President of the senate Tom Tavares-Finson has proposed that the library to be built at the new parliamentary building be named in honour of late former senator Jeanette Grant-Woodham. 

Grant-Woodham, the first female president of the senate, died at the age of 82 on September 8.  

Tavares-Finson, who has been returned as president of the Senate, said at the appropriate time, he will properly make the request.

Grant-Woodham was an educator par excellence and the founding principal of Tivoli Gardens High School. 

Members of the Senate elected Grant-Woodham as its deputy president in 1980, and in 1984, she became the first female president. 

In 1986, she was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Trade and Industry and.

Grant Woodham was the first female to be appointed to the post of Minister of State. 

Government senator Kamina Johnson-Smith has endorsed the proposal, for the trailblazer who she described as a woman of wit, strength, gentle character, and kindness. 

Opposition senator Donna Scott Mottley, also gave her support.

Scott Mottley and Grant Woodham worked together in the women’s political caucus seeking to assist females who wanted to become members of parliament or campaign managers to hone their skills and their craft.

“We didn’t remember what parties we supported,  we were just determined in that quest to make sure that women who came to the parliament were of the highest possible standard and were well trained,” said Scott Mottley.  

Construction of Jamaica’s first purpose-built Parliament is set to begin in the first quarter of 2021. 

- Nadine Wilson Harris

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