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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Remembering President Tubman in Maryland County: collective memory of Tubman's time in 21st century southeast Liberia |
Author: | Nevin, Timothy D. |
Year: | 2012 |
Periodical: | Liberian Studies Journal (ISSN 0024-1989) |
Volume: | 37 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 50-77 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Liberia |
Subjects: | heads of State memory |
About person: | William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (1895-1971) |
Abstract: | President William Tubman was arguably Liberia's most influential president of the 20th century, and Liberia's only 'president-for-life'. Born into an Americo-Liberian family in Harper, Maryland County in 1895, he followed various careers until he became President in 1944. He remained President until 1971 when he passed away in a London clinic after a surgical operation. This article addresses the question of how Tubman is remembered in his home area, 40 years after his demise. To investigate this 65 small groups of students each conducted oral history interviews with two to six elder Liberians (of 55 years and older). Positively valued elements of Tubman's presidency are listed in the first appendix to the article, negatively valued elements in the second. The author shows that Tubman's legacy is not one-sized but genuinely multi-faceted. He is remembered by ordinary Liberians old enough to recall his rule in a nuanced and multi-dimensional way. App., bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |