A Postcolonial Path Sugar Mills from Taboo to Attraction St. Croix, USVI
Amal Abdi Ashur Master’s Thesis 2017 Appendix #2 Interviews
Name_ Gerville R. Larsen Age_ 51 Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Architect Origin_ St. Croix, USVI
Date of Interview_ 21.02.17
2
Keyword Liability problems Sue Symbols, Icons Slavery Lagacy Meditation
3
I met architect Gerville Larsen at his studio located on Queen and Market Street 20A in Christiansted, St. Croix. We met for a talk about the sugar mills on the islands, what they represent and how to work with them. Gerville is a recognized architect on St. Croix and I first met him in connection to the “In Search of Identity� project last year on my 8th semester at Aarhus School of Architecture. Gerville found this project interesting but made it clear that there could be some issues in terms of safety. Many of the sugar mills are located on private properties and there have been some problems with tourist or historic interested people trespassing the properties at all times. If someone were to be injured on a private area, historic or not, the owner of the property will be sued and he must deal with the aftermath of the injuries and compensations. In that connection, the mills can be difficult to access as the owners do not want anyone to enter their property as they do not want to deal with the consequences if something were to happen. In some cases, the owners place railings or fences around holes both to protect visitors and themselves which I find problematic. It will destroy and dilute the architectural unity and the relation between the different elements of the plantation ruins. If this project were to be realized Gerville argues that the path and sugar mill destinations in some way needs to be secured so it will be usable and hopefully avoid being sued. At some point Tony Ayeers worked with the owners trying to make a legal solution so that the historic places can be visited by interested and the owners do not get sued.
Gerville Larsen
4
When I asked Gerville what the sugar mills mean for the people of St. Croix he replied with a bipartite answer. According to Gerville there are around 250 mill on the island and they are icons and symbols. They are official symbol of St. Croix and are find everywhere on signs, on keychains on tourist map etcetera. So, from the outside it seems that the people of St. Croix are proud of the sugar mills and when I visited a few sugar mills it seemed that the community used them for different things. But Gerville tells a different story. He tells that one of the buildings at UVI called The UVI Cone was built as a symbol of the sugar mills, an interpretation of the architectural form. But it there was a big back clash. Numerous people got upset and it became a huge issue. They felt it was a step back, and a lot of people asked why St. Croix needed a building that would represent slavery because that is what the sugar mills represent as far as they knew. He told that the sugar mills are a sore point for many Cruzan’s. For Gerville the mills represent the opposite. He sees the mills as the value of the people who built them. They are legacies for the hard-working slaves and for what they were used for and produced. I agreed in this point as this is the basic for my Master’s Thesis. In terms of the program for my site Castle Coakley Gerville mentioned that years ago there was a trend of minor interventions inside the mills so that they played music of the former machinery. He could imagine Castle Coakley as a place for meditation and spa.
Gerville Larsen
5
Name_ George F. Tyson Age_ Unknown Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Historian Origin_ Unknown
Date of Interview_ 23.02.17
6
Keyword Heritage Trail Body of historic features Need attention now Slavery Be attentive Change
7
I was recommended to talk and discuss my project with George Tyson by many including architect Gerville Larsen and Michael Hartlage, General Manager at Club Comanche Hotel. George Tyson is a historian living on St. Croix that are widely recognized for his great knowledge on Virgin Island history. Tyson was busy at the time of my call and did not have time to meet but would be happy to help in any other way. We had an informative and good conversation on the phone. George Tyson caught the idea of a connection path between selected sugar mills and taught it could be possible with such project on St. Croix. In that connection, he told about a “Heritage Trail� that were established to connect the historic sites across the island, sadly I later read that due to budget cuts the trail or the historic sites no longer are maintained (GoToStCroix.com, n.d.). Hopefully my Master’s Thesis can create a focus on historic sites and create an awareness on how important a heritage trail can be for knowing and investigating your own history. George Tyson stated that the sugar mills need attention now! It is a matter of time before they are gone if nothing happens. Tyson sees the mills as an important element on St. Croix and argued that the windmills all over the island is bodies of historic features that we need to maintain and take care of. However, in this process it is also necessary to interpret, understand and improve the knowledge of the history to the public. There is a need to change the representation of the sugar mills (Tyson, 2017) as they are historic features that are evidence of a history that cannot be repeated.
