IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 38 
Recognizing and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Islands 
becoming a part of the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2013 
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 
Virgin Islands becoming a part of the United States. 
Whereas on March 31, 2017, the United States Virgin Is-
lands will celebrate 100 years of being a part of the 
United States family, having been purchased from Den-
mark for $25,000,000 for strategic reasons, one of which 
was the defense of the Panama Canal; 
Whereas the United States Virgin Islands will use this anni-
versary to commemorate its history, culture, and diver-
sity; 
Whereas one of the earliest historical accounts of the Virgin 
Islands begins with its aboriginal inhabitants on St. 
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•HCON 38 IH 
Croix who engaged Christopher Columbus on his second 
voyage to the New World in 1493; 
Whereas the 3 largest Virgin Islands, particularly St. Croix, 
were ruled by 7 flags over the 500-year history; 
Whereas Denmark began acquiring the islands that were to 
become known as the Danish West Indies with the found-
ing 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 in a 250-year span of history, Denmark colonized 
the 3 islands as a part of the sugar trade which included 
participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and a 
plantation-based system which continued until the 1848 
slave rebellion and emancipation; 
Whereas the decline of the sugar industry in the Virgin Is-
lands led to Denmark seeking a buyer for the Danish 
West Indies; 
Whereas the United States seeking a strategic base to protect 
its assets in the Caribbean, to include the newly built 
Panama Canal, purchased the Danish West Indies for 
$25,000,000 in gold, through the Treaty of Cession of 
1917, which confirmed that the civil rights and political 
status of the inhabitants of the islands would be deter-
mined by the United States 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 this ceremony 
is commemorated yearly in the now United States Virgin 
Islands as ‘‘Transfer Day’’; 
Whereas the people of the United States Virgin Islands are 
descendants of the European colonizers, the enslaved Af-
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•HCON 38 IH 
ricans, the aboriginal inhabitants, and people from all 
over the world, most notably, Puerto Rico, the wider Car-
ibbean, South America, and the United States; 
Whereas the Virgin Islands history with the United States 
began as early as the American Revolution when St. 
Croix-bred Alexander Hamilton rose to become one of the 
leaders of the revolution and the first Secretary of the 
Treasury of the United States; 
Whereas St. Croix plantation owner Abraham Markoe was a 
financier of the American Revolution, and designed the 
Philadelphia Light Horse Calvary’s flag, which may have 
served as the pattern for the 13 stripes in the present 
American flag; 
Whereas the Danish Fort in Frederiksted was the first mili-
tary institution to salute the new United States colors, 
recognizing the independence of the 13 former British 
colonies; 
Whereas since the Transfer in 1917, the people of the United 
States Virgin Islands, have made significant contribu-
tions to the United States, including— 
(1) Alonzo G. Moron, President of Hampton Univer-
sity from 1949 to 1959; 
(2) Alton A. Adams, musician and first Black band-
master of the United States Navy; 
(3) Arthur A. Schomburg, bibliophile, historian, cu-
rator, and activist who researched and raised awareness 
of the great contributions that African-Latin Americans 
and African-Americans have made to society, was known 
as the ‘‘Father of Black History’’, and his 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; 
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(4) Ashley L. Totten, organizer and officer of the 
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the leader of 
the American Virgin Islands Civic and Industrial Associa-
tion of New York; 
(5) Camille Pissaro, artist, french impressionist 
painter, born on St. Thomas of Jewish linage where a 
royal ordinance made public in Denmark in 1814, pro-
tected and liberated Jews; 
(6) Casper Holstein, humanitarian and philan-
thropist, dedicated his efforts to advocating for improving 
the standard of living for Virgin Islanders and a greater 
degree of self-government to the islands; 
(7) Claude A. ‘‘Bennie’’ Benjamin, musician, com-
poser, and entertainer who composed musical themes for 
several Walt Disney movies; 
(8) Edward Wilmot Blyden, intellectual, educator, 
linguist, clergyman, author, statesman, college president 
and father of Pan-Africanism; 
(9) Honorable Melvin H. Evans, first elected Gov-
ernor of the United States Virgin Islands and Ambas-
sador to Trinidad & Tobago; 
(10) Honorable Ron de Lugo, first Delegate to Con-
gress of the United States Virgin Islands, served 40 
years in public service, locally and nationally, fought to 
increase the rights and privileges for territorial delegates, 
while working for the full political status of the Virgin Is-
lands, and served as the chairman of the subcommittee 
on Insular and International Affairs; 
(11) Honorable Terence A. Todman, career Ambas-
sador served the United States across the globe for al-
most 50 years and has received the Presidential Distin-
guished Service Award, the National Public Service 
Award, the Department of State’s Superior Service 
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•HCON 38 IH 
Honor Award, Director General’s Cup, and the Secretary 
of State’s Distinguished Service Award, in addition being 
decorated by the Governments of Argentina, Denmark, 
Spain, Chad, and the United States Virgin Islands; 
(12) Hubert H. Harrison, writer, teacher orator, 
editor, labor leader, and ‘‘Renaissance Man’’; 
(13) J. Raymond Jones, politician, power broker, 
and Tammany Hall Chief; 
(14) Morris Simmonds, studied in Germany at the 
universities at Turbingen, Leipzig, Munster, and Kiel, re-
ceived his medical degree, specialized in pathology, and 
after his death, had a disease of the pituitary gland, 
‘‘Simmonds Disease’’, named after him; 
(15) Nella Larsen, one of the most influential novel-
ists of the Harlem Renaissance; 
(16) Sosthenese Behn, soldier, industrialist, business 
innovator, and founder of the International Telephone 
and Telegraph Company; and 
(17) William Leidesdorff, free Black from St. Croix, 
sea captain, merchant, trader, land owner, civic leader, 
early California pioneer, and regarded as the first Black 
millionaire in the United States; 
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, United States Diplomat Ullmont L. James, Sr., Vic-
tor Lebron, and others have made substantial contribu-
tions to government, sports, and the arts in the United 
States; 
Whereas the mission for self-determination and constitutional 
reform continues today; 
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Whereas between 1924 and 1927, several proposed bills for 
constitutional reform were discussed by congressional 
committees on insular affairs, though immediate action 
didn’t manifest until the creation of the first Organic Act 
of 1936 and then subsequently with the Revised Organic 
Act of 1954; 
Whereas the Organic Act of 1936 passed as a result of ef-
forts by David Hamilton Jackson and Rothschild 
Francis, along with others including Casper Holstein and 
Ashley Totten, allowing for increased self-government, 
both this and the Revised Organic Act of 1954 intended 
to promote the growing political consciousness of Virgin 
Islanders and to achieve greater economy and efficiency 
of government, providing the legal base for the political 
and administrative re-organization of the Virgin Islands; 
Whereas this was furthered strengthened report of the 1964 
to 1965 Constitutional Convention Report which rec-
ommended an elective governor and lieutenant governor, 
the continuation of existing representation, a Resident 
Commissioner or delegate to the United States 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 while efforts in governance continued to evolve over 
the course of history, it is also important to document so-
cial and economic reforms as well; 
Whereas after the transfer, the Virgin Islands were adminis-
tered by the United States Navy and with it came an im-
proved system of social services and higher paying jobs 
associated with military buildup, and later the civil ad-
ministration sought to develop the economy through the 
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