A centenary is being celebrated this month throughout St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. On March 31, 1917 the Kingdom of Denmark ceded those islands, then named the “Danish West India Islands,” to the United States. However, a question arose at the time: What should the Americans call their new territory? “Danish West India Islands” or, for short, “Danish West Indies” were hardly appropriate names for a US territory.
In the run-up to the cession, The New York Times reported that there was “a strong sentiment in the Administration circles” that the islands should be renamed the “Dewey Islands.” Admiral George Dewey was the American hero of the Battle of Manila Bay in the Spanish-American War. Admiral Dewey had also served as president of the General Board of the US Navy and had recommended that the islands be acquired by the US. He died in January 1917, and many thought naming the new territory in Dewey’s honour would be a suitable tribute to the man.
What’s in a name?
On March 1, 1917 a mass meeting was held on St. Thomas to discuss what might be a suitable name. The meeting’s proceedings were reported on by the local newspaper at the time. The residents were against the renaming of the islands as the “Dewey Islands.” Participants argued that Admiral Dewey had no connection or association with the islands. They found the proposed name “United States West Indies” to be ill-sounding and as ungrammatical as “England West Indies” would be. They felt the name “American West Indies” would tend to give the impression that Puerto Rico, its dependencies and any other islands that the US may acquire were all parts of the new territory. The “Caribbean Islands,” they argued, would not give the islands a clear identity. Moreover as the name “American West Indies” was not given to Puerto Rico, it would be unfair and unnatural to apply it to the small group of islands. The name “American Virgin Islands” received unanimous approval at the mass meeting because it sounded good and flowed well. It was felt that the phrase “Virgin Islands” was already known and the term “American” would make the islands applicable only to the US and therefore prevent confusion.
Making it official
In advance of the cession itself, on March 3, 1917 an act of the US Congress was passed to provide for a temporary government for the new territory. The name “American Virgin Islands” was not used in the new law. Instead, the islands were referred to as the “Virgin Islands of the United States.” On the day of the cession, this was the name that the new acting American governor declared that the territory would be known by. Much later, in 1936, the US Congress adopted an Organic Act for the young territory, something comparable to a constitution. The Organic Act provided that “the name ‘Virgin Islands’ … shall apply to and include the territorial domain, islands, cays and waters acquired by the United States through the cession of the Danish West Indian Islands …”. The current Organic Act adopted in 1954 contains the same provision. These events gave the American territory the exact same name as its British neighbour.
Across the water
The British territory had used the name “Virgin Islands” since at least the arrival of the English in 1672. In King George III’s warrant appointing the territory’s first-ever chief justice in 1776, the king described the territory as that “commonly called The Virgin Islands.” It was the name inherited from Columbus, who, inspired by the story of St. Ursula, named the entire archipelago in 1493.
The popularity of the Virgin Islands name has differed across the two neighbouring territories over the century. The American side took to the name with some zeal. Its flag, which was adopted in 1921, is emblazoned with the letters “V” and “I.” The Virgin Islands name is reserved exclusively for the American side at sporting events including the Olympics.
On the other hand, the British side often retreated from the name. Perhaps most notably, after over a century of British stamps with the legend “Virgin Islands” in 1968, that name was dropped in favour of the now common “British Virgin Islands” description. This was done even though the neighbouring US territory does not even issue its own stamps.
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