Census Record 1850, Charlotte Amalia, Crown Prince Quarter 10B General Gade belonging to Valentina Ricardo
Activity Type: Written Document
Official population censuses are the primary sources of information about the composition and distribution of a specific set of people over time. The Virgin Islands is fortunate in having available for research a total of fifteen, near-complete censuses for the period 1835 to 1940. They document in a variety…
Census Record of Free Blacks from 1803
Activity Type: Written Document
Proceedings and Register of Free Blacks is a census conducted in 1803 on St. Thomas. It counted and listed the islands’ free people of color. The census contains age, occupation, where the person was from, how they got to St. Thomas, how they came to be free, and other…
Treaty of Acquisition between the United States of American and Denmark, 1917
Activity Type: Written Document
In 1917 Denmark sold its West Indian colonies with their inhabitants to the United States of America for twenty-five million dollars in gold in accordance with the terms of this Treaty signed by both parties. By that transaction, the United States enhanced its military and economic hegemony within the…
Map of part of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas
Activity Type: Map
Bluebeard’s Castle is the name given to a historic Danish period watchtower that was built around 1689, on St. Thomas. It is located on a small hill, overlooking Charlotte Amalie harbor. Originally the watchtower was part of a fortification system used to watch over and protect the harbor. The…
Analyze a Poem written in Virgin Islands Dialect
Activity Type: Written Document
The poem “Mistah Please Take Back Yoh Daughter” is from Jose Patrick Gimenez’s book “Virgin Islands Folklore and Other Poems” published in 1933. Gimenez wrote in English, Spanish and West Indian dialect. The language used varied based on the topic of his writing and the intended audience. José Patrick…
Peter L. Oxholm Map of St. Croix 1794
Activity Type: Map
Maps provide a wealth of visual information about a particular place in both space and time. The Virgin Islands archival record is exceptionally rich in maps depicting the various islands from the seventeenth century to the present. This map of St. Croix, originally drawn in 1794 by Peter Lotharius…
Analyze Contents of a Prehistoric Midden from Tutu, St. Thomas
Activity Type: Written Document
In September 1990, construction crews were digging in an area of Tutu, St. Thomas to build a shopping mall. They disturbed remains of an Amerindian village. The construction activity was stopped for 10 months. This allowed archeologists a brief period to examine the site. When archaeologists dig, they are…
Manumission by Will, St. John, November 2, 1796
Activity Type: Written Document
Prior to the general emancipation of all people who were unfree on July 3, 1848, enslaved people in the Danish West Indies gained their individual freedom legally through a legal process of manumission, whereby they were freed in writing by their owner and then issued a Free Letter by…
Analyze a Photograph of Children Playing Marbles in French Village, St. Thomas
Activity Type: Photograph
Games played with marbles have been around for a long time. Early marbles, made of rounded pebbles and clay, have been found in ancient sites in different areas of the world. Modern marbles, like those sold in stores today, are largely made of glass. In the Virgin Islands, games…
Analyze the Handle found at an Amerindian Site in Salt River, St. Croix
Activity Type: Artifact
Artifacts, in general terms, are items made by humans. Items made by humans in the past are often uncovered by accident when later people are digging in the ground to farm or to build things. They are also found when archeologists conduct studies of areas identified as possible historic…
Emancipation Proclamation July 3, 1848
Activity Type: Written Document
Slavery ended in the Danish West Indies on July 3, 1848, when thousands of enslaved protesters assembled in Frederiksted, St. Croix and forced Governor-General Peter von Scholten to verbally proclaim “all unfree are now free”. That momentous event was largely peaceful, but disturbances broke out the following day. The…
Analyze a Painting of St. Thomas by Camille Pissarro
Activity Type: Artwork
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro was born on July 10, 1830, in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. He is well known for his contributions in the field of art. He was an impressionist painter. Impressionist artists paint an impression of what the landscape, person or object looks like…
