Elsie Payne
| Elsie Payne | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Elsie Pilgrim 14 May 1927 Bridgetown, Saint Michael Parish, Barbados |
| Died | 25 August 2004 (aged 77) Bridgetown, Barbados |
| Nationality | Barbadian |
| Occupation | educator |
| Years active | 1952-1985 |
| Known for | first indigenous principal of Queen's College Barbados and first woman knighted by the Order of Barbados |
Dame Elsie Payne (1927-2004) was a teacher and the first indigenous Barbadian to serve as principal of Queen's College of Bridgetown. She was the first woman knighted in Barbados for her long dedication to education and the nation.
Elsie Pilgrim was born on 14 May 1927 in Bridgetown, Saint Michael Parish, Barbados to S.O. Pilgrim, a shoe merchant in Bridgetown. Her ancestry included Charles Pilgrim, who was at one time the headmaster of Combermere School. Pilgrim entered Queen's College at the age of nine and continued to her graduation. In 1946, Pilgrim won the Barbados Government Scholarship, the first time the scholarship had been awarded to a woman. She continued her university studies at Exeter College, then a part of the University of London, earning a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1949. Furthering her education, Pilgrim then enrolled at the University of Cambridge, attaining a PhD in history.
Pilgrim returned to Barbados and began her teaching career at Queen's College in 1952 and the following year married Dr. David O. Payne. She was known as an excellent teacher and in a time when the history of the British West Indies was not typically a part of the curriculum, Payne taught about slavery in the Caribbean. In 1966, Payne was appointed as deputy headmistress of Queen's College. When Barbadian teachers struck in 1969, over a salary and working conditions dispute with the Ministry of Education, Payne became the spokesman for the teachers and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union. The nature of the conflict was that teachers who had been appointed to the staff of the newly opened Barbados Community College were offered different salaries and conditions than teachers who were equally qualified and were employed in secondary schools. The dispute became heated, with threats of firing, loss of pension and other benefits from Prime Minister Errol Barrow. Payne and the teachers stood resolute and gained the concessions for which they fought, resulting in an overhaul and reform of Barbados' educational system.
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