Received the Order of the British Empire

1 January 1959 records the year McBurnie received the Order of the British Empire (OBE), a formal acknowledgment of her contribution to Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural life. By this point, she had already established herself as a major dancer, choreographer, and cultural organizer whose work helped elevate folk traditions and Caribbean performance to new visibility.

The award is historically significant because it shows that McBurnie’s cultural labor had moved from the margins into official recognition, even within the imperial honor system of the period. That recognition is especially notable given the barriers she had faced as a Black Caribbean woman working in a cultural field long shaped by colonial assumptions about refinement and seriousness. Her achievements challenged those assumptions by demonstrating that local dance traditions were not merely entertainment but a vital expression of historical memory and national identity.

The OBE also helped validate the kind of institution-building McBurnie had undertaken through dance schools, public performances, and the Little Carib. It reflected her growing stature as an artist whose work had both aesthetic and civic importance. In the broader history of Caribbean women’s cultural leadership, the honor marked a rare formal acknowledgment of the transformative power of folk arts.