Rothschild Francis

Who is Rothschild Francis?

Rothschild Francis was born in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in 1892, during the final decades of Danish colonial rule over the Virgin Islands. After the United States purchased the islands from Denmark in 1917, Francis became one of the most outspoken advocates for the political rights of Virgin Islanders, who at the time lived under U.S. naval administration without citizenship or self-governance. In 1921 he founded and published the newspaper The Emancipator, using it as a platform to campaign for civil liberties, an elected legislature, and American citizenship for Virgin Islanders. He organized labor unions, led public protests against naval rule, and traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress directly on behalf of the territory. His advocacy contributed to the climate that led to the Organic Act of 1936, which expanded local self-government, and he was elected to serve on the Colonial Council, the territorial legislature, representing St. Thomas and St. John. Francis is remembered as a founding figure of the Virgin Islands civil rights and labor movement, and streets and public buildings in the territory bear his name in tribute.

Sources: William W. Boyer, America's Virgin Islands: A History of Human Rights and Wrongs (Carolina Academic Press) · Legislature of the Virgin Islands, biographical records on Rothschild Francis · Isaac Dookhan, A History of the Virgin Islands of the United States (Canoe Press)