The sections of articles about the U.S. Virgin Islands and Senegal have statements from two sets of authors. One article in each section is a general, inclusive statement written by a member of our curatorial staff.
Employing a point of view generally defined by Smithsonian imperatives for "the increase and diffusion of knowledge," the author engages in the characteristic practices of the Festival. These include: identifying and valorizing traditional cultural practices; explaining them primarily in historical, economic, and social terms; replying to popular stereotypes and supplanting them with empirically derived characterizations; representing geographically and historically bounded cultural wholes.
The other statements are written by authors from the geographic areas featured- the U.S. Virgin Islands and Senegal. These articles are more richly detailed. They address a variety of audiences, reply to a variety of implicit and explicit assertions, and are couched in a variety of styles. They have, of course, been solicited, selected, and edited - processes which are ineluctably based in our Institutional practice. We hope that in spite of this practice, and also in some degree because of it, these short critical pieces do incorporate a variety of voices speaking on noteworthy aspects of folklife.
In this sense, the organization of this year's Program Book represents the practice of the Festival as a whole.
The dialogue of viewpoints, understandings and of cultural styles strengthens the discourse of our national cultural Institution.

This is an example of how teachers on a grade level can collaborate to create a Grade Level VI History Month Activity.

Several professors, government officials and political party members spoke in a forum on political and social issues affecting U.S. territories, which focused mainly on the relationship between the U.S. federal government and the governments of the territories. Following the speakers' prepared remarks, the panelists responded to questions from members of the audience.

More than 2,000 years ago there was likely a thriving Taino community in the heart of Charlotte Amalie. In 2013 contractors began turning up shards of pottery and other artifacts during otherwise routine roadwork on Main Street near Market Square. Work was temporarily halted and archeologists were called in to help dig up what was described as a “major” find. Thousands of artifacts were eventually discovered in a relatively small area. A short documentary was later produced about the dig and the many interesting objects found on site. - - US Virgin Islands DPNR and the State Office of Historic Preservation

This article examines the relationship between custody, access, and provenance through a case study of the records of a former Danish colony, the United States Virgin Islands. In 1917, when the United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark, Danish archivists removed the majority of records created there during colonial rule and deposited them in the Danish National Archives. Following its establishment in the 1930s, the National Archives of the United States sent an archivist to the Virgin Islands to claim most of the remaining records and ship them to Washington. The native population of the Virgin Islands, primarily former colonials whose ancestors were brought from Africa as slaves, were left without access to the written sources that comprised their history. While all three parties have claims to custody of the records, the claim of the people of the Virgin Islands relies on an expanded definition of provenance that includes territoriality or locale, as well as on a custodial responsiblity for access. The competing custodial claims suggest a dissonance between legal custody, physical custody, and archival principles that may be resolvable through post- custodial management practices.

The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS) is a Monticello initiative that collaborates with archaeologists working across North Ameri...

The website ‘The West Indian Heritage’ tells its story using the buildings as a framework for understanding the structure, function, and people of the colony who were either forced to risk their lives producing the coveted goods or benefited from the profits on the goods throughout the first 150 years of the colony’s history.

Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, author, diplomat, and politician who worked mostly in Liberia. He also spent five years teaching in Sierra Leone, and his writings had an impact in both countries.Blyden was born on 3 August 1832 in St Thomas, Danish West Indies (now known as the United States Virgin Islands) to Free Black parents from the Igbo tribe of modern-day Nigeria.Blyden edited the Liberia Herald from 1855 to 1856 and penned the editorial "A Voice From Bleeding Africa."He also spent time in other British colonies in West Africa, most notably Nigeria and Sierra Leone, where he wrote for both colonies' early newspapers.Additionally, he worked as an editor at The Negro and The African World. He maintained contacts with the American Colonization Society and contributed articles to their journals, African Depository and Colonial Journal.Blyden served as Liberia's ambassador to the United Kingdom and France as a diplomat. Blyden was named Liberia's Secretary of State as a young man (1862–64). He then served as Minister of the Interior from 1880 until 1882. Blyden is often considered the "founder of Pan-Africanism" as a writer. His magnum opus, Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race (1887), argued that Islam was a more unifying and meaningful religion for Africans than Christianity.

International Day for Monuments discussion with Former Senator Myron Jackson about the bust of King Christian the IX being removed from the Emancipation Gardens public space as a result of public outcry.

The measure appropriates $20,000 from the St. Thomas Capital Improvement Fund to cover the cost of removing and replacing the sculpture. Additionally, the program promotes new discourses, alternative and nuanced approaches to established historical narratives, and promotes inclusive and diverse points of view.

This is a video entitled United States Buys the Virgin Islands. It is a recording of the transfer documents being signed in 1917.

Melvin Herbert Evans is the Virgin Islands' first elected governor. Evans graduated from Howard University with a B.S. in 1940 and from the Howard College of Medicine with an M.D. four years later, following graduation from high school on St. Thomas. He then worked in a variety of medical and public health positions for the United States and the Virgin Islands.

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Vol. 22, The United States and Latin America (Jul., 1903), pp. 99-110 (12 pages)

Reexamination of the Insular Cases

Decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in the first decade of the 20th century, the Insular Cases are a series of decisions that established the status of the residents of territories which had recently been acquired by the United States during and immediately after the Spanish-American War. These cases remain the basis for the relationship between the territories and the rest of the United States.1 Many attorneys in the territories say the Insular Cases are the reason they went to law school. However, the Insular Cases are much less well known outside of the territories and are not included in some law school curricula.

Excavations on St. Croix fill in history’s blanksAn all-black team of archaeologists explains their approach to unearthing the day-to-day lives of enslaved A...

“Every year in March, we honor our Virgin Islands' exceptional history and culture, as well as the achievements and contributions of its people. As Virgin Islanders, it is critical that we honor our forefathers' fortitude and continue to build on their great successes.This PowerPoint slide has hyperlinks for teachers to use in celebrating the significant celebration for virgin islands History Month.

The St. John Heritage Collective hosts a panel discussion regarding the importance of Virgin Islands Creole.

It was determined in 1847 that future children born to enslaved laborers would be free, and that slavery would be abolished totally in 1859. Instead of agreeing to the deal, the enslaved began mobilizing, and on July 3rd, 1848, an estimated 8,000 enslaved individuals demanded their freedom 1848, an estimated 8,000 enslaved individuals demanded their freedom in Frederiksted in front of Fort Frederiksværn.

Friendship Day between the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is a public holiday observed in the United States Virgin Islands on the second Monday of October. The holiday was established in 1964 by Governor Paiewonsky to recognize Puerto Ricans who live in the Virgin Islands or have made significant contributions to the territory.
The date was chosen to coincide with Columbus Day, as it was seen as "an ideal day for recognizing Americans' solidarity with the Caribbean.