Mary Thomas, known as Queen Mary, (ca. 1848–1905) was one of the leaders of the 1878 "Fireburn" labor riot, or uprising, on the island of St. Croix in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

Biography

Mary Thomas was from

Antigua Antigua ( ; ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua ...

and arrived in St. Croix in the 1860s to take work on the

plantations Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tobacco ...

in the island. In 1878 she resided at the Sprat Hall plantation. She had three children but never married. Before the uprising, she had been sentenced for theft and for mistreating her children.Albert Scherfig & Nicklas Weis Damkjær. 2016. "Kvinderne i Danmarks største arbejderopstand" FRIKTION

/ref> Historians have suggested that such sentences were used by the authorities to discredit people who opposed them. After the 1848 emancipation of enslaved Africans in the

, an 1849 labor law fixed salaries and labor conditions for all plantation workers and prohibited bargaining for better wages or work conditions. This made plantation work unattractive, and many workers opted to leave the plantations and the islands to seek better conditions elsewhere. The government reacted to the labor shortage by making it harder for workers to leave the islands, demanding health certificates and charging fees for passports. When wages were to be negotiated in the fall of 1878, the workers' demands were denied, and new harsh conditions for traveling were imposed. This sparked the so-called Fireburn riots, which have been called the largest labor riot in Danish history, during which more than 50 plantations were burned. Because of her role as a leader during the uprising, Mary Thomas came to be known as "Queen Mary". The workers chose her and two other women, "Queen Agnes" and "Queen Matilda", as queens to perform ritual and celebratory functions during the uprising. Thomas played a leading role and referred to herself as a "captain" in the rebellion.Karen Fog Olwig. 2014. Small Islands, Large Questions: Society, Culture and Resistance in the Post-Emancipation Caribbean. Routledge Allegedly, during one the uprisings Thomas had called for those unwilling to participate to be decapitated. She was arrested and tried with other leaders of the labor uprising. During the trial of the labor leaders she gave witness testimony against another leader, Thomas Graydon, also known as "Colonel Peter", who was sentenced to death. Mary Thomas was also sentenced to death for arson and looting but had her sentence commuted to life imprisonment. She was transferred to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and placed at

Women's Prison, Christianshavn The Women's Prison at Christianshavn in Copenhagen, Denmark, was a correctional facility which existed under various names from the mid 17th century until 1921. From 1870 it served as a women's prison. Earlier names included Børnehuset and Tugt- ...

, in 1882, but in 1887 she was sent back to

Christiansted Christiansted ( , ; ) is the largest town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands of the United States Virgin Islands, a territory of the United States of America. The town is named after King Christian VI of Denmark. History The town was found ...

, St. Croix, to serve the remainder of her sentence.Philip Sampson. 2017. "Fireburn-dronningerne – Danmarks glemte heltinder" http://pov.international/fireburn-dronningerne-danmarks-glemte-heltinder/

Legacy

Thomas obtained semi-mythical status in the Virgin Islands oral tradition, where a popular song commemorates her actions in the uprising: :"''Queen Mary, ah where you gon' go burn?'' :''Queen Mary, ah where you gon' go burn?'' :''Don' ask me nothin' t'all'' :''Just geh me de match an oil'' :''Bassin Jailhouse, ah deh de money dey''" The Queen Mary Highway on St. Croix is named after her. In 2018, the artists

Jeannette Ehlers Jeannette Ehlers (born 1973) is a Danish-Trinidadian artist based in Copenhagen. Her work address's themes and questions around race, colonialism, and the Black memory/history in Denmark. Ehlers is a multifaceted artist who uses a variety of dif ...

and La Vaughn Belle created a monumental public sculpture, ''I Am Queen Mary'', depicting a 7 meters (23 ft)-tall statue of Mary Thomas seated on a throne wielding a torch and a

cane knife A cane knife is a large hand-wielded cutting tool similar to a machete. Its use is prevalent in the harvesting of sugarcane in dominant cane-growing countries such as Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, South Africa, Ecuador, Cuba, Jamaica, the Ph ...

. The statue was unveiled in

in 2018; it is Denmark's first public monument to a

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

woman. A book titled ''Fireburn The Screenplay: A story of passion ignited, based on the history of St. Croix'' written by Caribbean-American writer

Angela Golden Bryan Angela Golden Bryan is a Caribbean-American writer, actress and cultural contributor. Bryan is known for her historical fiction works that explore the history and heritage of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her writings primarily focus on the labor rev ...

was published in 2018. The book pays tribute to Queen Mary and other leaders of the revolt. File:ThreeQueensSTT.jpg, ''The Three Queens Fountain'' at

Blackbeard's Castle Blackbeard's Castle is one of five National Historical Landmark, National Historic Landmarks in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is located in the city of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie, on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Vi ...

, St. Thomas honors Queens Mary, Agnes, and Mathilda File:Baobab HM 20230926 100712.jpg, Baobab Historic Marker at Grove Place, U.S. Virgin Islands

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mary 1840s births 1905 deaths Women trade union leaders People from the Danish West Indies 19th century in the Danish West Indies Labor in the Caribbean People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands by me 1870s in the Danish West Indies

Biography

Legacy

See also

References