, Walter de Gruyter, 1976, p. 67.
  6. ^ Ira Philip, "The unforgettable day I met the Queen", The Royal Gazette, 7 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Three heroes who ‘made Bermuda a better place'", The Royal Gazette, 21 June 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Peace & Social Justice Award: Dr. E. F. Gordon", Bernews, 24 October 2016.
  9. ^ Tony Martin, The Progress of the African Race Since Emancipation and Prospects for the Future, The Majority Press, 1998, p. 8.
  10. ^ Ira Philip, "Remembering Mazumbo, a dynamic freedom fighter", The Royal Gazette, 21 March 2015.
  11. ^ Henry Mitchell, "When 'the world came to Scotland': student radicals at Edinburgh University, 1906–1946", Scottish Critical Heritage, 22 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Dr EF Gordon – fought tirelessly for equal rights for black Bermudians", The Royal Gazette, 16 June 2011.
  13. ^ "George James Christian: Pioneer in Africa", TheDominican.net, Volume No. 1, Issue No. 32, 27 November 2002.
  14. ^ "Moira Stuart", Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine.
  15. ^ "Moira Stuart", Who Do You Think You Are?, BBC.
  16. ^ Ira Philip, "Dr Olivia Tucker — pioneering pharmacist denied the opportunity to work in her homeland", The Royal Gazette, 8 March 2013.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h National Hero Profile: Dr. E. F. Gordon, Bernews, 29 April 2011.
  18. ^ Eva N. Hodgson, Second Class Citizens; First Class Men, 2nd edition, Bermuda: The Writers Machine, 1988, p. 67.
  19. ^ a b Mazumbo: 100 Facts and Quotes by Dr. E. F. Gordon, Writers' Machine, 1994, pp. 14, 33.
  20. ^ Carl Murphy, "Beautiful Bermuda | Call Him Mister", Richmond Afro American, 6 December 1947.
  21. ^ Hodgson (1988, pp. 70–71) writes: "The daily paper often underscored its contempt for coloured people by refusing to attach a title to them in any reference to them.... [Dr. Gordon's] gesture had the value of drawing the insult to the attention of many Negroes, who, from long familiarity, tended to take so many insults for granted. It was part of Dr. Gordon's overall programme of stimulating awareness on the part of the people who were so hard pressed that they had little time to think about the basis of their problems. He understood, very well, that support was gained for these political battles through starkly presented ideas and the simple statement of the injustices which the people faced in their daily lives."
  22. ^ "BERMUDA: Grandpa Was a Scotsman", 21 July 1947; cited in Time, 21 December 2011 (subscription required).
  23. ^ Maureen Warner-Lewis, Central Africa in the Caribbean: Transcending time, Transforming Cultures. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 2003; p. 80.
  24. ^ Hodgson (1988), p. 124.
  25. ^ a b W. S. Zuill, The Story of Bermuda and Her People (1973), Macmillan Caribbean, 2nd revised edition 1983, p. 200.
  26. ^ Robert J. Alexander with Eldon M. Parker, A History of Organized Labor in the English-Speaking West Indies, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004, pp. 101–02.
  27. ^ "From BWA to BIU", BIU History.
  28. ^ Government of Bermuda website.
  29. ^ a b "1946 – Dr. E. F. Gordon delivers Bermuda Workers’ Association Petition to the Colonial Office in Great Britain", The Evolution of Bermuda's Franchise, compiled by James E. Smith. Parliamentary Registry.
  30. ^ "When the times they were a-changin’", The Royal Gazette, 9 September 2015.
  31. ^ Meredith Ebbin, "To vote or not to vote: it was not always an option", BDA Sun, 14 December 2012.
  32. ^ "Significant Events in Bermuda", Bermuda Parliament.
  33. ^ a b Steven High, Base Colonies in the Western Hemisphere, 1940–1967, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, pp. 133–34.
  34. ^ a b Keith Archibald Forbes, "Bermuda's History from 1952 to 1999", Bermuda Online.
  35. ^ Ira Philip, Freedom Fighters (From Monk To Mazumbo), London: Akira Press, 1987, p. 144.
  36. ^ Ira Philip, in Freedom Fighters (1987), pp. 152–58, quotes a letter dated 20 October 1953 from Gordon to the Mid-Ocean News, detailing Gordon's role in the sequence of events.
