Street Sweepers of Georgetown

The street sweepers were labourers who were assigned the task of cleaning the streets. Their tools would include brooms and cutlass, and they were tasked with cleaning undesirable materials from the street surface and also to work on beautifying the greenery on the shoulder of the roads. While this was an official occupation, prisoners were also used for the job. The image shows a street sweeper (with chains on the right ankle suggesting a prisoner) in 1910 British Guiana.

 

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[image] Unknown