The Three Rebel Queens of the Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI)
Dublin Core
Title
The Three Rebel Queens of the Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI)
Subject
Subject (Topic)
Public art
Public sculpture
Resistance
St. Thomas (USVI)--Charlotte Amalie
Slave insurrections--St. Croix (USVI)
Slavery--Denmark
Slavery--St. Croix (USVI)
Transatlantic slave trade
Public art
Public sculpture
Resistance
St. Thomas (USVI)--Charlotte Amalie
Slave insurrections--St. Croix (USVI)
Slavery--Denmark
Slavery--St. Croix (USVI)
Transatlantic slave trade
Subject (Name)
Thomas, Mary (Queen Mary), ca. 1838–1905
Salomon, Axeline E. (Queen Agnes), ca. 1858-?
McBean, Matilda (Queen Matilda), ca. 1958-1935
Thomas, Mary (Queen Mary), ca. 1838–1905
Salomon, Axeline E. (Queen Agnes), ca. 1858-?
McBean, Matilda (Queen Matilda), ca. 1958-1935
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Commemorative sculpture
Description
The memorial shows three women facing outward, the leaders of the "Fireburn" Uprising in 1878, the largest labor revolt in Danish colonial history. Dressed in floor-length dresses and aprons, each figure carries objects related to their resistance. One figure lifts a lantern in her right hand (Queen Agnes-Agnes Salomon) . The second figure holds a cane knife in her right hand and a torch in her left (Queen Mary-Mary Thomas), while the third figure holds a torch in her right hand (Queen Matilda-Matilda McBean).
Creator
Hallier, Richard, 1944-2010
Source
Photograph: Wikipedia Commons
Date
2005
Format
JPEG
Language
English
Type
Visual Arts-Sculpture
Coverage
Dronningens Gade, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 00802, U.S. Virgin Islands
Alternative Title
The Three Queens of the Virgin Islands Fountain
Has Part
Bronze plaque:
THE THREE QUEENS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
In 1878 three former slave ladies on St. Croix led an insurrection against the Danish Government for improved working and living conditions. During this action, a major portion of Frederiksted was destroyed by fire. This revolt is known today as “FIREBURN” and the ladies are renowned as “Queen Mary, Queen Agnes and Queen Matilda” – The Three Queens of the Virgin Islands.
THE THREE QUEENS OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
In 1878 three former slave ladies on St. Croix led an insurrection against the Danish Government for improved working and living conditions. During this action, a major portion of Frederiksted was destroyed by fire. This revolt is known today as “FIREBURN” and the ladies are renowned as “Queen Mary, Queen Agnes and Queen Matilda” – The Three Queens of the Virgin Islands.
Medium
Bronze
Bibliographic Citation
"Danish Colonies/The Danish West Indies/Fireburn." Nationalmuseet. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/historical-themes/danish-colonies/the-danish-west-indies/fireburn/.
Fireburn Files Project. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://fireburnfiles.dk/.
Virgin Islands Studies Collective (VISC). "Ancestral Queendom: Reflections on the Prison Records of the Rebel Queens of the 1878 Fireburn in St. Croix, USVI (formerly the Danish West Indies." Nordisk Tidsskrift for Informationsvidenskab og Kulturformdling 8, no. 2 (2019): 19-36. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://tidsskrift.dk/ntik/article/view/118478/166419.
Rights Holder
Renée Ater
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Sculpture
Collection
Citation
Hallier, Richard, 1944-2010, “The Three Rebel Queens of the Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI),” Contemporary Monuments to the Slave Past, accessed October 1, 2026, https://www.slaverymonuments.org/items/show/1159.