Oct. 29, 2007 — The accomplishments of acclaimed Virgin Islander David Hamilton Jackson — known as the "Father of the Labor Union" because of his efforts to establish the first union in the territory — are celebrated every Nov. 1. This year, along with the traditional celebrations in Grove Place, there will be a "Walk for Freedom" and a student poster contest.
Jackson was an educator, journalist, judge, legislator and labor leader. The holiday was formerly known as Liberty Day, but was later renamed David Hamilton Jackson Day.
The day's activities begin at 6 a.m. with a Walk for Freedom beginning at Cumberlandt Castle on Strand Street in Frederiksted to the Bethlehem Sugar Factory. Organizer Shamila Joseph, president of Union Members in Action, said this is not ordinary walk.
"This walk signifies the past and the present and the future," Joseph said. If you need a reason to walk, Joseph said, "Walk for unity, walk for strength, walk for health, walk for our future, walk for our children, walk for those who have gone before us. If you cannot walk, drive with us."
From 1 p.m. until dusk, the Grove Place Action Committee will host the annual activity in the center of the tiny west-end village. Speakers and guests gather on the gazebo to deliver their orations. Children play on nearby swings and slides. The traditional meal of bull, bread and toddy is served from the community center. Vendors' tents ring the area selling everything from blow-up superhero action figures to tasty traditional dishes like kallallo, conch and stew goat.
This year the committee is honoring its elders by posthumously recognizing past members of the Grove Place Action Committee, according to Raymond Williams, committee president. A living elder will also be honored, with 100-year-old Eulalie Rivera as a platform guest. Students from the Eulalie Rivera Professional Development School will perform a tribute to Hamilton. Other activities include a dramatic presentation by members of Generation Now, the JJDP Jammers Band and a DJ.
"Come out and share your history, listen to the speakers tell about Hamilton's accomplishments — you may just learn something new," Williams said.
The St. Croix Farmers in Action is sponsoring a Liberty Day Poster Contest. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade can make a poster depicting David Hamilton Jackson's trip to Denmark and his meeting with its king. Junior and senior high students' poster will depict Hamilton's accomplishments with the free press and the 1916 labor strike. Entry deadline is Oct. 31, and an awards presentation will take place at 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Bethlehem Sugar Factory. Winners will receive savings bonds.
Jackson was born in Estate Hill, St Croix, on Sept. 28, 1884. Both of his parents were educated, and Jackson attended East Hill School, where his father was the principal. He worked as a bookkeeper at a business owned by James C. Canegata, and was known as a community activist.
In 1913, with the help of Ralph Bough, Jackson organized the first labor union. Men, women and children on St. Croix were working in cane fields from dawn until dusk for 10 and 20 cents a day. The labor movement later included St. Thomas, where the majority of the population was working as coal porters employed by the West India Company. They earned one dollar or more a day.
The union allowed the laborers on both islands to abandon physical uprisings for better working conditions in favor of organized protests.
Because of his knowledge and oratorical skills, Hamilton was selected to go to Denmark and make a plea to remove the censorship of newspapers in the then Danish West Indies. He fought and won his case before King Christian X, and in 1915 established the territory's first free press, The Herald.
The Danish government gradually realized that governance over its only colonies was becoming increasingly cumbersome. The Danes entered into negotiations to transfer the Virgin Islands to the United States of America. Jackson led the way in gaining support for the 1917 transfer.
A bust of Jackson is erected in Estate Grove Place near the site where he regularly held town meetings to discuss labor issues, freedom of the press and other social issues of the times.
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