Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith has stepped down as chairwoman of Government’s African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) programme.Former teacher Maxine Esdaille now heads the cultural tourism initiative, which promotes African history in Bermuda and throughout the world.A Tourism Department spokesman said: “Minister Smith, who was selected as the ADHT chair in August 2010, advised that since becoming Minister, she has stepped down from her participation in all boards and committees that she was appointed to.“Ms Esdaille, who has an extensive educational background as well as in-depth knowledge regarding Bermuda’s culture and heritage, will be responsible for the promotion of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail as part of her duties as chair.”Ms Esdaille has worked as the senior education officer for the Ministry of Education and as manager of the Bookmart at Brown & Co.The ADHT was founded under the direction of then-Tourism Minister David Allen. An international conference on the topic was held in May 2002.Historically significant sites such as the slave graveyard in St Peter’s Church were marked with plaques. Mr Allen hailed the programme as a way to entice black American tourists to the Island, and Government contracted the US event planners Henderson Associates to promote it.The programme flagged following Mr Allen’s death in 2002, and was revived in 2005 by Ewart Brown.It attracted controversy in 2009, when fired ADHT administrator LeYoni Junos took her case for unlawful dismissal to the Supreme Court. Ms Junos claimed Henderson Associates had tried to solicit funds with false information. She later won her civil claim for unfair dismissal, but a Supreme Court judge rejected the suggestion that she had been fired for being a whistleblower.The ADHT’s sixth international conference was held in Bermuda last year. A tribute plaque was placed in Mr Allen’s memory at the bridge off King’s Square, St George.l Useful website: www.adhtbermuda.bm.