  37. ^ Burgess, Black history month: Saluting our heroes. Dr. E. F. Gordon – one of the key figures in BDA's history", Bermuda.com, 27 February 2008.
  38. ^ "Who Do You Think You Are?, Darren Sylvester reports on the BBC Two television series where the well known BBC newsreader, Moira Stuart, attempts to go back to her roots and research her family history (programme shown on 16 November 2004)".
  39. ^ Ira Philip, Hakim: Son of Mazumbo: The Extraordinary Life of Hakim Gordon, The Writers' Machine, 1995, 24 pp.
  40. ^ Quito Swan, Black Power in Bermuda: The Struggle for Decolonization, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010; note 28, p. 217.
  41. ^ "Moira Stuart, Past Stories – Who Do You Think You Are?, BBC One.
  42. ^ "Dr E.F. Gordon’s Son Ken Gordon Dies At 86", Bernews, 7 November 2013.
  43. ^ Owain Johnston-Barnes, "Musician son of national hero Dr EF Gordon dies at 86", The Royal Gazette, 7 November 2013.
  44. ^ Raymond Hainey, "Mother of our first female Premier dies at 88", Bermuda Sun, 29 May 2013.
  45. ^ "Gordon, Pamela 1955–" at Encyclopedia.com.
  46. ^ Pamela Gordon biography, Bernews.
  47. ^ Rosemary Jones (2011), Chapter 20: Into the Future, Bermuda: Five Centuries.
  48. ^ Biography of Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, JP MP 9 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, One Bermuda Alliance.
  49. ^ Ira Philip, "A fitting climax to a busy weekend", The Royal Gazette, 26 June 2011.
  50. ^ "Dame Pamela Gordon-Banks", Influential Caribbean Women – Part 9, 11 March 2013.
  51. ^ "OBA Interim Leader: Patricia Gordon-Pamplin", Bernews, 21 July 2017.
  52. ^ Jonathan Bell, "Gordon-Pamplin now interim leader of OBA", Royal Gazette, 22 July 2017.
  53. ^ CMC, "Bermuda | Trade Union Pioneer's Daughter Is New OBA Interim Leader", Wired Ja Online News, 23 July 2017.
  54. ^ Ira Philip, Freedom Fighters (1987), p. 240.
  55. ^ a b Ira Philip, "'Our Lady of Labour' laid to rest today", The Royal Gazette.
  56. ^ Presentation Pack 2000 – Pioneers of Progress.
  57. ^ "Bermuda – Pioneers of progress", Stamp World.
  58. ^ "Ward named for Dr. Gordon", The Royal Gazette, 8 September 2000.
  59. ^ "Mazumbo recognized by Hospital!" (captioned photographs), The Workers Voice (Hamilton, Bermuda), Vol. 26, No. 1, 8 September 2000.
  60. ^ Keith Archibald Forbes, "Bermuda's History 2007 September 11 to December 31", Bermuda Online.
  61. ^ Heritage Walk, Hamilton.
  62. ^ "Dale D. Butler, JP, MP" 16 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, PLP website.
  63. ^ "Three New National Heroes To Be Honoured", Bernews, 28 April 2011.
  64. ^ Jonathan Bell, "UBP salutes new national heroes" 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, One BDA.
  65. ^ Bermuda's National Heroes, 16 June 2011.
  66. ^ Walton Brown, "The traits of good leadership", The Royal Gazette Online, 29 March 2012.
  67. ^ Ira Philip, "Personal memories of Dick Richards", The Royal Gazette, 29 September 2012.
  68. ^ "Hamilton launches Walkway of History", Bermuda Biographies.
  69. ^ Amanda Dale, "Family donates portraits of black Bermudians", Bermuda Sun, 1 June 2011.
  70. ^ "Chewstick Installs Dr. E.F. Gordon Mural At BIU", Bernews, 3 February 2015.
  71. ^ "Chewstick Community Art Program Creates Bermuda Flag Mural", Chewstick Foundation, 16 December 2015.
  72. ^ "Imagine Bermuda To Celebrate Dr E.F. Gordon", Bernews, 18 March 2015.
  73. ^ "Dr Gordon’s 120th birthday to be celebrated", The Royal Gazette, 18 March 2015.
  74. ^ "Photos & Video: Dr. E.F. Gordon Remembered", Bernews, 21 March 2015.
