Ethnic Scrapbooking

July 3rd - Emancipation Day in St. Croix

I wish we were back in St. Croix today to celebrate.  We heard about this day of celebration when we visited a local Jr. High School.

Article Excerpt by Bill Kossler

July 3 is Emancipation Day in the Virgin Islands, marking the day in 1848 when St. Croix's African population rose up to break the bonds and shackles of chattel slavery some 19 years before Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in the United States. St. Croix will be hosting a series of celebrations, conversations and commemorations leading up to the day, with Fourth of July celebrations the next day.
  The celebration is organized every year by the History, Culture and Tradition Foundation, led by Mary L. Moorhead of Frederiksted.
  Emancipation was brought about by the St. Croix slave rebellion of 1848. That revolt was lead by Moses "Gen. Buddhoe" Gottlieb, an enslaved African and master sugar boiler who could travel from plantation to plantation.

Mickens Family in the heart of Fredericksted June 2009

 Buddhoe could read and write and was knowledgeable in world affairs. That same year revolutions swept across much of Europe, and Buddhoe may have considered himself a part of that widespread movement.
 Prompted by the takeover of Fort Frederik, the military stronghold in St. Croix, and threats by the enslaved Africans to "burn down the town of Frederiksted," Gov. General Peter Von Scholten reluctantly made the proclamation "from this day onward all unfree in the Danish West Indies are free."

 The events of July 3, 1848, ushered in a new era between the black working class and the Danish crown. The proclamation freed not only the blacks in Frederiksted, which was the capital of the Danish West Indies, but also the nearly 3,000 enslaved Africans throughout the entire Danish West Indies, including St. Thomas and St. John. Though slavery was abolished, the movements of workers remained tightly controlled, leading to the Fireburn revolt thirty years later, in 1878.
  To mark Emancipation Day, every year there is a donkey race, a fun pastime on St. Croix that goes way back into colonial times.
  "Everyone loves the donkey race," Moorhead said Wednesday. "It's funny, and like a big country picnic. You can't help but be happy and smiling at a donkey race."
  There is also a long walk from Christiansted to Frederiksted.
  "It's a very spiritual event," Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson said Thursday, encouraging everyone to join in. "We go slow and if you get tired, you can hop on the bus following the walk and ride." 
  Source:  http://www.onepaper.com/stcroixvi/?v=d&i=&s=News:Local&p=1212899458

St. Croix Vacation Album

Although our family has taken week long vacations before, I've never scrapbooked the whole week, amazing I know.  I've scrapbooked whole albums on just one day events, but never a week long event for my personal scrapbook collection.

Here's my game plan:  (I'm making this public so you can hold me accountable)

1. download and tag all photos - DONE!
2. dowload and tag all of my sister's photos  - DONE!
3. delete bad shots and duplicates SCRATCH, too time consuming, not going to do
4. Revisit Stacy Julian's ideas in Photo Freedom (I highly recommend purchasing this great reference book)  - DONE 7/16/09
5. organize photos by day - select 8-10 to print/use DONE 7/17/09
6. order two sets, use 2nd set for Kids,Parent's & Hostess album -  revised plan 7/17/09, create a 9 image collage for each day, print at home one 8x10 for each day
7. Create photo album or traditional album - hard choice for me, uploading to a photo album seems very appealing and quick, but I love to customize using my own stash. - Created one mini-album in an hour by purchasing a pre-decorated album at silent auction for $25!
8. Kids Pages - let them do their own two-page spread or mini-albums?
9. Parents Keepsake - give them the prints in photo sleeve album or what?
10. Cousin Tina (our hostess) - Create Thank You gift - traditional mini-album or loose print...decided, have Lisa Renee Young create a blank beach-themed mini-album
11. Deadline - Complete by September 1, 2009

Leave a note or additional ideas in the comments section on what you think about my plan.

Family Historian at work.

Family Reunion Mode

Back from vacation in St. Croix, VI where 20 of us relaxed and enjoyed a week long family reunion without any major incidents i.e. arguments.  I can't wait to do it again. (check out my Facebook photoalbum for some photos) Now I am in full family historian, geneaology, heritage preservation mode.

Pop on over to an article about my parenting style and how I TRY to relate to our ancestors.CLICK HERE

Then check out how I reunited with an old friend through Facebook.

See a new photograph of an ancestor I found while in St. Croix by clicking here

Beach # 4 of 4!  We had an absolute blast!