George Tyson
8
In connection to the public position to the sugar mills George Tyson pointed on some issues that was important to be attentive to in my investigating and curious work method. Many people on St. Croix see the sugar mills as a representation of slavery and when Tyson was working with the Heritage Trail and they made the official signs a symbol of a sugar mill some communities got furious and could not understand why the sign had to show a symbol that represented slavery. George Tyson states that there is a need of education and a new representation of the sugar mills. The sugar mills need to converts from representing slavery to represent a history and a heritage that we need to deal with. For George Tyson, it was important that I was aware of the previous reactions when someone tried to work with the sugar mills or the plantation. He made sure that I had this in mind when I visited and talked with different communities. I met George Tyson on my mapping tour on March 2nd 2017 by coincidence. We went to see the sugar mill at Cane Garden and after some time on the property we realized that George Tyson and his Danish wife lived in the house next to the mill. We knocked on the door and had a good talk about which mills to visit and where they were located. This was a big help and saved us a lot of time trying to located the many sugar mills.
George Tyson
9
Name_ Warrington Chapman Age_ 62 Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Professor at UVI Origin_ St. Kitts
Name_ Donald Martin Age_ 68 Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Unknown Origin_ St. Kitts
Date of Interview_ 01.03.17
10
Keyword Tamarind Club Agriculture Pride Slavery Preservation Equality
11
I first met Warrington Chapman on a visit to Golden Grove Prison, St. Croix on February 21st 2017. At that point I have been working at Castle Coakley for a few days and noticed a group of older men playing board games under a big tree south of the two mills on site. When I told about my project at the prison, Warrington Chapman said that he plays under the big Tamarind Tree with his friends every Friday and Saturday. On Wednesday 1st of March 2017 we met Warrington Chapman on site at Castle Coakley for a visit to the old sugar factory “Bethlehem” that is being transformed into a museum and a visitor center. Sadly, all workers on Bethlehem were at a meeting when we came to visit. Afterwards we drove to the old great house of Sion Farm plantation. On our way, back to Castle Coakley I drove with Chapman to have a talk about his experiences with the mills as a background and what they represent for him and the group under the tree. Chapman have been playing under the Tamarind Tree for 14 years. He came to St. Croix from the island Saint Kitts east of St. Croix. He came for job purposes and worked with Waste management. Before St. Croix Chapman lived 27 years in New York. Under the Tamarind Tree at Castle Coakley we met Donald Martin. Martin is a good friend of Chapman also from Saint Kitts. He came to St. Croix on a vacation and never returned. That was 50 years ago (1967). The group calls themselves the Tamarind Club or the Tamarind University and as Donald Martin said with a big smile “we meet to un-nag and play board games. It keeps us out of trouble” (Martin, 2017). When Tamarind Club meet, they play chest, domino, checkers and draughts. The previous owner of the small shed came to St. Croix to work at a plantation to harvest the agriculture after the sugar production stopped at many plantations. They harvested sugarcanes and tobacco. Afterwards he got a job at Hess Oil Refinery and bought the property at Castle Coakley. Today it is the previous owners brother who owns the shed however, the shed is partly located on Scott Whaley’s property. Whaley allowed them to keep their area and shed as they did not disturb him or his property with the mills.