  75. ^ Owain Johnston-Barnes, "E. F. Gordon to be honoured by church", The Royal Gazette, 27 October 2016.
  76. ^ Ira Philip, "Championing the rights of black Bermudians", The Royal Gazette, 5 November 2016.
  77. ^ "Celebrating Bermuda’s National Heroes", Bernews, 18 June 2018.

Further reading edit

  • Eva N. Hodgson, Second Class Citizens; First Class Men, or "Great men all remind us...", 1st edition 1963; 2nd edition, Bermuda: The Writers Machine, 1988, 273 pp.
  • Gerald Alexander Brangman, Thank You, Dr E. F. Gordon. New York: Vantage Press, 1973.
  • Dale Butler, Dr. E. F. Gordon: Hero of Bermuda's Working Class: The political career of Dr. E.F. Gordon and the evolution of the Bermuda Workers' Association, 1987.
  • Dale Butler, Mazumbo: 100 Facts and Quotes by Dr. E. F. Gordon, Writers' Machine, 1994.
  • Rosemary Jones, Bermuda: Five Centuries. Teachers Guide, Ministry of Education, Bermuda, 2011.
  • Ira Philip, Freedom Fighters (From Monk To Mazumbo), London: Akira Press, 1987.
  • William S. Zuill, The Story of Bermuda and her People, Macmillan Caribbean, 1983.

External links edit

  • "Bermuda's National Heroes – Mazumbo/Dr. Edgar Fitzgerald" on YouTube.
  • "Dr. Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon, March 20,1895 – April 20, 1955 – Physician, parliamentarian and labour leader", Bermuda Biographies.
  • National Hero Profile: Dr. E.F. Gordon, Bernews, 29 April 2011.
  • "Dr. E.F. Gordon – one of the key figures in BDA's history".
  • "Dr EF Gordon – fought tirelessly for equal rights for black Bermudians", The Royal Gazette, 16 June 2011.
  • "W. Alex Scott Reads Mazumbo or Dr Edgar F. Gordon's Bio Heroes Induction Bermuda", 19 June 2011, BernewsAdmn. SoundCloud.
  • "We must learn the lessons that history teaches us", Island Notebook, The Royal Gazette Online.
  • Front-page articles about Gordon in BIU newspaper Workers Voice, 18 April 1997. Bermuda National Library, Digital Collection.
  • Memorable speech by Dr. E.F. Gordon, 1946 on YouTube. Bermuda Industrial Union.
  • Letter from W. E. B. Du Bois to E. F. Gordon, September 26, 1946, explaining that, as requested by Shirley Graham, he has enclosed a petition to be signed and brought before the Assembly of the United Nations. W. E. B. Du Bois Papers at Credo.
  • Ira Philip, "Remembering Mazumbo, a dynamic freedom fighter", The Royal Gazette, 21 March 2015.
  • "Imagine Bermuda Celebrates Dr EF Gordon, March 20 2015". YouTube.

edgar, gordon, edgar, fitzgerald, gordon, march, 1895, april, 1955, born, trinidad, tobago, physician, parliamentarian, civil, rights, activist, labour, leader, bermuda, regarded, father, trade, unionism, there, championed, cause, bermudian, workers, fought, e. Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon 20 March 1895 20 April 1955 born in Trinidad and Tobago was a physician parliamentarian civil rights activist 1 and labour leader in Bermuda and is regarded as the father of trade unionism there 2 he championed the cause of Bermudian workers and fought for equal rights for black Bermudians thereby laying the groundwork for much of the political and social change that came about after his death 3 He was president of the Bermuda Industrial Union BIU 1945 55 4 Gordon has been described as perhaps the only black charismatic leader to have emerged in the island s modern political history 5 and as Bermuda s most dedicated Pan Africanist 6 Edgar Fitzgerald GordonBorn 1895 03 20 20 March 1895Port of Spain Trinidad and TobagoDied20 April 1955 1955 04 20 aged 60 Paget Parish BermudaOther namesMazumboOccupation s Physician parliamentarian civil rights activistSpouseClara Marguerite ChristianRelativesMoira Stuart granddaughter In 2011 Gordon was honoured as a National Hero of Bermuda 7 Other posthumous honours he has been accorded include the Peace amp Social Justice Award 2016 from the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda 8 Contents 1 Early years and education 2 Medical career 2 1 Move to Bermuda 3 Political life 3 1 Name change 3 2 Personality in Parliament 3 3 Bermuda Workers Association BWA 3 4 Petition to British Colonial Office 3 5 Queen s visit to Bermuda 4 Cricket 5 Family life 6 Death 7 Legacy and honours 8 Notes and references 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly years and education editEdgar Fitzgerald Gordon was born to Olympia Jardin and Frederick Charles Gordon in Port of Spain where he received his early education at Queen s Royal College QRC 9 graduating as one of the school s most brilliant scholars 10 In 1912 he went to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh also becoming