ABSTRACT
Victor Waldemar Cornelius had just turned seven and Alberta Viola Roberts was four in 1905 when they were brought to Copenhagen from St. Croix in the West Indies, which was one of Denmark’s colonies. Victor’s mother struggled in poverty in St. Croix, working as a cleaning lady for the white upper class and Victor later in his life recalled that despite very harsh conditions, she always made sure he and his siblings were properly clothed when attending the Sunday school (Kristensen 1977). As for his trip to Denmark, Victor later told an interviewer that at first he was excited to visit a large town, unaware he would sail away and never see his mother again. Once he realized that he was leaving, he had to be dragged to the boat crying, screaming and kicking. He and Alberta were locked up in a dark cabin all the way to Denmark (Kristensen 1977). The reason for them being brought over was that the Colonial Exhibition that opened the same year in Tivoli in Copenhagen needed subjects from Denmark’s colonies to exhibit.
