by Dr. Felicia Fricke
PHILIPSBURG:--- On August 6th, during a brief visit to St. Maarten, Dr. Felicia Fricke, who recently graduated with her doctorate from the University of Kent, U.K., gave an overview lecture about her dissertation on ‘Slavery in Curacao, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten/Saint Martin’, with her research emphasis on oral history, archaeological and skeletal data. Over the last weeks, Dr. Fricke has been giving this lecture on all the Dutch Caribbean islands involved in the study. Present at the lecture were various persons who contributed oral history and other information to her research, as well as, the directors from the French-side Amuseum Naturalis who also assisted with refreshments. Dr. Fricke has left a copy of her dissertation at SIMARC, for those who could not attend the lecture.
SIMARC director, Dr. Jay Haviser, stated that he was pleased to host this lecture by Dr. Fricke and that SIMARC looks forward to providing other researchers in the region an opportunity to present their investigations to the community when they are passing through St. Maarten. The important factor here, is that all this academic research is being conducted on the Dutch islands, by researchers from around the world, and SIMARC stands strong in the commitment, that the research results need to be made available for the people of the islands.
