Diane Gail North-Saunders,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

( North; March 10, 1944 – June 30, 2023) was a Bahamian historian, archivist, athlete, and author. North-Saunders established the Bahamian National Archives and was the director from 1971 until 2004. She was the president of the Bahamas Historical Society from 1989 until 1999. North-Saunders was president of the Association of Caribbean Historians, president of the Caribbean Archives Association, and an executive member of the International Council on Archives. She authored books about Bahamian history including ''Historic Bahamas'', ''Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People,'' and ''Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas, 1880–1960.'' North-Saunders was also one of the four women to first represent the Bahamas in an international sports competition as a member of the sprint relay team at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Early life and education

Diane Gail North was born to Edward Basil and Audrey Virginia (Isaacs) North on March 10, 1944. During her high school and college years, she was a superior scholar and athlete. North represented the country on the sprint relay team at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games, in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. At the event, along with Althea Rolle-Clarke, Elaine Thompson, and Christina Jones-Darville, she was one of the four women to first represent the Bahamas in an international sports competition. North earned a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1966 from

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

and a postgraduate certificate in Education from the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

in 1967. She taught history at Government High for two years. North married

Winston Saunders Winston Vernon Saunders, CMG (3 October 1941 – 25 November 2006) was a Bahamian educator, lawyer, actor, playwright and cultural director. Early life In his youth, Saunders attended Government High School in Nassau, Bahamas, later becoming h ...

in 1968. The couple relocated to England for further schooling. She studied at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and worked at the British Council in Public Record Offices to study process for archiving. When they moved back to the Bahamas in 1969, Winston took a position as deputy headmaster at Highbury High School. Upon returning to the Bahamas, North-Saunders took a position at the library in the Ministry of Education where she organized the records of the old Board of Education to make the first deposit in the National Archives. Saunders studied under historian Michael Craton at the University of Waterloo to earn a doctorate.

National archives

The Ministry of Education asked North-Saunders to establish the Bahamian National Archives. The archives were held at the Eastern Public Library (the Eastern Post Office) for 16 years. North-Saunders was the director from 1971 until 2004 and director-general of the archives until her retirement in 2008. Saunders was president of the Association of Caribbean Historians; president of the Caribbean Archives Association and an executive member of the International Council on Archives.

Writing

Saunders authored books about Bahamian history including ''Historic Bahamas'', ''Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People (Volume 1 and 2)'' with Michael Craton, and ''Race and Class in the Colonial Bahamas, 1880–1960.''

Later life and death

After retirement from the National Archives, Saunders remained active in academic pursuits as Scholar-in-residence at the

College of The Bahamas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. In 2006, her husband, Winston Saunders, died. North-Saunders died on 30 June 2023, at the age of 79.

Honours

Saunders was awarded the Commonwealth honour of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 2003. The

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

awarded her an honorary degree in 2004. She was inducted into the Bahamas National Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:North-Saunders, Gail 1944 births 2023 deaths Bahamian writers Bahamian women writers Bahamian historians Female archivists Competitors at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games Bahamian female sprinters Alumni of Newcastle University University of Waterloo alumni Officers of the Order of the British Empire