Former Bermuda National Trust Director and historian William S. Zuill Sr. has called for Bermuda to merge two of its historical days as a gesture of racial integration.

Speaking to Hamilton Rotary Club at its weekly luncheon yesterday, Mr. Zuill said the Somers Day and Emancipation Day Remembrance Services, which come within days of each other, should be celebrated together.

He told yesterday's audience at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute: "I hope the day is coming when we will celebrate both days together -- the start of our Island community and the wiping out of a fearful blot that entrapped black and white in a wrong relationship which has not been fully rectified to this day.'' Mr. Zuill was speaking soon after the launch of the third edition of his book, "The Story of Bermuda and its People'', which he later presented to Premier Jennifer Smith.

He said he had been first inspired to write the book because he felt the role of the Island's black people had been underplayed by previous historians.

Developing his theme of racial integration around a common Bermudian identity, Mr. Zuill said: "This year I would like to see Sunday services on August 1 concentrate on the biblical parallels -- the freeing of the children of Israel from the bonds of slavery in Egypt, and the shipwreck of St. Paul on the island of Malta.

"I especially hope the Somers Day service will do this and that the remembrance of the end of slavery will include a remembrance of the start of Bermuda as an entity -- the beginning of our common lives together on this remarkable Island which is our home.'' Read all about it: Local author and historian William Sears Zuill presents members of the Government with a copy of the third edition of his Bermuda history book. Shown with Mr. Zuill (centre) admiring "The Story of Bermuda and her People'' are Tourism Minister David Allen, Development and Opportunity Minister Terry Lister, Premier Jennifer Smith and Education Minister Milton Scott.

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