Culture
Milton Peters: the commissioner who gave his name to Milton Peters College
A profile of Milton Peters (1891–1985), island commissioner on Sint Maarten from 1955 to 1971 and champion of education, after whom Milton Peters College is named.
By SXM Daily ·
Milton Peters was an island commissioner on Sint Maarten from 1955 to 1971 and a champion of education. Born in 1891 and living until 1985, he saw the island change across almost a century, and his name is carried today by Milton Peters College, one of the island's best-known secondary schools.
Illustrative: the Courthouse, Philipsburg. Photo: Piviso / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Sixteen years as commissioner
Peters served as commissioner from 1955 to 1971. The college's own history page describes him as commissioner of education, and the history writer Will Johnson, in The Saba Islander, records that he was elected in 1955 and retired from the post in 1971. Those years covered a period of growth for Sint Maarten, when the demand for schooling for the island's young people was rising.
A school in his name
His most visible legacy is the school that bears his name. According to SVOBE, the school board that runs it, Milton Peters College opened in August 1976 with 425 pupils and 25 teachers. The college's history page dates the opening to 17 August 1976. Naming the new secondary school after him recognised the importance he had placed on education during his years in public office.
Since then, generations of Sint Maarten students have passed through the college that carries his name, making Milton Peters one of the island figures whose name is heard every school day.
Remembering Milton Peters
Peters died in 1985, nine years after the school named in his honour first opened its doors. His story is a reminder that public service on a small island can leave its mark in classrooms as much as in government buildings. SVOBE's own history and the college's page continue to tell his story to new students and families.
Sources
- https://svobe.org/our-history/
- https://miltonpeterscollege.yolasite.com/about-us.php
- https://thesabaislander.com/2015/08/22/commissioner-hubert-milton-josiah-peters/
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philipsburg_Courthouse,_St._Maarten.jpg
Source: https://svobe.org/our-history/
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