This post is about print newspapers that have contributed to the heritage of St. Croix. In today’s world of electronic media, there is a plethora of digital news – both extant and passed.
The Royal Danish American Gazette, Volume 1, Number 1, was published by Daniel Thibou on July 7th, 1770, and was the first newspaper printed on St. Croix. Although there is no record of when it stopped publication, the last issue located was published on September 25th, 1793. It was succeeded by Dansk Vestindisk Regierings Avis (Danish West Indian Government Gazette) published semiweekly from 1802 to 1808. Later, the semiweekly publication, The St. Croix Gazette, was published in both Danish and English by Peter Luke Clarke from 1808 to 1813, and from 1813 to 1815, it was published semiweekly under the name The Royal St. Croix Gazette, again by Clarke, with Jonas Englund.
The St Croix Avis, the oldest extant newspaper in St Croix, sadly closing its doors in 2024 due to contemporary media pressures, was started in 1844 by Harriet Hatchett. Published as a daily paper (except Sundays) it had an impressive list of editors – Hariet Hatchett, 1864- ; Peter Hatchett, 1867-1868; Hans Hatchett, 1869-1872; Lauritz Holm, 1872-1873; Christian Dahl, 1874-1876; Julius Knuthsen, 1877; John T. Quin, 1878-1879; A. Paludan Muller, 1878-1879; Albert Hanschell, 1880-1883; John T. Quin, 1884-1916; Canute A. Brodhurst; G. Johansen, ; Fred Clarke; Rena Brodhurst, <2001>. Note: John T. Quin is cited as the author of “The Building of an Island”.
The 1946 Avis building, as it is today, near Times Square.
Location: 17°44’38.58″N 64°42’25.67″W
The West End News, published from 1912 to 1973 as a 4 page paper in Frederiksted with a varying frequency and by various editors (Axel Ovesen, 1912-1919; B. Brandt, 1920-1921; Paul E. Joseph, 1924-19 ; Cephus N. Rogers, 19 -1972). Several pages dating back to 1953 are available for reading online.
The Herald. David Hamilton Jackson founded The Herald in 1915, making it the first privately owned newspaper in the Danish West Indies. Earlier that year, Jackson traveled to Denmark to advocate for better treatment and conditions for workers in the Danish West Indies. Although the Danish crown made only vague promises regarding workers’ rights and suffrage, it granted Jackson the right to publish The Herald, which became the first free press paper in the islands.
St. Croix Tribune, edited by Ralph De Magne de Chabert, was published from 1922 to 1937 with the tagline “A journal for the progress of the people. Let justice be done though the heavens should fall”.
The Virgin Islands Daily News is headquartered on Saint Thomas. In 1995 this award winning newspaper became one of the smallest ever to win journalism’s most prestigious award, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. As of July, the paper is published from Monday to Friday, with Friday being a weekend edition for Friday,, Saturday and Sunday. The paper maintains its main office on Saint Thomas and a smaller bureau on Saint Croix. It published as The Daily News, then as The Daily News of the Virgin Islands from 1955 to 1978 with its roots in a “brochure” created by Ariel Melchior Sr. and J. Antonio Jarvis in 1930 It is in its 93rd year, in print and now also available online.