June 23, 2004 – A design has been selected for the logo that will be used to promote the territory's observance of the 200th anniversary of the death of Alexander Hamilton.
St. Croix resident Peter Des Jardins submitted the winning design for the 2004 Alexander Hamilton Logo. It "will be used on a variety of materials to promote upcoming commemorative events highlighting Alexander Hamilton's boyhood years spent on the island of St. Croix," according to a release from the Lieutenant Governor's Office.
Hamilton, best known today as the person whose face appears on the $10 bill, also was the person for whom the St. Croix airport was named until it was renamed in the 1990s for local aviation hero Henry E. Rohlsen.
Born on Nevis in 1755, Hamilton spent his formative years on St. Croix, then part of the Danish West Indies, not particularly happily, as his father went bankrupt and his mother died when he was 13 years old, and he entered a clerk apprenticeship in a counting house at 12.
As luck would have it, a hurricane that ravaged Christiansted in 1772 provided the means for young Alexander to better himself. A description he wrote of the devastation that was published in the Royal Danish-American Gazette motivated family friends to make it possible for him to get a formal education in the American Colonies. After a year of grammar school in New Jersey, he entered King's College in New York City and earned his bachelor's degree in a single year.
He served under Gen. George Washington in the American Revolutionary War and afterward studied law and became a leader of the federalist movement, advocating a strong central government in the new American nation. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, again serving under Washington, and remained a political power until his death at the age of 49 in a duel with his rival Aaron Burr.
According to Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards, whose office is coordinating the 200th anniversary observance, "Des Jardins' logo aptly captures the essence of this event by illustrating that Alexander Hamilton was a St. Croix son." The design "will help promote upcoming events and draw warranted attention to Hamilton's St. Croix connections," Richards said. "I appreciate this artistic contribution to my efforts in promoting St. Croix s unique heritage."
The commemorative events to be held July 8-11 on St. Croix will include a scholarly conference on July 9 at Government House and a "Hamilton Jump-Up" in Christiansted on July 10, the release stated.
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