involved with the Afro West Indian Society and pan African politics 11 There he met and married a fellow medical student Clara Christian who had previously studied music in the US at Hampton Institute in Hampton Virginia and Oberlin College Ohio 3 12 To the displeasure of her father George James Christian a Dominican barrister who had settled in the Gold Coast in 1902 13 she abandoned her medical studies to begin a family with Gordon 3 14 Medical career editQualifying as a doctor at the age of 23 in 1918 Gordon was for some time a medical practitioner in the small Scottish town of Kingussie 15 In 1921 he returned to the Caribbean with his wife Clara and young family He briefly worked in Trinidad then went on to become chief medical supervisor in Dominica 3 Move to Bermuda edit In 1924 Gordon went to Bermuda where he would set up a busy medical practice on Heathcote Hill in Somerset 3 According to biographer Ira Philip Gordon was brought to Bermuda by Sandys businessman William Robinson to fill a void caused by the death of black Dr Arnold Packwood The all white local medical board was embarrassed when Dr Gordon passed what he termed was an impossible examination which he contended was calculated to fail him 16 Gordon began to take up the cause of black nurses and the discrimination they faced in employment in Bermuda writing a series of letters dating from 1929 to the editor of The Royal Gazette criticising the refusal of the Bermuda Welfare Society to hire Blacks as district nurses 3 17 After decades of lobbying the first black district nurse to be hired was Leonie Harford in 1963 3 Political life editAfter standing unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1933 and 1943 18 Gordon won a seat in St George s in 1946 Name change edit On 22 June 1947 19 in protest at the fact that his fellow parliamentarians persistently refused to address him by his correct title and that a Bermuda newspaper the Mid Ocean News prefixed Mr to the names of white members of Bermuda s Parliament second oldest in the world but called him simply Gordon 19 20 he announced that henceforth he was to be known by the African name of Mazumbo with no prefix 3 His notice to this effect in The Royal Gazette read I Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery of Edinburgh University President General of the Bermuda Industrial Union President of the Progressive Bermuda League and Member of Parliament for St George s hereby declare that from henceforth I shall be known as Mazumbo He gave as explanation The name Gordon which I inherited reminds me very painfully that some Scotsman in some other age compelled a grandmother of mine to submit to his desires In Bermuda I am black and treated as Bermuda treats the black people 21 So I want to be called by a name that belongs to my race and requires no prefix He was further quoted as saying that he had taken his new name from a famous West African chieftain who had once been received by Queen Victoria 22 This was a reference to a 19th century Trinidadian lawyer called Emmanuel Lazare popularly known as Mazumbo or Mzumbo Lazare about whom Maureen Warner Lewis has written although born in the Antilles Lazare appropriated or condoned the use of an overtly African designation The name was a symbol of his identification with black people and the poor He was a defender of their rights joined the Pan African Association founded in 1901 in England by fellow Trinidadian Henry Sylvester Williams and became a moving spirit behind democratic political reforms at the turn of the twentieth century This characterisation of Mazumbo Lazare is additional evidence for Gordon s motivation in associating himself with the name 23 Personality in Parliament edit As a Member of the Colonial Parliament MCP Gordon was a fiery and sometimes controversial orator After the death in July 1948 of the Speaker of the House of Assembly Sir Reginald Conyers who in his will left money for the Port Royal School in Hamilton providing it was used for the education of white children Gordon told a public meeting that he had only attended Conyers funeral to make sure he was put in the hole 3 According to the historian and activist Eva Hodgson Gordon s dramatic personality his drive and his unabashed theatricals had done what no one else either could do or chose to do He had alerted the Negro masses he had given expression to their unvoiced despair and anger often his words had given shape and form to emotions which they themselves could hardly define 24 Bermuda Workers Association BWA edit Championing the rights of black and working class Bermudians Gordon was asked to become president of the Bermuda Workers Association BWA in 1944 which fought for trade union rights and was committed to the removal of segregation and the adoption of universal adult suffrage Membership of the BWA had by then dwindled to 200 but under Gordon s vigorous leadership it increased to 5 000 in 1945 25 In 1946 he began his campaign to petition for social and constitutional change and in that year the Legislature passed Bermuda s first Trade Union and Disputes Act 25 which was designed to curb the fledgling BWA making it illegal for a union to have a newspaper or operate a business 3 Gordon took the lead in the subsequent establishment that year of the Bermuda Industrial Union BIU 26 27 and the BWA for the time being continued as its political arm 3 Petition to British Colonial Office edit During an extended visit to England from December 1946 to March 1947 Gordon presented a petition containing more than 5 000 signatures 28 to the British Colonial Secretary from the Bermuda Workers Association outlining various concerns including the limited franchise segregation and restricted occupational opportunities 29 30 Only seven percent of the population could vote and as Meredith Ebbin notes there were more votes cast than actual voters because a property owner could vote in every parish where he owned land It was a system that gave the monied classes a distinct and definite control over the election results Gordon said pointing out that while the UK and its dependencies had undertaken voting reforms Bermuda had operated under the same system since 1620 31 The matter was debated in the British Parliament which while condemning many of the practices highlighted in the petition refused Dr Gordon s request for a Royal Commission to investigate social political and economic conditions on the island The Colonial Secretary subsequently issued a document Command Paper 7093 sent to the Governor Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham strongly recommending positive and progressive changes to the colony s discriminatory laws 17 29 32 A Joint Committee of the Bermuda Legislative Council and House of Assembly was formed to study the matter however its report in April 1948 recommended against changing the colony s Jim Crow laws 33 holding that the early adoption of adult franchise would be prejudicial to the best interests of Bermuda 17 It would not be until 1959 that segregation ended with the BIU playing a key role in the civil disobedience that brought about the change 33 At the 1948 election Gordon lost his House of Assembly seat a setback attributable to his preoccupation with a dock workers dispute that year which had limited the time he could devote to his Parliamentary duties but he was re elected in 1953 17 Queen s visit to Bermuda edit In November 1953 when the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II made Bermuda the first 24 hour stop in her tour of the Commonwealth 34 Gordon learned that of more than 1 000 guests to be invited to a Government House garden party in her honour only 60 were black and that not a single black Bermudian had been asked to attend the official state dinner 17 With the intention of focusing world attention on Bermuda s racially stratified society Gordon passed this news to the British press and Reuters reported the resultant angry protests from the Daily Mirror and the Daily Herald In its editorial the Herald stated Perhaps others may benefit from this instance of gross ill manners It is time everyone from Governors downwards grasped the facts about this British Commonwealth Within its frontiers coloured people outnumber whites by more than eight to one One of the moral pledges by which it is held together is that the colour bar should be utterly destroyed as speedily as possible 17 As Bernews notes The Queen set foot in Bermuda the day the story broke She was photographed that same afternoon meeting a broadly smiling tail coated Dr Gordon in St George s 17 Cricket editKeenly interested in cricket Gordon believed that Bermuda would benefit by closer contact with the islands of the West Indies which were then gaining ascendancy in Test cricket He championed the Bermudian cricketer Alma Hunt who in 1933 went to Trinidad to take part in the trial games from which would be selected the West Indies team for the Test series in England that summer Although proving himself both on and off the field Hunt was not eventually given a place 35 Gordon pointed out that Hunt s status would have been more assured had there been an official body to deal with finance and represent him and advocated for a