Transfer Day - Danish Heritage Day - will be commemorated on St. Croix at the Lawaetz Family Museum in Little La Grange on March 31, 2006 at 10 a.m.
The event is jointly organized by the St. Croix Friends of Denmark Society and the St. Croix Landmarks Society.
The Program includes the presentation of the three flags - USA, Denmark and the Virgin Islands - by the ROTC Central High School cadets, a welcome by Kathy Jackson, the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the St. Croix Landmarks Society; singing of the US and Danish National Anthems as well as the Virgin Islands March will be by the “Joyful Voice” Community Choir; a keynote address by Dr. Olaf Hendricks with a focus on art; Musical Interludes by the Millenium Choir and the St. Patrick''''s Steelband, as well as a Quadrille Presentation by the Pearl B. Larsen School.
The Master of Ceremonies is Bill Bass, President of the St. Croix Friends of Denmark, who will also give the Closing Remarks.
Food will be provided by Villa Morales and Friends of Denmark at a nominal fee, and the Bar will be handled by the St. Croix Landmarks Society. There will also be displays by the Whim Museum and Our Town Frederiksted. Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights will offer the musical entertainment.
The Carl & Marie Lawaetz Museum is the ancestral home of the Lawaetz family since the 1890''''s. The Museum, filled with West Indian furnishings and surrounded by historic ruins and tropical gardens, is maintained by the St. Croix Landmarks Society, and serves to teach visitors and locals alike about the agricultural and horticultural traditions of the Danish settlers.
Transfer Day - Danish Heritage Day
87 years ago, the Danish West Indies were transferred to the United States and became the US Virgin Islands. This simple historic fact hides a long history of negotiations between the US and the Danish governments, dating back to 1867. At that time, Denmark was prepared to sell the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, but within a year, the islands suffered the devastation of a hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami and a fire.. For more than two years, the treaty failed to receive the ratification of the US Congress.
Beginning in January 1900 and over another two years, a new treaty was negotiated for the sale of the three islands, including St. Croix. The treaty was ratified by the US Congress, but neither house of the Danish legislature acted on it.
Negotiations were always for strategic rather than commercial reasons, and so with the beginning of the First World War, American interests in the Caribbean became heightened. With the acquisition of Puerto Rico, the General Board of the USA felt that the purchase of the Virgin Islands would not be advantageous, but “it would be wise in order to deter any other power gaining bases in the Caribbean.” In March of 1916, US Secretary Lansing sent a draft treaty to the Danish Government offering $ 25 million in gold for the three islands; in September 1916 the US Senate approved the revised treaty and so did the Danish Rigsdag three months later on December 21, 1916.
The official transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States took place at 4 pm on March 31, 1917 - simultaneously on all three islands. Transfer Day has been commemorated ever since and is also known as ''''Danish Heritage Day'''' in order to highlight the common history and culture.
St.Croix Transfer Day 2006
Greetings, dear friends,
today - as you know - we commemorated the 89th Tranfer Day. It was a festive event and well attended - including some 30 Danes! I guess the photos will show why the visitors love this island and the beautiful grounds of the Lawaetz Family Museum, where the event was held.
Three veterans brought the US, the Danish and the VI flags. The National anthems were sung, welcoming addresses by the Chairperson of the Landmarks Society, Kathy Jackson, and by the President of St. Croix Friends of Denmark, Bill Bass, and two eye-witness-accounts of the actual transfer 89 years ago (- one was by Eulelia Rivera, 99 years old, seen in the photo).
There was an address by Lt. Governor Vargrave Richards and another one by Dr. Olaf Hendricks about his Danish roots (- he set the mood by telling jokes from his recent trip to Denmark, where - a ccording to him - a TV host had asked a member of the band of Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights: "How many days of the week start with "T" ? and he answered: "Two - today and tomorrow"...
"And how many seconds does the year have?" and after thinking a moment he said "Twelve! ,... yes, 12 - that is the ''second of January, the second of February, the seond of March, etc..."
Anyhow, he had all of us laughing, but then the topic got more serious, and was quite fascinating.
A choir and a school steelband performed and students danced the Quadrille.
The event ended with a delicious picknick under those beautiful 100+ year-old trees.
The last photo shows Claudette Robinson, Maria Grigg (- who had not been in the January group photo of the Board) and Jeanne Blackwood who had arranged the buffet.
It was a great event and a perfect ''rehearsal'' for next year, when we can hopefully celebrate with you - our friends from the DWIS.
Warm greetings from your St. Croix Friends of Denmark - and "Secretary Horst."