IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 39 
Recognizing and commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Islands 
of the United States becoming a part of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2017 
Ms. PLASKETT submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
Committees on Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Government Reform, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing and commemorating the 100th anniversary of 
the Virgin Islands of the United States becoming a part 
of the United States. 
Whereas, on March 31, 2017, the Virgin Islands of the 
United States will commemorate 100 years of being a 
part of the United States; 
Whereas the Virgin Islands of the United States will use this 
anniversary, in part, to commemorate its history, culture, 
and diversity; 
Whereas one of the earliest historical accounts of the Virgin 
Islands of the United States was in 1493, when Carib in-
habitants on St. Croix engaged Christopher Columbus on 
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•HCON 39 IH 
his second voyage, in what is considered the first insur-
gence against European colonization in the New World; 
Whereas the three largest islands of the Virgin Islands of the 
United States were ruled by at least six sovereigns over 
the past 500 years; 
Whereas Denmark began its acquisition of the islands that 
were to become known as the Danish West Indies with 
the founding of its first permanent colony on the island 
of St. Thomas in 1665, to be followed by the island of 
St. John in 1717, and the island of St. Croix in 1733; 
Whereas, during a 250-year span of history, Denmark colo-
nized those three islands as a part of the sugar trade, 
which included participation in the transatlantic slave 
trade and a plantation-based system that subjugated 
slaves; 
Whereas significant hardships were endured by enslaved Afri-
cans during the period of European colonial rule, which 
precipitated the 1733 revolution on St. John, the 1848 
insurrection and emancipation declaration signed by Dan-
ish Governor Peter von Scholten, the 1878 rebellion on 
St. Croix known as the ‘‘Fireburn’’, and the 1892 coal 
workers’ strike on St. Thomas; 
Whereas, by the spirit of resistance, enslaved African heroes 
like General Buddhoe, Anna Hegaard, the Queens Mary, 
Agnes, Matilda, ‘‘Bottom Belly’’, and Coziah, and other 
leaders were able to liberate themselves and emancipate 
the African people; 
Whereas an islandwide slave insurrection on St. Croix in July 
of 1848 resulted in the official abolition of slavery in the 
Danish West Indies; 
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•HCON 39 IH 
Whereas the decline of the sugar industry in the region led 
Denmark to seek a buyer for the Danish West Indies; 
Whereas the United States, seeking a strategic base to pro-
tect its assets in the Caribbean, including the newly built 
Panama Canal, purchased the Danish West Indies in 
1917 through the Convention Between the United States 
and Denmark for Cession of the Danish West Indies, 
which confirmed that the civil rights and political status 
of the inhabitants of the islands would be determined by 
Congress; 
Whereas the transfer of the Danish West Indies to the 
United States took place on March 31, 1917, with cere-
monies on St. Thomas and St. Croix and is commemo-
rated annually in the Virgin Islands of the United States 
as ‘‘Transfer Day’’; 
Whereas, after the transfer, the Virgin Islands of the United 
States was administered by the Navy, which led to an im-
proved system of social services, higher paying jobs asso-
ciated with military buildup, and, later, the development 
of the economy through increased agricultural produc-
tion; 
Whereas, between 1924 and 1927, several proposed bills for 
constitutional reform were discussed by congressional 
committees on insular affairs, though action did not 
manifest until the enactment of the Organic Act of the 
Virgin Islands in 1936 and the Revised Organic Act of 
the Virgin Islands in 1954; 
Whereas the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands passed as a 
result of efforts by David Hamilton Jackson and Roth-
schild Francis, along with others, including Casper Hol-
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•HCON 39 IH 
stein and Ashley Totten, allowing for increased self-gov-
ernment for the Virgin Islands of the United States; 
Whereas the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands pro-
moted the growing political consciousness of Virgin Is-
landers, achieved greater economy and efficiency of gov-
ernment, and provided the legal basis for the political 
and administrative reorganization of the Virgin Islands of 
the United States; 
Whereas this was furthered strengthened by the 1965 Con-
stitutional Convention Report, which recommended an 
elective Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the continu-
ation of existing representation, a Resident Commissioner 
or Delegate to the House of Representatives, and the 
right of Virgin Islanders to vote in national elections for 
the President and Vice President of the United States; 
Whereas the mission for self-determination and constitutional 
reform continues today; 
Whereas the Virgin Islands of the United States common his-
tory with the United States dates back to Alexander 
Hamilton, who was raised on the island of St. Croix and 
later became one of the leaders of the American Revolu-
tion and the first Secretary of the Treasury; 
Whereas the people of the Virgin Islands of the United States 
have made significant contributions to the United States, 
including— 
(1) William Leidesdorff of St. Croix, a sea captain, 
merchant, trader, landowner, civic leader, early California 
pioneer, and the first Black millionaire in the United 
States; 
(2) Camille Pissaro, a French impressionist painter 
who was born on St. Thomas; 
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(3) Edward Wilmot Blyden, an intellectual, educa-
tor, linguist, clergyman, author, statesman, college presi-
dent, and father of Pan-Africanism; 
(4) Hubert H. Harrison, a writer, teacher, orator, 
editor, labor leader, and ‘‘Renaissance Man’’; 
(5) Morris Simmonds, a German physician and 
noted pathologist, after whom a disease of the pituitary 
gland known as ‘‘Simmonds Disease’’ is named; 
(6) Arthur A. Schomburg, a bibliophile, historian, 
curator, and activist who raised awareness of the great 
contributions that African Latin Americans and African 
Americans have made to society, and whose collection of 
