Historians need to retrieve Virgin Islands history from outside sources
Minister for Culture Luce Hodge-Smith has called for a coordinated effort to recover historical records about the Virgin Islands that are housed overseas, arguing that valuable pieces of the territory’s past remain beyond its reach.
Hodge-Smith made the appeal while speaking at the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Long Look community, one of the first free Black communities in the Virgin Islands and the Western Hemisphere.
While praising the historical research already being carried out locally, the minister said historians should also focus on obtaining documents preserved in foreign institutions.
“And while we have a lot of information here, we need to gather information from outside of the territory about us,” Hodge-Smith said.
She pointed to records held at King’s College in the United Kingdom, explaining that she learned of the collection while on secondment there.
“When the FCDO, I understand, was cleaning out their libraries, they lodged all the information that they had about all the territories at the King’s College,” she said.
Hodge-Smith recalled seeing centuries-old documents containing information about the Virgin Islands, describing one book as so delicate “you really had to take your time to turn the pages” because of its age.
“It had a lot of information about us,” she added.
The culture minister said the territory should develop a plan to access those records, suggesting that the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College should take the lead in forging partnerships with overseas institutions.
“So, the college: I’ll leave that up to Bernadine [Louis] and her group to really reach out to these institutions, to work out something to get access to our information that’s out there,” Hodge-Smith said.
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One termer. Next few months you won’t stop hearing or seeing them. But past 4 years? A useless tourism conference and a botched move of festival to tourism to the Ministry. Still no Tourism Plan even though Premier said it was on his sneak but he didn’t want the competition to get it. No development of the Prison museum or Sugar Works museum or the Dungeons. Not a single thing developed in Road Town annd not even a tree planted, even though you put together some kind of committee for Town.This was your portfolios right? Tourism culture and the 4th right? Next
Having spent time reading documents in the French archives relating to the Virgin Islands and the wider Caribbean, I agree that there is still a great deal of our history waiting to be uncovered overseas. A well-coordinated initiative led by H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, working in partnership with UK archives and Caribbean historians, could greatly expand access to these records through digitisation and collaborative research, without the need to repatriate fragile originals. The United Kingdom is arguably the richest source, with institutions such as the National Archives and the British Library holding Colonial Office records, maps, correspondence, and other official documents. Valuable material can also be found in the Danish National Archives, the U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress, the University of the Virgin Islands, Spain’s Archivo General de Indias, the Netherlands’ Nationaal Archief, and France’s Archives nationales d’outre-mer. Church archives and university special collections are equally important, preserving parish registers, missionary records, manuscripts, and other materials that document the lives of ordinary Virgin Islanders.
Private family and estate collections are just as significant and have produced some of the most important discoveries in Caribbean historical research. These often contain plantation papers, estate records, merchant correspondence, shipping company archives, account books, personal diaries, and auction catalogs that were never deposited in official archives. Such records can reveal information about land ownership, trade, family networks, slavery and emancipation, and everyday life in ways that official records often cannot. Working with museums, historical societies, universities, and descendants of colonial families will therefore be just as important in preserving and expanding the documented history of the Virgin Islands.
We must understand not only where we come from, but also where we are going. We have an incredibly rich history, yet our schools taught far too little of it. Instead, much of our education focused on colonial administrators and wealthy plantation owners, while the stories of the people who truly built and shaped these islands were too often overlooked. Nothing of value is ever truly beyond reach; it simply depends on how committed we are to seeking it.
No one cares about all that.
The people demand another government funded festival so we can hear our favourite gangster rappers, smoke the good stuff, get drunk and make babies.
THAT IS SO TRUE , AND THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT YOU HAVE SAID THAT IS RELEVANT/ WE HAVE SOME WANNABE HISTORIANS RUNNING LOOSD ON THE ISLAND .THAT NEEDS A BAND AID ON THEIR MOUTHS LIKE MR E LIEONERD WHO GETS SUDDEN SPELLS OF AMNESIA WHEN IT COMES TO HIS OWN HISTORY ON (DEM ISLAND PEOPLE ) DERAGOTORY LABELING ORIGIN / BUT KNOWS OF HISTORY FROM CENTURIES AGO ON THEM WHITE COLONIALIST SLAVE MASTERS SAME THING WITH MASTER WEATIE THE EMBELLISHER.
