Broad Treatments of Danish West Indian History

The absolute essential work in Danish is Johannes Brøndsted, ed., Vore gamle Tropekolonier, 1^st edition, vol. 2, Copenhagen 1953, and 2^nd edition, vols. 1-4, Copenhagen 1966. The four volumes of the second edition that deal with Danish West Indian history are J. O. Bro-Jørgensen, Dansk Vestindien indtil 1755. Kolonisation og kompagnistyre; Jens Vibæk, Dansk Vestindien 1755-1848. Vestindiens storhedstid; Fridlev Skrubbeltrang, Dansk Vestindien 1848-1880. Politiske brydninger og social uro; and Georg Nørregaard, Dansk Vestindien 1880-1917. Reformforsøg og salgsforhandlinger. The other volumes of this work treat the Danish colonies in Asia and Africa. The presentation is sound and treats practically all aspects of the colony’s history, from the perspective of historians writing around 1950, and thus with considerable emphasis on trade and administrative affairs. This work was the first scholarly treatment of the islands’ history. Each volume includes source references and a bibliography; volume 4 contains a common alphabetical index to all four volumes.

The latest broad description in Danish is Ove Hornby, Kolonierne i Vestindien, Copenhagen 1980, which, in addition to a competent and well-written synthesis, has an updated bibliography, but no references. A popular modern description of the islands’ history is Palle Lauring, Dansk Vestindien. Historien og øerne, Copenhagen 1978.

Of the earlier Danish literature, mention must be made of Kay Larsen, Dansk Vestindien 1666-1917, Copenhagen 1928, which has many details, including a list of all the governors, but presents no analysis; the information presented is, sadly, not all reliable. Also the detailed description in Waldemar Westergaard, The Danish West Indies under Company Rule, 1671-1754, with a Supplementary Chapter, 1755-1917, New York 1917, is now rather obsolete but is nevertheless valuable as regards the period until 1754, inter alia by virtue of its many appendices, primarily translations of various Danish sources and statistics.

The most important Danish periodicals concerning Danish West Indian history are the Dansk Vestindisk Selskabs medlemsblad, published since 1917, and the Handels- og Søfartsmuseets Årbog, published since 1942. Of English periodicals, mention can be made of the Journal of Caribbean History, published since 1970, and Caribbean Studies, published since 1961.

Among broad English treatments of the history of the Virgin Islands, there is reason to mention Isaac Dookhan, A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States, St. Thomas 1974, which is a sound description, with emphasis on the Danish epoch. Another thorough presentation, emphasising the period after 1917, is William W. Boyer, America’s Virgin Islands. A History of Human Rights and Wrongs, Durham NC, 1983. A fine work focusing on religion and slavery is Jens Larsen, Virgin Islands History, Philadelphia 1950, reprinted 1968. An earlier, but still valuable description is Charles Edwin Taylor, Leaflets from the Danish West Indies, London 1888, reprinted 1970. Three brief and relatively popular descriptions emphasising the conditions of the black population are J. Antonio Jarvis, Brief History of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas 1938; J. Antonio Jarvis, The Virgin Islands and their People, Philadelphia 1944; and Valdemar A. Hill, Rise to Recognition. An Account of Virgin Islanders from Slavery to Self-Government, St. Thomas 1971. A bulky book with a popular but distinctly afrocentric approach is Harold W. L. Willocks, The Umbilical Cord. The History of the United States Virgin Islands from Pre-Columbian Era to the Present, St. Croix 1995. The latest contribution is a special issue of a review in Dutch which, however, also contains English translations of five of the articles; all of its ten articles deal with aspects of the history of the Danish West Indies; the volume is Erik Gøbel & Benoît Verstraete, eds., Koloniale Waren. Deens-West-Indië, Kruispunt, vol. 187, Bruges 2001. The first easily accessible general description of the history of St. Croix is Florence Lewisohn, St. Croix under Seven Flags, Hollywood FL 1970. A richly illustrated, new popular description is Erik J. Lawaetz, St. Croix 500 Years. Pre-Columbus to 1990, St. Croix 1991. An older counterpart to this is John P. Knox, A Historical Account of St. Thomas, W. I., New York 1852 and later reprints. An edited version of this book was published in Danish as Bernhard von Petersen, En historisk Beretning om de dansk-vestindiske Øer: St. Croix, St. Thomas og St. Jan, Copenhagen 1855. As regards St. John, there is also Ruth Hull Low & Rafael Valls, eds., St. John Backtime. Eyewitness Accounts from 1718 to 1956, St. John 1985.

Finally, there are a few picture books among the broad works, such as Henning Henningsen, The Danish West Indies in Old Pictures / Dansk Vestindien i gamle billeder, St. Croix / Copenhagen 1967; Eva Lawaetz, The Danish Heritage of the U. S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix 1977; and the West Indian sections of Per Eilstrup & Nils Eric Boesgaard, Fjernt fra Danmark. Billeder fra vore Tropekolonier, Slavehandel og Kinafart, Copenhagen 1974.

A small English historical dictionary of the former Danish islands is Kenneth R. Farr, Historical Dictionary of Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands, Metuchen NJ 1973, pp. 89-126.