Under the Danish West Indian system of government, individuals wishing to travel out of the colony, or even between the Danish islands, were required to obtain passports from the police. This system was initially maintained after the islands' transfer to the United States in 1917, but conflicts soon arose over whether the issuance of passports was a civil matter, as it had been under the Danes, or a matter to be handled by the newly-installed US military government.
Most Virgin Island residents at the time were under the impression that Article 6 of the treaty of secession between Denmark and the United States granted them automatic US citizenship after a period of one year from the date of transfer. However, vagaries in the language used in the treaty prompted debate, and it was many years before the issue of status was sufficiently resolved. Largely for the sake of expediency the debate over status was swept aside and it was decided to issue "Unitesd States Citizen's Identification Cards" to qualified Virgin Islands residents who desired to travel to the US mainland or Puerto Rico.
VIRGIN ISLAND EXODUS contains material extracted from the first one hundred and seventy-three (out of an orginal one hundred and eighty-four) United States Citizen's Identification Card applications submitted by Virgin Island residents between May 21, and October 9, 1918.
Searchable tables of the record data, from Virgin Island Exodus
Index of ID Cards sorted by # Index of ID Cards sorted by Name
ID Card #1
ID Card #3
ID Card #4
ID Card #5
ID Card #6
ID Card #7
ID Card #8
ID Card #9
ID Card #10
ID Card #11
ID Card #12
ID Card #13
ID Card #14
ID Card #15
ID Card #16
ID Card #17
ID Card #18
ID Card #19
ID Card #20
ID Card #21
ID Card #22
ID Card #23
ID Card #24
ID Card #25
ID Card #26
ID Card #27
ID Card #28
ID Card #29
ID Card #30
ID Card #31
ID Card #32
ID Card #33
ID Card #34
ID Card #35
ID Card #36
ID Card #37
ID Card #38
ID Card #39
ID Card #40
ID Card #41
ID Card #42
ID Card #43
ID Card #44
ID Card #45
ID Card #46
ID Card #47
ID Card #48
ID Card #49
ID Card #50
ID Card #51
ID Card #52
ID Card #53
ID Card #54
ID Card #55
ID Card #56
ID Card #57
ID Card #59
ID Card #60
ID Card #61
ID Card #62
ID Card #63
ID Card #64
ID Card #65
ID Card #66
ID Card #68
ID Card #69
ID Card #70
ID Card #71
ID Card #72
ID Card #73
ID Card #74
ID Card #75
ID Card #76
ID Card #77
ID Card #78
ID Card #79
ID Card #80
ID Card #81
ID Card #82
ID Card #83
ID Card #84
ID Card #85
ID Card #86
ID Card #87
ID Card #88
ID Card #89
ID Card #90
ID Card #91
ID Card #92
ID Card #93
ID Card #94
ID Card #95
ID Card #96
ID Card #97
ID Card #98
ID Card #99
ID Card #100
ID Card #101
ID Card #102
ID Card #103
ID Card #105
ID Card #106
ID Card #107
ID Card #108
ID Card #109
ID Card #110
ID Card #111
ID Card #112
ID Card #113
ID Card #114
ID Card #115
ID Card #116
ID Card #117
ID Card #118
ID Card #119
ID Card #120
ID Card #121
ID Card #122
ID Card #123
ID Card #124
ID Card #125
ID Card #127
ID Card #128
ID Card #129
ID Card #130
ID Card #131
ID Card #132
ID Card #133
ID Card #134
ID Card #135
ID Card #136
ID Card #137
ID Card #139
ID Card #140
ID Card #141
ID Card #143
ID Card #144
ID Card #145
ID Card #146
ID Card #147
ID Card #148
ID Card #149
ID Card #150
ID Card #151
ID Card #152
ID Card #153
ID Card #154
ID Card #155
ID Card #156
ID Card #157
ID Card #158
ID Card #159
ID Card #161
ID Card #163
ID Card #164
ID Card #165
ID Card #166
ID Card #167
ID Card #168
ID Card #169
ID Card #170
ID Card #171
ID Card #172
ID Card #173
ID Card #174
ID Card #176
ID Card #177
ID Card #178
ID Card #179
ID Card #180
ID Card #181
ID Card #182
ID Card #184
ID Card 506
ID Card 500
Daniel application No 1
Listings of ID card applicants and destinations
Lindquist application No 4
Adams & Elshoe application
Letter regarding VI records
miscellaneous application documents
To identify, preserve, and provide access to Caribbean genealogy, history, and cultural heritage information resources for the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean, and to promote and encourage their use for family history documentation, education, and scholarship.
