Lystra Lewis Papers

Lystra Lewis was born in Woodbrook, Trinidad and Tobago in 1924. She attended Tranquility Girls School and later went to England through a British Council scholarship to study Physical Education at Bedford College. Early in her life she participated in many sporting activities and selected netball as her sport of choice. Although she started her involvement in the game as a player, she excelled as a coach, umpire, tester and administrator. She served at all levels of the administration for the game, including President of West Indies Netball Board, President of the Caribbean Netball Association, President of the Americas Federation of Netball Associations, and Vice President of the International Federation of Netball Associations.

She has been credited with many firsts in the netball fraternity in Trinidad and Tobago and the region. Some highlights of her career include:
1939       Founding Member of the Port of Spain Netball league
1949       Founding Member of the Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association
1954       Founding member of the West Indies Netball Board, forerunner to the Caribbean Netball Association
1960       Caribbean representative at the Ceylon conference which agreed to the formation of the International Federation of Women’s Basketball and Netball Association and an International Code of Rules for Netball. 
1960       First West Indian to receive the All England Panel Award for Umpiring
1961       First Government Netball Coach
1969       Recipient of the Medal of Merit for Sport (Netball) at the First Trinidad and Tobago National Awards.
1974       Founding Member of the Caribbean Netball Association
1979       Coached the Trinidad and Tobago team to victory at the World Netball Championships hosted in Trinidad and Tobago. This was the first country to host and win the championships

The collection was donated by Dr. Iva Gloudon and Ms. Enid Browne to the Alma Jordan Library in 2010. The materials were in the possession of Ms. Lystra Lewis until her passing on July 4, 2009. The collection showcases her involvement at all levels of sport administration locally and internationally and is arranged into eighteen series reflecting primarily these activities: Biographies, Correspondence, Financial matters, CARIFESTA V & Other Cultural Activities Conferences and workshops, Men's Federation of Netball, Trinidad and Tobago netball and other sports, Netball Tournaments, Sport Constitutions and Netball Rules, Caribbean Netball Association, Americas Federation of Netball Associations, International Federation of Netball Association, Umpiring and Testing, Newspaper Clippings, Scrapbooks, Photographs and Videos. A small collection of books accompany these papers.

While researchers may consult the papers an embargo has been placed on the copying of photographs and letters from the papers.