Rare Photographs Capture Daily Life of the Danish West Indies in St. Croix, Virgin Islands in the 1910s

The Danish West Indies consisted of the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The Colony was sold to the United States in 1917, since which time the three islands have been known as the United States Virgin Islands. Most of the historical records of the islands for the pre-1917 period are located in the Danish National Archives in Copenhagen.

Two women in front of a house at St. Croix

Woman with a child of upper class. St. Croix

Street in Christiansted, St. Croix

Teacher and pupils near Cruz Bay, St. Jan.

Class in a class room in Frederiksted

Class in a class room, Peter’s Rest Skole

Water carriers, St. Croix

Shoemakers, St. Croix

Sugar works at St. Croix

(via National Museum of Denmark)