Mr. Speaker,
I rise today to shine a light on a celebration that may not make frontpage news, but quietly shapes the way we understand who we are. On June 9th, the Bermuda Libraries and Archives commemorated International Archives Day. Here in Bermuda, they are celebrating it with a month-long exhibition titled “Legacy in Paint and Paper”, which is open until July 9th at the Bermuda Archives.
Mr. Speaker,
That name — Legacy in Paint and Paper — says it all. It brings together two artists. Two ways of seeing. One island’s layered story. This exhibit is the result of a powerful collaboration between the Department of Libraries and Archives and the Bermuda National Trust. It places the work of Edward James and Thomas Driver side by side. These are two men, capturing similar scenes of Bermuda in very different ways.
What they show us is not just how Bermuda looked, but how it felt. Mr. Speaker, International Archives Day is not just about dusty boxes or yellowed maps.
• It’s about memory.
• It’s about truth.
• It’s about keeping our story whole.
Archives matter because they do four quiet but critical things:
• They protect our rights.
• They support learning.
• They safeguard transparency.
• And they connect generations — those who came before, and those still to come.
The team at the Bermuda Archives does this work with care and consistency. Every single day. They gather records. Land deeds. Photos. Letters. Even voices from the past are recorded, preserved, and made accessible, and not only to the local population, but also to the wider world. The Bermuda Archives serves as many as thirty overseas academics each year who are conducting research on the Island’s unique history. Topics researched by these visiting scholars range from maritime history, colonial records, the records of enslaved people, and the role Bermuda played in supporting the Viginia Colony and commerce in the early Americas.
These are not just documents.
• They are echoes.
• They are anchors.
• They are reminders that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
Mr. Speaker,
This exhibit is also a reminder of what happens when we work together. The Bermuda National Trust holds the largest private deposit in the National Archives, a sign of trust and of shared responsibility. That’s what makes this moment special. It’s not just a government project. It’s a shared effort to protect what belongs to all of us. And that’s why this Government will continue to support partnerships like these, because history doesn’t live in isolation. It lives in the hands of those who care enough to keep it alive.
Mr. Speaker,
I encourage all Honourable Members and every resident of Bermuda to visit the exhibition. It’s on the lower level of the Government Administration Building, right here on Parliament Street.
• Take a walk through.
• Take a moment.
• Let yourself see Bermuda through someone else’s eyes. You’ll leave with a deeper appreciation, not just for the art, but for the place and the quiet hands that work to preserve it.
Mr. Speaker,
When we protect our past, we prepare for our future.
Because a country that remembers its roots is better equipped to choose its future.
Let us honour our history not just in words, but in the way we teach, the way we lead, and the way we care for the records that carry our story forward.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.