EIGHT outstanding Jamaican women will be remembered for their contribution to the society, at a floral tribute at National Heroes’ Park today, beginning at 8:00 am.

The tribute to the women — May Belle Ewen (Ma), Nanny of the Maroons, Lily Mae Burke, Ethlyn Rhodd, Edith Clarke, May Farquharson, Leila Mae Tomlinson and Edith Dalton James — has been organised by the Bureau of Women’s Affairs to commemorate International Women’s Day.

Ewen is one of the founding mothers of Jamaica’s tourist industry. Her first venture into tourism was the Staffordshire Guest House and later the establishment of the 12-room Doctors Cave Hotel. The hotel was renamed the Casa Blanca.

In memory of Ewen, who died in 1960, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) established the Ewen Scholarship for tourism.

National heroine Nanny was a leader of the Maroons in the 18th century. Both the Maroons and British settlers knew her as an outstanding military leader who became a symbol of unity and strength for her people during times of crisis.

The slave rebellions were inspired by the memories of Nanny and other freedom fighters.

Burke was a teacher, Justice of the Peace, voluntary social worker and farmer of Lucky Hill in St Mary. She also served as administrator of the St Mary branch of the Jamaica Federation of Women, the St Mary branch of the Women’s League and the St Mary branch of the Save the Children Fund.

Rhodd was one of the founding members of the Kingston YWCA. She also helped to set up a School Leavers’ Institute for girls between 15 and 19 years of age who, for various reasons, had not completed their formal education.

Prior to her involvement in the YWCA, she was principal of the St Mark’s School on West Street.

A social anthropologist, Clarke was a voluntary social worker and an author. She was the first woman who became a member of the Legislative Council of Jamaica for the years 1956 to 1959.

She is author of the book My Mother who Fathered Me, a powerful interpretation of a typical Jamaican family with the mother acting in the capacity of both mother and father. She also published several articles on anthropology and social work.

Farquharson, a social worker, economist, lecturer, co-founder and secretary/treasurer of the Jamaica Family Planning League was possibly the pioneer of an old-age insurance scheme, set up on lines similar to those existing in European countries in the 1930s.

She was also instrumental in the establishment of the island’s first birth control organisation.

Tomlinson was an educator and social worker who was the first Jamaican woman to win a scholarship to a university. After completing her studies at the Bedford College in London, she returned to Jamaica to teach.

It was through the initiative of Tomlinson that a United Nations representative was first invited to Jamaica to consider the launching of a literacy programme.

James was a teacher and one of the founding members of the People’s National Party (PNP). She was the first woman to offer herself as a candidate for political office.

However, it was as a teacher that she made her greatest contribution to the development of the country. She was the first teacher of English to use Jamaican dialect as a basis for teaching standard English.

International Women’s Day was first celebrated in Jamaica in March 1978. — JIS