Changes in Technology

What does handwriting have to do with historical research?

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Many historical documents from past centuries are handwritten. How we write differs by country, and in general it has changed over time. We have come from using an ornate script to not using script writing, or handwriting, much at all. Today we use keyboarding to write. A historian or…
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Photograph of a Person Driving a Horse Drawn Cart

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Horse-draw carts have existed for a long time, they were an important form of transportation throughout the world, including in the US Virgin Islands. Among their popular uses, they were a primary means that merchants used to bring their wares to towns and markets. In terms of technology, the…
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Analyze a Photograph of a Public Well on St. Thomas

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Fresh water is required for human survival. Freshwater is scarce in the Virgin Islands. In 1941, when this photograph was taken people collected water for their personal household use from rainfall and from ground water. We can access ground water by using a well. Ground water comes from rain…
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Analyze a Lithograph of Charlotte Amalie Harbor from 1850

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From the 1700s to present day, the economic success of St. Thomas was dependent on the maritime trade passing through its large and protected harbor. This artwork, from around 1850, shows the harbor at the peak of its prosperity under Danish rule, when it was frequented by both sailing…
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A look at transportation in Christiansted, St. Croix in 1941

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The way people get around the US Virgin Islands, and the world, has changed a lot over the last 100 years. Horse-drawn carts, horse drawn covered carriages and people on foot, would later be joined by bicycles, then early automobiles. Horse-drawn vehicles would eventually be completely replaced by automobiles….
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