Why haven’t the ‘minister of culture’ made a concerted effort, in tandem with the ARU, to retrieve this pent up information and make it available to the public, especially knowing that they’re charging us to even get a wiff of those records. Minister of Vulture, just sitting around picking at carcasses, no fresh meat from this one. Better she don’t run ever again
That’s all well and good but…
Almost two year ago I was asked if I could help in replenishing the Old Government House Museum’s collection for what was lost during the passage of hurricane Melissa.
In response I offered items from my own collection, including:
First day covers and the original art work for the three series of postage stamps that I designed for the territory.
Detailed site plans that I had made of plantation period historic sites.
Hundreds of photographs dating from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s of the island’s built heritage, industries and cultural events.
I also agreed to make copies of my book “Virgin Island Sketches” available for sale in the museum’s gift shop to assist in their fund raising efforts.
I am waiting for a decision from Governor Pruce, Chairman of the Museum’s Board of Management, as to how he wishes to proceed with my offer.
It would appear that its not so much the items but the donor that has caused consternation to members of his management team.
Roger You have put your finger on the real problem with many issues in this territory. Once certain names come up there is a tendency to hide information no matter how relevant. We want to keep down certain persons and promote who we feel like. We want to make up our own history, invent names for historical properties and generally deceive the public. Good luck with that because whatever is in the dark will one day come to the light and each man’s work will be judged for what it is worth. The sad part is the damage it is doing to the younger generation and how they are paying the price in blood.
unless we investing in a state of the art museum like National Park on St John, keep those where they at and give access to digital copies.
A selected bibliography covering the historical, anthropological, and socioeconomic dimensions of the British Virgin Islands (BVI). It highlights early foundational historical texts, modern scholarly analyses, and doctoral dissertations – [Source: Google AI]:
Early & Foundational Works
These works establish the chronological, political, and social baseline of the territory, tracing the islands from colonization to the modern era. [1]
• Dookhan, Isaac (1975). A History of the British Virgin Islands: 1672 to 1970 A History of the British Virgin Islands… book by Isaac Dookhan. Caribbean Universities Press / Bowker. — The seminal, comprehensive history of the BVI during the colonial period. [1, 2]
• Harrigan, Norwell & Varlack, Pearl I. (1970). The British Virgin Islands: A Chronology The British Virgin Islands: A Chronology (Soft cover) – AbeBooks. Research and Consulting Services. [1, 2]
• Harrigan, Norwell & Varlack, Pearl I. (1975). The Virgin Islands Story The Virgin Islands story / by Norwell Harrigan and Pearl Varlack.. Caribbean Universities Press. — A standard historical text covering the entirety of the Virgin Islands with a focus on their socio-political development. [1, 2, 3]
• Pickering, Vernon W. (1987). A Concise History of the British Virgin Islands A concise history of the British Virgin Islands … – AbeBooks. Falcon Publications. [1]
• Pickering, Vernon W. (2006). Early History of the British Virgin Islands – From Columbus to Emancipation Early History of the British Virgin Islands – Vernon. Falcon Publications. — A definitive look at the early colonial and plantation era
• British Online Archives: Provides digitized access to primary source colonial records, including reports on Tortola from 1839–1842 detailing plantation life and the abolition of slavery.
Recent Anthropological & Socioeconomic Works
These recent and contemporary scholars analyze the shift of the BVI from a plantation economy to a center for offshore finance and globalized tourism, as well as the sociopolitical construction of belonging. [1, 2]
• Maurer, Bill (2000). Recharting the Caribbean: Land, Law, and Citizenship in the British Virgin Islands Recharting the Caribbean: Land, Law, and Citizenship in the British …. University of Michigan Press. — Explores globalization, offshore finance, and the legal definition of “belonging” in the BVI.
• O’Neal, Eugenia (2001). From the Field to the Legislature: A History of Women in the Virgin Islands From the Field to the Legislature: A History of Women … – Amazon.com. Greenwood Press. — Explores the vital but underrepresented roles of women in the public, economic, and political life of the colony.
• O’Neal, Joseph Reynold (2004): Life Notes: Reflections of a British Virgin Islander. Offers a personal and cultural primary historical source reflecting on 20th-century political, environmental, and business realities.
• Cohen, Ballerino Colleen (2010): Take Me to My Paradise: Tourism and Nationalism in the British Virgin Islands. Examines the uneven impacts of economic prosperity and the rise of nationalism alongside the tourist industry.