Bermuda Cricket Board of Control which was eventually formed in 1938 Gordon was instrumental in bringing about the first ever West Indian cricket tour to Bermuda in 1939 which was headed by Trinidadian Ben Sealey 36 Family life editGordon and his Dominica born 37 wife Clara who joined him in Bermuda had six children Barbara Joyce Evelyn Marjorie mother of BBC broadcaster Moira Stuart 38 Edgar familiarly called Teddy and later known as Hakim 39 40 41 and Kenneth who was born in Bermuda in 1927 42 43 Clara would organise cultural gatherings including musical soirees at their home 3 By a subsequent relationship Gordon had other children 44 his last child Pamela F Gordon born six months after her father s death would become Bermuda s youngest and first female premier in March 1997 when she replaced David Saul as leader of the United Bermuda Party until that party was defeated for the first time in a general election in November 1998 45 46 47 Another daughter is MP Patricia Gordon Pamplin who having served in various ministerial positions in the OBA Cabinet 7 48 49 50 was announced as OBA interim leader after the change of government in July 2017 51 52 53 Death editDr Gordon died in Bermuda at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital following a heart attack at the age of 60 on 20 April 1955 Two days later thousands of people turned out for his funeral service at St Theresa s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Hamilton and burial at Calvary Cemetery Devonshire Parish 54 55 According to reports Many of Bermuda s blacks wept at his graveside That they had a better future was in very large part due to his tireless efforts on their behalf over more than two decades 34 Legacy and honours editThe Progressive Labour Party was formed in 1963 as the political arm of the labour movement originally organised and energised by Gordon some of the party s founders describing themselves as Gordonites 17 On 1 May 2000 a commemorative pack of postage stamps was issued honouring Dr Gordon as one of three Pioneers of Progress the others being Sir Henry James Tucker and women s suffragist Gladys Misick Morrell 1888 1969 who made a significant and lasting contribution to Bermudian society 56 57 Also in 2000 a ward of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Paget Parish was renamed the Dr E F Gordon Ward after him 58 59 The Dr E F Gordon Memorial Hall at the Bermuda Industrial Union building is named after him 55 as is Dr E F Gordon Square on Dundonald Street 60 61 An annual Dr E F Gordon Memorial Lecture was initiated by educator and author Dale Butler 62 On Bermuda s National Heroes Day in June 2011 Dr Gordon was hailed alongside Dr Pauulu Kamarakafego Dr Roosevelt Browne and Sir Henry Jack Tucker as one of the architects of modern Bermuda 63 64 65 In the words of one columnist in Bermuda s Royal Gazette newspaper The most challenging times cry out for great leaders who move people and move society forward The United States had Franklin Roosevelt and Dr Martin Luther King We had Dr EF Gordon 66 On the launch of a City of Hamilton Walkway of History a plaque was placed at Beulah Gordon s former home 67 one of 25 such plaques placed at sites and buildings of historical and architectural significance 68 A portrait of Gordon is one of 80 painted by Esther Dai for display at the Historic Museum in Bermuda 69 On 2 February 2015 a mural featuring a portrait of Gordon as well as the slogan United we stand divided we fall was installed at the Bermuda Industrial Union BIU headquarters by The Chewstick Foundation as part of their Community Art Program honouring him as an icon in the history of the BIU and the evolution of Bermuda s political and social growth 70 71 On 20 March 2015 a celebration of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Dr E F Gordon was held in front of City Hall in Hamilton hosted by Imagine Bermuda with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and the Chewstick Foundation 72 73 74 In October 2016 Gordon was honoured with the Peace amp Social Justice Award 2016 by the Roman Catholic Church of Bermuda 8 75 for his sterling contributions as the father of trade unionism and for championing the rights of Bermudian workers and black Bermudians generally 76 On 18 June 2018 National Heroes Day Bermuda s Department of Community amp Cultural Affairs issued a number of posters portraying those who have made significant positive contributions to the growth and development of society including Dr Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon 77 Notes and references edit Rosemary Jones Bermuda Five Centuries