-Barbados’ President Says, As She Strengthens Ties With Liberia
By Jerromie S. Walters
Crozierville, Liberia: The presidents of Barbados and Liberia gathered in Crozierville over the weekend to mark 160 years since the arrival of Barbadian settlers, honoring what Barbados President Dame Sandra Prunella Mason called “a story of return.”
At the event, Barbados President Dame Sandra Prunella Mason reflected on the profound significance of the town’s founding. “Crozierville stands here today as a representation of what can be created when communities are built on collective memory,” she declared. “What we honor here today is not only the founding of the town… we honor a story of return.”
The occasion marked the 160th anniversary of the arrival of some 50 Barbadian families who crossed the Atlantic on May 10, 1865, seeking a new home in what was then a fledgling Liberia. President Mason emphasized the deeper meaning behind their journey, stating, “We honor the journey of men, women, and children who crossed the Atlantic, seeking not only a home but the restoration of dignity and ancestral connection.”
Liberia’s President Joseph Nyumah Boakai joined Mason in celebrating the milestone, underscoring the enduring bond between the two nations. “We are proud to be Liberians. We are proud to be connected,” Boakai said. “Let’s take advantage of this opportunity and knowledge of today to bring us closer together.”
The historic visit marked the first time a sitting Barbadian president traveled to Liberia, highlighting the deep cultural and historical ties between the two nations. The day’s events included a commemorative church service at Christ Church—a cornerstone of the Crozierville community—followed by an official ceremony at the town hall, where both leaders addressed attendees.
President Boakai spoke passionately about Liberia’s role in the African diaspora, proclaiming, “This is a country that will be here because the country has connections from all over. Contributions from all over.”He added with pride, “I hear people say we are the gateway to Africa. And I tell them, Liberia is the destination.”
Crozierville, founded by formerly enslaved Barbadians who left the British colony in search of freedom and self-determination, remains a living testament to resilience and unity. The town’s name honors Samuel David Crozier, a Barbadian missionary who played a key role in its establishment.
For descendants of the original settlers, the anniversary was a poignant reminder of their ancestors’ courage. Many still carry surnames tracing back to Barbados, preserving a tangible link to their roots. The celebration also featured cultural performances, historical exhibitions, and community dialogues reinforcing the shared legacy.
President Mason’s visit was seen as a symbolic gesture of reconnection, bridging the past and present. “This is more than history; it is a living narrative,” she remarked. “It reminds us that identity is not lost across oceans—it is reclaimed, celebrated, and passed on.”
As the ceremony concluded, both leaders expressed hope for strengthened ties between Barbados and Liberia, not just in remembrance but in future collaboration. President Boakai urged unity, saying, “Let this energize us to build a future worthy of the sacrifices made 160 years ago.”
Liberia-Barbados ties
Africa and the Caribbean are intimately connected through threads of blood, shared heritage, and history. Within the larger context, the story of Africa and Barbados is one of opposites – pain, suffering, and eventual joy – that began with slavery during the Sugar Revolution in the 1600s and led to freedom in the 1800s. In 1636, a political directive provided that all Africans brought to the island were to be received as lifelong chattels. Shipment of slaves from Africa to the broader Caribbean had begun at least a century earlier. Altogether, for three and a half centuries, African captives from the Bight of Biafra, Gold Coast, Bight of Benin, West Central Africa, and South-eastern Africa were carried across the Atlantic in slave ships originating in European ports. Following the passage in 1834 of the Slavery Abolition Act by the British Empire a year earlier, slavery was abolished in Barbados.
Free African-Barbadians had begun returning to Africa as missionaries or in search of freedom in the years surrounding Emancipation. However, it wasn’t until 1864 that a large-scale plan for emigration was put into action. In 1864, an offer of citizenship and fertile land by the President of Liberia to “brethren of the Antilles” (as the Caribbean was then called) was made, and the Barbados Company for Liberia agitated for financial support from the American Colonization Society.
This led to the first – and only recorded – post-Emancipation organized mass emigration of African Barbadians to Liberia in 1865. The brig CORA sailed from Bridgetown to Monrovia on April 6, 1865, carrying 346 persons (roughly 50 families), 260 of which were settled in Crozierville, which has since been hailed as a Bajan outpost in Africa. Two of Liberia’s presidents, Arthur Barclay and his nephew, Edwin Barclay, were of Bajan descent, as was the longest-serving First Lady of the 20th century, Antoinette Padmore Tubman. The township, where dozens of Barbadians proudly built homes, churches, schools, and communities, still exists today.
Descendants of Barbadian emigrants in Liberia have been researching the origins of their families in Barbados for quite some time. Some useful resources included the 1965 Centennial Address of Mr. Burleigh Holder, “A History of Crozierville”, the doctoral thesis and 2019 book of academic Caree Banton, More Auspicious Shores: Barbadian Migration to Liberia, Blackness, and the Making of an African Republic and numerous related publications by archaeologist Dr. Matt Reilly, in addition to his archaeological digs related to the Back-to-Africa Heritage and Archaeology project.
A soon-to-be-released videographic docuseries by Barbadian-Liberian historian, Cherrine Goodridge-Smith, “The Children of Lemongrass Street: Barbadians in Liberia”, based upon more than 80 interviews of Barbadian-Liberians across the world, will provide a rich family history and contextual guidance to future researchers.
The findings of a 2020 Paper documenting the research of the PORTE family in Barbados, “Portes Find a New Home in Liberia: Story of the Post-Emancipation Emigration of The John Prince Porte Family from Barbados, West Indies, to Liberia in West Africa in 1865”, encouraged its Executive Producer, Ambassador L. Llewellyn Witherspoon, to travel to Barbados and, among other historical sites, visit the approximate area in Irish Town in St. Thomas Parish where his great-great grandfather was believed to have last lived, worked and attended church.
During his research, including DNA testing, Ambassador learned that his ancestors originated from the southeast of present-day Nigeria (Igboland).
He also learned that one or both of his great-great grandparents were of Irish ancestry (and descendants of indentured servants referred to as Poor Whites or Redlegs). It is widely held that most Barbadian settlers in Crozierville were originally of Igbo descent.
