It wasn’t always paradise.
The St. Croix African Roots Project

Before the U.S. Virgin Islands were a Caribbean paradise, they served as a major stop along the slave trade route for almost a century. Compiled by the Virgin Islands Social History Associates, this is one of the greatest, most extensive compilations of slave trading records available, documenting everything from ship lists to slave lists to a general census once they were free. If you have any ancestors that were slaves in the Virgin Islands, this will be one of the most important collections you’ll ever see.

Search — FREE until July 31, 2009

Search records from the
St. Croix African Roots Project.

e.g., Chicago, Ill.
Help
Browse Collection

Featured Collections

  • Sample Record See a sample

    NEW — U.S. Virgin Islands St. Croix Slave Lists (1772–1821)

    The St. Croix Slave Lists are organized by owner and contain more than 500,000 names — names of slaves and free individuals living on the property. You’ll find additional information on age, death, birth, runaways, occupations, whether the slave was African or Creole and family relations.

    Search now
  • Sample Record See a sample

    NEW — U.S. Virgin Islands St. Croix Census (1835–1911)

    This is the official census of the St. Croix population and deepens the wealth of information available on more than 200,000 slaves, their owners and their families. You may find additional details about the family your ancestor was indentured to as well.

    Search now

Not a member?
Make sure you can access African Roots records and everything else on Ancestry.com.

Start with a 14-day
FREE Trial

Sign up now

Not sure where to begin? We can help.
Start a FREE Family Tree

Other Collections
with African Roots:

Also coming soon:

  • Slave Trade Shipping Records, 1734–1802
  • Property Inventories 1755–1848
  • Free Persons of Color Records, 1740–1834
  • Church Records, 1744–1917
  • Vital Statistics, 1820–1917
  • Vaccination Records, 1823–1853

Close
Sample Document
Ancestry.com