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USVI celebrates 158th anniversary of emancipation
Tuesday, July 4, 2006by Melody Wiggins
Caribbean Net News St Croix Correspondent
Email: melody@caribbeannetnews.com
ST CROIX, USVI:
The US Virgin Islands is celebrating the 158th anniversary of their emancipation from slavery on St Croix with art exhibits, re-enactments and other cultural and historical activities.
Inside of Fort Frederik, the site of the 1848
Emancipation revolt
The Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (YTT) Emancipation committee has organized events spanning six days including educational panels, photographic and art exhibits, donkey races and an historic reenactment of the revolt.
Maroon Ridge, an area on the North side of Frederiksted town, is featured in the art and photographic exhibit. The exhibit is housed in historic Fort Frederik, the actual site of the 1848 Emancipation. The history of Maroon Ridge recounts the trials of enslaved Africans who ran away from the harsh injustices of plantation life to live among the rugged cliffs and caves of the area. Many of the enslaved threw themselves to their deaths rather tan be captured and sent back to the cane fields.
In another area of the exhibit at Fort Frederik, a collection of archival photographs titled "Emancipation: A Look at Our Past to Give a Vision for the Future" showed slaves working in the fields, cutting and transporting sugar cane, selling goods in the market and drawing water from some of the many wells located around St. Croix.
The photos told the story of enslaved Africans who toiled in sugar cane fields without pay from 1773 until July 3, 1848, when the Emancipation revolt took place. The photos are part of an archive from the St. Croix Landmark Society and Cruzan Rum which was founded in 1760.
Betsy Rezende and Norma Kreiger, who assisted with the photo exhibit, said that the photos were not from 1848, because cameras were not yet invented, but that conditions of slavery persisted on St. Croix for decades afterwards and the photos had been taken between 1890 and 1912. The exhibit will remain open and free to the public for one month.
Mary Moorehead, president of the YTT Committee that organized the event, said the exhibits evoke a range of emotions from the viewers.
"There are things in our history we have to be proud of," Moorehead said. "Our ancestors rebelled and without one drop of bloodshed were emancipated."
One such component of the exhibit that caused a stir among the attendees was the life-sized replica of a "whipping post" erected near the western gate of the fort.
Slaves were bound to the whipping post, stripped naked and lashed for almost any minor infraction, according to the accompanying plaque.
The whipping post was said to be the first thing destroyed and thrown into the sea during the emancipation revolt.
Moorehead said she understands that people viewing the whipping post may experience mixed emotions and may want to overlook certain aspects of slavery. Moorehead said it is all part of history.
"We can't preserve our history and only preserve what we want," Moorehead said.
The Emancipation activities continue with several cultural events including a fungi turning and fry fish sauce contest. Organizers say these activities help preserve the culture and pass down time honored traditions to the youth.
The events also include performances by the Ghanaian Drum and Dance Ensemble, The St Lucia Creole Dances, Hispano Unidos Folkloric Dancers, the St Croix Heritage Dancers and the quelbe band; Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights.
Emancipation events will culminate on Tuesday, July 4 with a grand fire works exhibition.
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