Warrington Chapman & Donald Martin
12
Both Martin and Chapman feel a sense of pride toward the mills. They find the architecture of the sugar mills impressing as they were built by the slaves that were not educated architects, tradesmen or carpenters. They used local materials and built the mills of limestone and molasses with a plaster covering the mills. They give them an awareness of who they are and they both feel that the sugar mills are important to maintain so the next generations know who they are and what they came from. It is a way of keeping the history present so the history does not repeat itself. Chapman says “we cannot forget. We will never forget what we came from” (Chapman, 2017). Chapman and Martin feel strongly about remembering the history and the architectural heritage is a good way of passing the history on to the next generations. They feel that the sugar mills represent the fight that has been fought so that we can live with equal rights and in peace cross culture, religion and race. As they said “it is important to keep the landmarks of the forefathers. It is a reminder of what they went through to get us where we are today” (Martin and Chapman, 2017), They find it important to educate people on the history so they understand how we came to have equality in privileges and rights. They also feel strongly about the treatment of the mills. Often the mills are located on private properties and previously there were no clear regulations how you could transform the sugar mills. This resulted in many condos inside the mills and houses built around the sugar mills with no spacing between the mills and the new house. Chapman and Martin want historic sites to be preserved as they are. They argue that when you built inside, around or on top of the mills you strip them for their historic value which I agreed with. If the transformation in any way takes the focus away from the historic element of the sugar mills, the transformation has failed. If the transformation enhances the history and keep the historic value of the mills, Donald Martin and Warrington Chapman think it will support the needed education of the colonial history. It can create an awareness of why the sugar mills are important landmarks for St. Croix and what the slaves went through. On St. Kitts, some of the sugar mills have been transformed into convenience centers.
Warrington Chapman & Donald Martin
13
Name_ (Jamal) Jett Twotees Age_ 25 Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Cook & Musician Origin_ St. Croix, USVI
Date of Interview_ 02.03.17
14
Keyword Beneficial to farme Want it easy Laziness Young vs Old
15
Jett became one of my friends during the stay on St. Croix. He went with us on an island tour to see and discover Sugar Mills where we had a brief talk about the reasons about why people of St. Croix do not farm and if it had something to do with slavery. He told us that it is very beneficial to farm on St. Croix. If you farm you can be excluded from many taxes that you do not have to pay. Even though it is so beneficial to farm, Jett tells that people are very lazy. They want everything to come easy and they do not like hard work so they would rather rely on the government and pay the high prices in stores. On St. Croix, it is cheaper to buy fast food and to eat out on restaurants than to shop and make food at home. When asked if Jett thinks that the farming problems is related to the slavery and maybe that is why people do not want to farm, Jett answered no. At least not for him. “I do not know. I do not think about it (Editor’s note: slavery). I can see how it can affect older people, it probably brings out some memories about what happened but I do not think about that. I think people are just being lazy and do not want too much work”.
Jett Twotees
16
On the island tour we met Jett’s cousin (Editor’s note: a lot older than Jett) in Richmond and when he was told that we were from Denmark he got furious. He demanded me to tell the people of Denmark and the government that they owe the Virgin Islands an apology. As he said with intense body language “They brought us here. They went for us and brought us here to make use of our labor. Without our approval. They tried the Indian people and some white people but they took us. They took us away from our land. They went to Africa were life originated and took us. They owe us an apology! I will never be happy until I get an apology from Denmark for what they did to us. They were brutal! We want an apology!” It was a very intense experience and it was clearly that he felt that Denmark and Danish people was responsible to bring an apology. When Jett tried to calm the situation down by saying that we do not have anything to do with that history or we do not have the connections to tell the government that the Virgin Islands wants an apology he was told not to interfere and to remember that it was his history as well. This showed Jett’s point that the slavery times affect the older people way more than the younger.
