How to search
Search in the Danish National Archives
After each visit to the islands, we deliver a copy of the newly digitized records to both the local government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the Danish National Archives (Rigsarkivet).
Rigsarkivet ensures the long-time preservation of the digital files, and that the material becomes publicly accessible via ArkivalierOnline, in accordance with access regulations.
These digitized records supplement the materials already held by Rigsarkivet, most of which were digitized in connection with the centennial of the 1917 transfer of the islands to the United States. Some of the new material fills gaps in previously registered archival series and is added to those collections. Other materials form entirely new archival series, which are also catalogued accordingly.
The West Indian archives originating from USVI can be identified by their registration numbers, which begin with 311 and 316.
- 316 refers to property-related records
- 311 covers everything else, including an extensive series of police court records from 1841 to 1918
Where to Begin
The Danish National Archives provides extensive guides to the West Indian collections on their website:
https://en.rigsarkivet.dk/
- Go to Guides and tools
- Choose The Danish West Indies
- Choose again The Danish West Indies
- Choose Get started, scroll down and choose Registry of all digitized sources in the green box.
https://www.rigsarkivet.dk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Registratur-Dansk-Vestindien.pdf
This is the primary gateway to the digitized West Indian material, with direct links to the digitized pages.
This whole chapter is filled with useful information and guides to the West Indian material.
You also have contact information for the Danish National Archives.
Archives about The Danish West Indies
https://en.rigsarkivet.dk/guide/the-danish-west-indies/archives/
The group Archives under the headline Collections & literature provides a brief and clear overview of useful research tools
Rigsarkivet gives lots of advice on this page and we have just put a few very useful links here.
Glossary of Archival Terms (Danish–English)
View glossary on ArkivalierOnline
List of Record Creators and Archival Series (Danish–English)
Download PDF overview
This document provides a clear summary of the structure and content of the West Indian archives.