literature and art is now part of the Schomburg Center 
for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public 
Library in Harlem; 
(7) Alton A. Adams, a musician and the first Black 
bandmaster of the Navy; 
(8) Sosthenes Behn, a soldier, industrialist, business 
innovator, and founder of the International Telephone 
and Telegraph Company; 
(9) Casper Holstein, a humanitarian and philan-
thropist who advocated for improving the standard of liv-
ing for Virgin Islanders and for a greater degree of is-
land self-government; 
(10) Nella Larsen, one of the most influential novel-
ists of the Harlem Renaissance; 
(11) Ashley L. Totten, an organizer and officer of 
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and leader of 
the American Virgin Islands Civic and Industrial Associa-
tion of New York; 
(12) Alonzo G. Moron, the President of Hampton 
University from 1949 to 1959; 
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(13) Valmy Thomas, a professional baseball player 
and the first Virgin Islands of the United States native 
to play in Major League Baseball; 
(14) Claude A. ‘‘Bennie’’ Benjamin, a musician, 
composer, and entertainer who composed musical themes 
for several Walt Disney pictures; 
(15) J. Raymond Jones, a politician, power broker, 
and Tammany Hall chief; 
(16) Roy Innis, an activist, politician, and National 
Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality from 1968 
to 2017; 
(17) the Honorable Melvin H. Evans, the first elect-
ed Governor of the Virgin Islands of the United States 
and Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago; 
(18) the Honorable Terence A. Todman, a career 
Ambassador who served the United States across the 
globe for almost 50 years, who was decorated by the Gov-
ernments of Denmark, Spain, Argentina, and Chad, and 
who received the Presidential Distinguished Service 
Award, the National Public Service Award, the Director 
General’s Cup, and the Department of State’s Superior 
Service Honor Award and Distinguished Service Award; 
(19) the Honorable Ron de Lugo, the first Delegate 
to Congress from the Virgin Islands of the United States 
and who spent 40 years in public service, locally and na-
tionally, fought to increase the rights and privileges for 
territorial delegates, worked for the full political status of 
the Virgin Islands of the United States, and served as 
the chairman of the Subcommittee on Insular and Inter-
national Affairs; and 
(20) the Honorable Donna Christian-Christensen, a 
Delegate to Congress from the Virgin Islands of the 
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•HCON 39 IH 
United States and the first female physician to serve in 
Congress; 
Whereas Virgin Islanders such as Calvin Pickering, Elrod 
Hendricks, Emile Griffith, Horace Clarke, Joe Chris-
topher, Julian Jackson, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Krigger, 
Midre Cummings, Raja Bell, Saba Johnson, Tim Dun-
can, Ullmont L. James, Sr., Victor Lebron, and others 
have made substantial contributions to government, 
sports, and the arts in the United States; 
Whereas Denmark and the United States are united by 
shared values and a strong commitment to freedom, de-
mocracy, human rights, racial justice, economic self-suffi-
ciency, prosperity, and free market opportunities and 
should continue to provide for economic and cultural ex-
changes, trade and investment, and people-to-people con-
tacts; 
Whereas the Governments of Denmark and the Virgin Is-
lands of the United States have discussed establishing a 
memorandum of understanding for sharing and pre-
serving archival records and historic and prehistoric arti-
facts; 
Whereas there has been ongoing collaboration between 
schools in the Virgin Islands of the United States and 
Denmark, allowing teachers and students to share, learn, 
and strengthen intercultural understandings of a shared 
history through the creation of new teaching materials 
and a common goal to prepare students for global citizen-
ship; 
Whereas more collaboration should occur, transcending the 
classroom to educate all Virgin Islanders, United States 
citizens, and Danes, beyond the centennial commemora-
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•HCON 39 IH 
tion in 2017 because education is critical to improving re-
lations, understanding, and the healing process; 
Whereas the material and cultural heritage that was engen-
dered during Danish rule, such as the music of Quelbe, 
the dance of Quadrille, and the preserved architecture, 
has manifested under United States rule and has become 
a dynamic addition to the story of the United States; 
Whereas the people of the Virgin Islands of the United 
States, like the people of the United States, have a di-
verse historical, cultural, and genetic inheritance linking 
them to Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe; 
Whereas Virgin Islanders and Danish Americans have con-
tributed greatly to the history and development of the 
United States, and the 100th anniversary of their shared 
legacy should be properly recognized; 
Whereas Virgin Islanders have served the United States in 
every war and conflict since the Revolutionary War and 
have contributed to every facet of life in the United 
States; and 
Whereas 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Is-
lands of the United States becoming a part of the United 
States: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
1
concurring), That Congress— 
2
(1) recognizes and commemorates the 100th 
3
anniversary of the Virgin Islands of the United 
4
States becoming a part of the United States; 
5
(2) appreciates the many years of strong 
6
United States-Danish diplomatic relations; 
7
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•HCON 39 IH 
(3) acknowledges the creation of the Virgin Is-
1
lands of the United States Centennial Commission, 
2
established under Public Law 114–224, to lead the 
3
Federal effort to commemorate this centennial; and 
4
(4) encourages the Archivist of the United 
5
States to cooperate with the Governments of Den-
6
mark and the Virgin Islands of the United States to 
7
digitize the historical records of the Virgin Islands 
8
of the United States in the Federal archives, and 
9
make them directly accessible to the people of the 
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Virgin Islands of the United States in secure re-
11
search facilities located on all three major islands of 
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the Virgin Islands of the United States. 
13
Æ 
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