1963-A Landmark Year in St. Martin

About the Book

The year 1963 can be considered as the beginning of tourism development on the island of St. Martin and, therefore, the transition year between an agricultural, rural economy and a commercial, tourist-oriented economy. The 37-square mile French/Dutch Island with English-speaking natives began its transformation into modernity with the electrification of the greater part of the island and the construction of the first terminal of the Princess Juliana International Airport during that year. Many islanders left their gardens and grounds to work in the construction field, in the stores and hotels, which opened that year. As the development increased, numerous immigrants from the close neighboring islands came in search of work, and waves of St. Martiners who had migrated to then prosperous Caribbean islands returned to their homeland to fill the new positions in the first banks, business administrations, and governmental offices. The festive, gentle way of life of the natives harmoniously blended with the burgeoning new economy, and greatly contributed to the success of the tourism industry, which made St. Martin one of the top Caribbean destinations. Its attractiveness derived not only from the unique beauty of its combined pond and hill sceneries, but also from the warm hospitality and friendliness of the natives.

About the Author

Daniella Jeffry Pilot was born on the Caribbean island of St. Martin in 1941. Her primary and high school education was received in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. She graduated from the prestigious University of Paris-Sorbonne with a Bachelor of Arts with major in the teaching of English and obtained a Master’s Certificate at the University of Tananarive in Madagascar, where she taught English at a Senior High School for nine years. On her return to St. Martin in 1974, she taught French at the Vocational School, then English at the Collège of Marigot. In 1991, she was appointed by the Collège to develop its two-year English-French teaching program until her retirement in 1999. The Minister of Education awarded her France’s Knight of Academic Palms in 2000. In 1978, seven years before 1963 – A Landmark year in St. Martin appeared as a fourteen-part series in the St. Maarten/St. Martin Newsday, Daniella Jeffry co-founded Cogito, a bilingual review for which she wrote articles on education, history, linguistics, and society. She was the coordinating editor of A Status for Saint-Martin: References of Hope, the book of the major studies on constitutional matters relative to St. Martin North. The English/French book-form edition of 1963, the author’s first book, was published in 2003. The author published The Status Scandal in 2006, and Saint Martin – Destabilization of the French Caribbean in 2011, both with separate French editions. A court-certified translator since 1989, she has translated the published works of archaeologist Dr. Jay Haviser and noted author George Lamming into French. Her “community activism” since 1981 led her to become a Municipal Councilor from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Société d’Histoire de la Guadeloupe, the mother of three sons and one daughter, Daniella Jeffry intends to pursue her historical research on the people of St. Martin.