Ruth Nita Barrow (1916-1995)
Ruth Nita Barrow was born in the British colony of Barbados in 1916. She came from a family of civic activists. Her uncle Errol Barrow led Barbados to full independence in 1966 and became its first Prime Minister. Her father was a Minister who instilled in her the humanitarian values that brought her to nursing.
Nita Barrow trained as a nurse at Barbados General Hospital; as a midwife at Port-of-Spain General Hospital in Trinidad and then as a health care administrator, holding several nursing, public health and public administration jobs through the 1940s and 1950s. She was a nursing graduate of Columbia University (New York); held a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship and had degrees from the Universities of Toronto and Edinburgh.
Nita Barrow’s career took off when she was appointed as a public health adviser for the World Health Organisation in 1964 and later to the Pan-American Health Organisation; pioneer posts for women in the developing world. She advised 16 different Caribbean governments and travelled widely between these territories and around the world. Barrow was regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on health and health education, having published widely. She believed that health was more than a medical concern. Adult education was of great concern to Nita Barrow throughout her life. She was the President of the International Council of Adult Education (1982-1990). She worked with officials in China in 1983 to improve adult education and the same year was appointed Convener of the United Nations Forum for the Decade of Women in Nairobi, which earned her international acclaim.
As Ambassador to the United Nations (1986-1990), she believed that the principles it upheld should be reflected at every level of society and that the United Nations should be people orientated. She championed the rights of women and was appointed Convener for the United Nations Forum 1985: a World Meeting for Women. She visited South Africa with a team of Commonwealth dignitaries and returned to lecture and campaign to raise awareness of the social injustice.
Dame Barrow’s honours include: Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (1980), Dame of the [British] Order of St Andrew (1980) for outstanding service to the people of the Caribbean and Commonwealth; Honorary Doctor of Law, University of The West Indies (1980); Caribbean Prize for Peace (1986) and CARICOM Award for Women (1987). Dame Nita died in 1995 after serving as Governor General for five years.
This stamp depicts ‘Health’ and was issued by Barbados as part of a series celebrating the 25th anniversary of independence in 1991. It shows a portrait of “Her Excellency the Governor General Dame Nita Barrow”.
References
Dame Nita Barrow, National-Louis University website, 2007, last updated 01/05/2005.
Profile of Ruth Nita Barrow, 2000, by Dessima Williams, with research support from Marjorie Pauleon and Sarah Richmond.