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Fifty
years ago, the St. Croix Landmarks Society was born from the catalysis of
concern applied to time and economic potential. Enthusiasm and hard work
reclaimed the heritage and history of the people of this island. It is
hard to realize today that in 1948 we did not have a Planning Board or
Zoning Laws. That there was no such subject as Black Studies. How few of
us remember the limited powers of the elected members of the Councils?
All these things and more were changed by the actions of the people who
started the Society we have today.
The beginning of the St. Croix Landmarks
Society has roots from two directions. The first root was begun by local
residents who had been collecting pre-Columbian artifacts for years.
Residents such as George Seaman
Sr., Erik Lawaetz, Folmer Andersen,and Annie de Chabert had been picking
up Indian artifacts casually and through dedicated digs for decades,
sometimes displaying them in parlors, more often just put away. By early
1948, residents had decided they wanted a museum and, working with members
of the Municipal Council, set up a display at the then Library building in
Christiansted on the first floor.
The other root grew from dismay over the
run-down conditions in St. Croix viewed anew by returning service men and women and immigrating
Americans, many of whom had been trained at Benedict Field, a U. S. Air
Force base. They brought enthusiasm and effort together and made a
tremendous change in our society, the scope of which can hardly be
imagined today. It is a good story of cause and cooperation.
 A
great number of fighter pilots trained at Benedict Field, located on
Estates Manning's Bay, Negro Bay and Envy. Most of the
estates in that area were no longer in agricultural production, many were
in ruins. But Betty Skeoch remembers how distressed she and husband R.
Norman Skeoch were when the 27th Army Corps of Engineers had to raze all
the undamaged buildings at Betty's Hope which lay within a three mile
radius of the air field. She recalled that the greathouse had a splendid
room with an incredible stone work arched ceiling, irreplaceable, and it
all was doomed. Norman's father had been the manager there. "We couldn't
save any of it," she recalls. Many of the servicemen and women who
mustered through Benedict Field were seeing the tropics for the first time
and fell in love with them. After World War II ended, a slow trickle of
immigrants from the United States began that ended in a flood by the
1960s. Native servicemen and women, sickened by the destruction of war,
came home aware of the importance and esteem people abroad had for
preserving their historic sites.
The first continentals settled in
Christiansted, buying old townhouses and then setting about restoring
them. These people generally came from American cities that conserved and
appreciated old buildings and they were shocked by the shabby decay
evident in town. There were just a few native families left living in
town by the 1940s, but the newcomers' concerns were matched by the
interest of some powerful people like Dr. Canegata, Attorney Leader, Mrs.
Brodhurst and Pearl Larsen. Soon the nucleus of a restoration drive was
born.
As the idea of spiffing up the town grew
in discussions at Donald Down's house on Hill Street, more enthusiasts
were drawn in from residents and government officials. The oldest
surviving member of the founding group was Betty Skeoch (died 2008) of
Castle Coakley. Betty remembers that the first meetings were held on the
narrow street-side gallery of the Burnett's house. When more people got
involved the meetings moved to the side patio.
 The
group agreed to incorporate as The St. Croix Landmarks League, a
non-profit, non-political corporation. Bylaws were passed on the 9th of
March 1948 naming George H. Burnett as Chairman, R. H. Amphlett Leader,
Esquire, as Vice Chairman, Miss Irene Lowe (later married to Malcolm K.
Armstrong) as Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. David C. Canegata, Norman S. Olson,
R. Norman Skeoch, and Ove E. Olsen as members of the Executive Committee.
Their stated purpose was "to work for the preservation and confirmation of
the architectural beauty, historical value and tradition of St. Croix." The first member assessment (or dues) was set at $3.00 per year.
A myriad assortment of projects were
adopted, some of whose stories are covered within these pages. For the
past 50 years masses of energy have been spent on creating the territory's
first museum, restoring the greathouse and outbuildings at Whim for
educational purposes, then later collecting machinery to demonstrate the
process by which so many of our ancestors toiled. We expanded our
education work, developed our files into a major resource library and
undertook ecological protection of lands.
One
by one, each landmark action seemed very easy to do; yet the cumulative
list of activities and successes over the past 50 years is simply
breathtaking. I believe it was done by our parents, our neighbors and yes,
even us, by accepting the truism that today is the only day one has to
take action. By taking action on their concerns, our founders preserved
the legacy of our fore bearers, they gave the gift of yesterday to our
generation. We shall pass it on. |
