31 January 2008
Historian Hassoum Ceesay has just published the first-ever book in Gambia's history to chart the importance of Gambian women in society.
The book, entitled Gambian Women: An introductory history, is a ground-breaking work on the role of females in the country's past.
His work explores the role of women in Gambia's past, from an economic, political and social point of view, also portraying some of these women who made their mark in history.
Among them figure Hannah Augusta Jawara, the first woman to contest elections in the Gambia; Rosamond Fowlis, pioneer educationist; and Louise Njie, minister in the first republic.
Mr Ceesay, who is also director of Heritage at the National Centre for Arts and Culture told the Point: "We historians are the custodians of our nation's memory; this is an onerous task which we must work to accomplish."
According to the country's Central Statistics population figures, Gambian women represented 49.9 per cent of the total population of the Gambia in 1993.