Chapter 18 Growing Pains Ministry of Education Bermuda 2011 Our history website of Bermuda Public Services Union BPSU a b c d e f g h i j k l Meredith Ebbin Dr Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon March 20 1895 April 20 1955 Physician parliamentarian and labour leader Bermuda Biographies Bermuda Industrial Union website Frances Henry ed Ethnicity in the Americas Walter de Gruyter 1976 p 67 Ira Philip The unforgettable day I met the Queen The Royal Gazette 7 September 2015 a b Three heroes who made Bermuda a better place The Royal Gazette 21 June 2011 a b Peace amp Social Justice Award Dr E F Gordon Bernews 24 October 2016 Tony Martin The Progress of the African Race Since Emancipation and Prospects for the Future The Majority Press 1998 p 8 Ira Philip Remembering Mazumbo a dynamic freedom fighter The Royal Gazette 21 March 2015 Henry Mitchell When the world came to Scotland student radicals at Edinburgh University 1906 1946 Scottish Critical Heritage 22 March 2018 Dr EF Gordon fought tirelessly for equal rights for black Bermudians The Royal Gazette 16 June 2011 George James Christian Pioneer in Africa TheDominican net Volume No 1 Issue No 32 27 November 2002 Moira Stuart Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Moira Stuart Who Do You Think You Are BBC Ira Philip Dr Olivia Tucker pioneering pharmacist denied the opportunity to work in her homeland The Royal Gazette 8 March 2013 a b c d e f g h National Hero Profile Dr E F Gordon Bernews 29 April 2011 Eva N Hodgson Second Class Citizens First Class Men 2nd edition Bermuda The Writers Machine 1988 p 67 a b Mazumbo 100 Facts and Quotes by Dr E F Gordon Writers Machine 1994 pp 14 33 Carl Murphy Beautiful Bermuda Call Him Mister Richmond Afro American 6 December 1947 Hodgson 1988 pp 70 71 writes The daily paper often underscored its contempt for coloured people by refusing to attach a title to them in any reference to them Dr Gordon s gesture had the value of drawing the insult to the attention of many Negroes who from long familiarity tended to take so many insults for granted It was part of Dr Gordon s overall programme of stimulating awareness on the part of the people who were so hard pressed that they had little time to think about the basis of their problems He understood very well that support was gained for these political battles through starkly presented ideas and the simple statement of the injustices which the people faced in their daily lives BERMUDA Grandpa Was a Scotsman 21 July 1947 cited in Time 21 December 2011 subscription required Maureen Warner Lewis Central Africa in the Caribbean Transcending time Transforming Cultures Kingston Jamaica University of the West Indies Press 2003 p 80 Hodgson 1988 p 124 a b W S Zuill The Story of Bermuda and Her People 1973 Macmillan Caribbean 2nd revised edition 1983 p 200 Robert J Alexander with Eldon M Parker A History of Organized Labor in the English Speaking West Indies Westport CT Praeger Publishers 2004 pp 101 02 From BWA to BIU BIU History Government of Bermuda website a b 1946 Dr E F Gordon delivers Bermuda Workers Association Petition to the Colonial Office in Great Britain The Evolution of Bermuda s Franchise compiled by James E Smith Parliamentary Registry When the times they were a changin The Royal Gazette 9 September 2015 Meredith Ebbin To vote or not to vote it was not always an option BDA Sun 14 December 2012 Significant Events in Bermuda Bermuda Parliament a b Steven High Base Colonies in the Western Hemisphere 1940 1967 Palgrave Macmillan 2008 pp 133 34 a b Keith Archibald Forbes Bermuda s History from 1952 to 1999 Bermuda Online Ira Philip Freedom Fighters From Monk To Mazumbo London Akira Press 1987 p 144 Ira Philip in Freedom Fighters 1987 pp 152 58 quotes a letter dated 20 October 1953 from Gordon to the Mid Ocean News detailing Gordon s role in the sequence of events Burgess Black history month Saluting our heroes Dr E F Gordon one of the key figures in BDA s history Bermuda com 27 February 2008 Who Do You Think You Are Darren Sylvester reports on the BBC Two television series where the well known BBC newsreader Moira Stuart attempts to go back to her roots and research her family history programme shown on 16 November 2004 Ira Philip Hakim Son of Mazumbo The Extraordinary Life of Hakim Gordon The Writers Machine 1995 24 pp Quito Swan Black Power in Bermuda The Struggle for Decolonization Palgrave Macmillan 2010 note 28 p 217 Moira Stuart Past Stories Who Do You Think You Are BBC One Dr E F Gordon s Son Ken Gordon Dies At 86 Bernews 7 November 2013 Owain Johnston Barnes Musician son of national hero Dr