Through the years, researchers have used the Danish documents from the Danish West Indies. But for many years the archives – approx. 800 linear meters – were poorly registered and in bad shape.
Some parts of the archive from before 1917 are not located in Denmark, but either in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. or on the islands. Therefore, Denmark and the Virgin Islands’ government entered into an agreement in 1999 on co-operation about the common past. This was first and foremost for the purpose of making the common heritage of documents accessible. In 2000, the U.S. became part of this agreement.
Thanks to a special grant from the Danish Ministry of Culture, the Danish National Archives were able in 1999-2002 to register in detail, re-box, and assess all the West Indian local archives. Go to the Danish National Archives website.
At the same time, a Danish West Indian history website was established with substantial amounts of information about the existing archives and literature about the previous Danish possessions in the West Indies.