• Turnbull, Patricia (2012). Can These Stones Talk? — An exploration of public memory, the ruins of St. Philip’s Church, and the history of liberated Africans in the BVI.
• O’Neal, Michael E. (2012): Slavery, Smallholding and Tourism: Social Transformations in the British Virgin Islands. An in-depth anthropological and economic look at the islands’ shift from a plantation society to an economy anchored by tourism and financial services.
An Historical Overview
• Wikipedia: History of the British Virgin Islands. While reliant on a limited number of sources, this article offers a useful overview of the history of the Territory.
Many of the above named titles were in the Caribbean/Virgin islands History Unit of the Virgin Islands Public Library. I cannot say whether they are still there after various storms, as we do not have access to that Unit anymore. In fact, the Public Library in Road Town, has not reopened since 2017; and that says a lot about the interest, values and priorities of the Ministry of Education and Culture, and of the Government on the whole.
A really interesting and eye opening feature on You Tube is the Dis a fi mi History Podcast where host Wendy Aris is joined by my friend who I had the pleasure of working with John M. Chenoweth, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. The episode is entitled Quakerism and Slavery in the British Virgin Islands. Chenoweth delves into the narrative of the Quakers in the British Virgin Islands and explores how Quakerism established itself in the region, the intricate dynamics between Quaker beliefs and the institution of slavery, and the broader social and economic implications of these interactions. Professor Chenoweth provides a detailed account of the historical context, highlighting key figures like John Pickering and the Nottingham family, and examines how Quaker principles of equality and simplicity were challenged in a slave owning society. He also discusses the significant yet complex role that Quakers played in the abolition movement in the Caribbean. An enlightening discussion that offers valuable lessons for contemporary society.
Getting to preserve BVI culture is no longer any interest of the young people
Not even the older folks
Let us hear about lower
Food prices
Lower price for basic goods for elderly and babies
Young people able to purchase land and build home
Removing the RED tape for young people to operate businesses
A cleaner Road town
That is paramount
Some ah these wannabe historian come upu of their cave looking for bragging rights using a ton load of big words and long and waste down lyrics miss Parsons was sending a message about culture , but COCAINE is the new master of yhe youths mind , so history and culture went out the door / they only know how to flex off on dem island people / independence / meanwhile the elites making sure their pockets are full by raising their own salaries . somebody need to ask our master WEATIE whats the difference between about ” dem island people AND “OUR CARIBBEAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ” IN ST LUCIA. he wouldn’t dare to to address those Caribbean heads as AL-YO ISLAND PEOPLE , THAT SHOULD TELL US A BIT OF OUR FAKE HISTORY AND THESE SET OF FAKE HISTORIANS WE GOT HERE . WHAT A SET OF HYPOCRITES.
The Honourable Minister of Culture called for a ” coordinated effort to recover historical records about the Virgin Islands that are housed overseas, arguing that valuable pieces of the territory’s past remain beyond its reach.”
While I agree that dedicated and co-ordinated effort of an Historical Association/s would go a long way in assisting to locate and bring Virgin Islands historical records from metropolitan countries that hold them in their repositories, the primary responsibility of such a mandate rests with The National Library and National Archives. Indeed acquiring Virgin islands historical records from where-ever they are located is a prime function of those two above named institutions. But has there been or is there a concerted effort to build those vital institutions? One commentator said ‘heads are in the sand’. We can see the micro need, spasmodically, when we are on certain platforms, but we do not appreciate nor comprehend the need as a macro one, in order to advance the intellectual, educational, socio-economic, cultural and might I add, ‘self-respecting’ national development of our country.
The Culture Minister said the territory should develop a plan to access those records, suggesting that the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College should take the lead in forging partnerships with overseas institutions. OK, let’s say we make a Plan and actually acquire the records, where will we house them? Incidentally, we have (or had) quite a number of hard copy VI historical records in the Virgin Island/Caribbean Unit of the Public Library. However, we have no access to them, as the VI Public Library remains closed since Hurricane Irma, 2017. There are also some historical records microfilm.
It is true that the HLSCC Library is one of the two places in the Territory where one could sit and do a bit of reseach, but to leave it to the College “to work out something to get access to our information that’s out there,” is not good enough. Why didn’t the Honourable Minister use the opportunity to advocate for a National Library and National Archives Repository, whose very functions are to acquire and build up Virgin Islands historical bibliography?