By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE longtime family home of Governor General Dame Cynthia “Mother” Pratt has opened its doors as a museum.

Government leaders and community members gathered yesterday for the official opening of the Dame Cynthia “Mother” Pratt Legacy Hall — a personal tribute built inside the longtime family home of the Governor General, the first Bahamian woman to hold office as Deputy Prime Minister.

The residence on Sixth Street, Poinciana Avenue, better known as The Grove, is the house where Dame Cynthia, a prolific philanthropist and community developer, lived through most stages of her life.

The Legacy Hall, meticulously curated with photographs, artefacts and historic displays, traces her journey from her humble beginnings in The Grove to her rise as the nation’s head of state. Calling the project a “lifelong dream,” Dame Cynthia said the hall preserves her story and stands as a testament to perseverance, faith and purpose.

The ceremony featured the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Band and performances by students from EP Roberts Primary School, Ridgeland Primary School and Stephen Dillet Primary School — all inner-city schools near the Governor General’s residence. Friends and relatives, including her daughter, offered reflections celebrating her resilience and leadership.

During her remarks, Dame Cynthia delivered a candid account of her early years, recalling life in a family of 16 children where food was often scarce. She spoke of Sundays when one chicken had to be shared between all the children, leaving her, child number 13, to hope for whatever remained.

She described climbing plum and dilly trees to eat, escaping to a basketball court, and sometimes having to choose between “picking the roaches out of the rice or starving.”

“I crossed my leg and I picked out the wing and the foot,” she said, “and I ate to my heart’s content. And today, I am Governor of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.”

She spoke of her mother, a straw vendor who could not read or write, and recalled chasing tourists through the Straw Market singing for a nickel to buy lunch.

In one of her stories, she remembered meeting a Canadian couple as a young girl — tourists she escorted to the Buena Vista Hotel while telling them about her life.

The couple, moved by her spirit, spent 20 years returning to The Bahamas trying to find her, hoping to adopt her. By the time they did, she had already become a Member of Parliament.

“God had another plan,” she said. “What you see today is not where I started. But I didn’t stay where I was. When God has a plan for your life, and no man can move it.”

Dame Cynthia was also a college athelete, leading the Bahamas women’s national softball team to a bronze medal at the 1981 Wolrd Games in Santa Clara, California. It was during these games that she was given the name "Mother" which today remains. She was also a member of the National Basketball and Netball Teams.

On September 1, 2023, she was sworn in as the 12th Governor-General of the Bahamas during a ceremony at Government House.

In her inaugural address, she said: "As a mother my eyes and ears are always open to the needs of our young people and the importance of doing all we can to uplift them so that as they grow into adulthood and inherit full responsibility for the continued development of our nation.”