Jett Twotees
17
Name_ Scott A. Whaley Age_ Unknown Female / Male_ Male Occupation_ Flip houses Origin_ Indiana
Date of Interview_ 03.03.17
18
Keyword Owner of Castle Caokley Like old houses Fascinated People do not care A lot of work As original as possiple
19
Scott Whaley is the owner of Castle Coakley. I met him on my second visit to the two mills and Scott has been very friendly and helpful during my work at his property. We shared knowledge, literature and his experience with making the sugar mills accessible again. When he bought the property in 2014 the mills and the underground tunnels were completely overgrown by bush and trees. He is working on making the whole property accessible for the public and he is restoring and maintaining both the sugar mills and the great house where he is living. Scott Whaley came to St. Croix on a vacation and found the property on sale in a magazine. He found the description of the property perfect but the price was too high. He made a “crazy” offer with no expectation of getting the property. They accepted his offer and in April 2014 he bought Estate Castle Coakley. Scott loves old houses and are fascinated by ruins, in particular the two sugar mills which he immediately fell in love with when he first saw them. Back in the states Scott have bought two other old houses and restored them back to the original state. Scott Whaley’s purpose with Castle Coakley is to clean the historic area so it is accessible once again. He is really attentive to the ruins on his property and he is diligent toward his position to restoration and maintaining both of the great house and the sugar mills with the belonging tunnels. He is against building fences on site but still recognizes that he needs to secure the area to avoid injuries or to be sued. To avoid being sued many historic site owners either close the site for the public or they put signs up saying PRIVATE PROPERTY - DO NOT TRESPASS. Scott do not wish to do that, but it is important to state that any visit to the mills and his property is on own risk. On the eastern part of Scott’s property there are problems with many, sometimes aggressive dogs coming from the neighbor properties trespassing property. This creates an unavoidable need for a fence. In areas like these Scott will use a wooden fence like the ones that already exist on site instead of the common chain link fencing. Scott states: “it is prison like and signals something I do not like. It is very uncomfortable” (Whaley, 2017). Beside cleaning the site and restoring the Great House Scott’s vision is to open the big underground cistern in between the two sugar mills with an entrance door. Today the cistern has three light openings on ground and it is not in use anymore. It is divided in three rooms divided by 20 inch (50,8 cm) walls.
Scott Whaley
20
His intention is to be very gentle to the materials and do everything by hand with the right tools. He believes that the rooms can be useable with only natural light from the openings. Inside the Great House Scott is working archaeologically trying to get down to the original materials. He also found the original mortar combination which he will use to rebuild the great house. Regarding the representation of the mills, Scott see both sides of the negative and positive positions. He understands why some can have difficulties in seeing the mills as a positive thing as they see the ugly part of the history when they look at them. However, he feels that a lot of the people on St. Croix, “around 75%” (Whaley, 2017) do not care about the mills and the history. Scott grew up in Indiana and were present when the black civil rights battles were ongoing however, he was raised with no racism. Today he feels that people push racism too much to a sense that Scott are afraid to say anything wrong. As he says: “I really do not want to offend anyone” (Whaley, 2017). In his neighborhood, he is called “the white guy” which he does not mind but it is implied that it is prohibited to for example describe a person as “a black man” because you must describe a person without mentioning their skin-color. But it is not the same for a white person. For Scott, it is important to keep the mills as original as possible so future generation and interested can experience the heritage and have the history in mind. He tells that there has not been much interest in the mills before he bought the property. In 2001 an animal shelter bought the property and they did not have any historic interest. At one point, they were thinking about tearing the Great House down so the property would be worth more as you then had more building area. When Scott bought the property, it was zoned for both commercial use or residence. If it was bought for commercial use they would probably demolish large parts of the site to make space for parking among other things. In that connection Scott is observant towards the new use of the mills. He is often told to use the mills for weddings, art purposes or in general host events. He does not want big groups or host large events on his property to protect the historic site. A use where you interact with the history and experiences the site in a slow pace will conform to Scott’s desire.
Scott Whaley
21
Bibliography
GoToStCroix.com. (n.d.). St. Croix Heritage Trail | GoToStCroix.com. [online] Available at: http://www.gotostcroix.com/st-croix-blog/st-croix-heritage-trail-guide/) [Accessed 8 Mar. 2017].
Larsen, G. R. (2017). Sugar Mills on St. Croix.
Martin, D. and Chapman, W. (2017). Castle Coakley.
Tyson, G. (2017). Sugar Mills on St. Croix.
Twotees, J. (2017). The colonial era.
Whaley, S. (2017). Castle Coakley.
22
Estate Cane Garden Property of George Tyson
23
Amal Abdi Ashur Master’s Thesis 2017 Appendix #2