EF Gordon dies at 86 The Royal Gazette 7 November 2013 Raymond Hainey Mother of our first female Premier dies at 88 Bermuda Sun 29 May 2013 Gordon Pamela 1955 at Encyclopedia com Pamela Gordon biography Bernews Rosemary Jones 2011 Chapter 20 Into the Future Bermuda Five Centuries Biography of Patricia Gordon Pamplin JP MP Archived 9 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine One Bermuda Alliance Ira Philip A fitting climax to a busy weekend The Royal Gazette 26 June 2011 Dame Pamela Gordon Banks Influential Caribbean Women Part 9 11 March 2013 OBA Interim Leader Patricia Gordon Pamplin Bernews 21 July 2017 Jonathan Bell Gordon Pamplin now interim leader of OBA Royal Gazette 22 July 2017 CMC Bermuda Trade Union Pioneer s Daughter Is New OBA Interim Leader Wired Ja Online News 23 July 2017 Ira Philip Freedom Fighters 1987 p 240 a b Ira Philip Our Lady of Labour laid to rest today The Royal Gazette Presentation Pack 2000 Pioneers of Progress Bermuda Pioneers of progress Stamp World Ward named for Dr Gordon The Royal Gazette 8 September 2000 Mazumbo recognized by Hospital captioned photographs The Workers Voice Hamilton Bermuda Vol 26 No 1 8 September 2000 Keith Archibald Forbes Bermuda s History 2007 September 11 to December 31 Bermuda Online Heritage Walk Hamilton Dale D Butler JP MP Archived 16 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine PLP website Three New National Heroes To Be Honoured Bernews 28 April 2011 Jonathan Bell UBP salutes new national heroes Archived 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine One BDA Bermuda s National Heroes 16 June 2011 Walton Brown The traits of good leadership The Royal Gazette Online 29 March 2012 Ira Philip Personal memories of Dick Richards The Royal Gazette 29 September 2012 Hamilton launches Walkway of History Bermuda Biographies Amanda Dale Family donates portraits of black Bermudians Bermuda Sun 1 June 2011 Chewstick Installs Dr E F Gordon Mural At BIU Bernews 3 February 2015 Chewstick Community Art Program Creates Bermuda Flag Mural Chewstick Foundation 16 December 2015 Imagine Bermuda To Celebrate Dr E F Gordon Bernews 18 March 2015 Dr Gordon s 120th birthday to be celebrated The Royal Gazette 18 March 2015 Photos amp Video Dr E F Gordon Remembered Bernews 21 March 2015 Owain Johnston Barnes E F Gordon to be honoured by church The Royal Gazette 27 October 2016 Ira Philip Championing the rights of black Bermudians The Royal Gazette 5 November 2016 Celebrating Bermuda s National Heroes Bernews 18 June 2018 Further reading editEva N Hodgson Second Class Citizens First Class Men or Great men all remind us 1st edition 1963 2nd edition Bermuda The Writers Machine 1988 273 pp Gerald Alexander Brangman Thank You Dr E F Gordon New York Vantage Press 1973 Dale Butler Dr E F Gordon Hero of Bermuda s Working Class The political career of Dr E F Gordon and the evolution of the Bermuda Workers Association 1987 Dale Butler Mazumbo 100 Facts and Quotes by Dr E F Gordon Writers Machine 1994 Rosemary Jones Bermuda Five Centuries Teachers Guide Ministry of Education Bermuda 2011 Ira Philip Freedom Fighters From Monk To Mazumbo London Akira Press 1987 William S Zuill The Story of Bermuda and her People Macmillan Caribbean 1983 External links edit Bermuda s National Heroes Mazumbo Dr Edgar Fitzgerald on YouTube Dr Edgar Fitzgerald Gordon March 20 1895 April 20 1955 Physician parliamentarian and labour leader Bermuda Biographies National Hero Profile Dr E F Gordon Bernews 29 April 2011 Dr E F Gordon one of the key figures in BDA s history Dr EF Gordon fought tirelessly for equal rights for black Bermudians The Royal Gazette 16 June 2011 W Alex Scott Reads Mazumbo or Dr Edgar F Gordon s Bio Heroes Induction Bermuda 19 June 2011 BernewsAdmn SoundCloud We must learn the lessons that history teaches us Island Notebook The Royal Gazette Online Front page articles about Gordon in BIU newspaper Workers Voice 18 April 1997 Bermuda National Library Digital Collection Memorable speech by Dr E F Gordon 1946 on YouTube Bermuda Industrial Union Letter from W E B Du Bois to E F Gordon September 26 1946 explaining that as requested by Shirley Graham he has enclosed a petition to be signed and brought before the Assembly of the United Nations W E B Du Bois Papers at Credo Ira Philip Remembering Mazumbo a dynamic freedom fighter The Royal Gazette 21 March 2015 Imagine Bermuda Celebrates Dr EF Gordon March 20 2015 YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Edgar F Gordon amp oldid 1180111619, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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