This tree, the baobab tree, originates from Africa. It symbolizes community and the African roots of the Virgin Islands.  This centuries-old baobab tree stands in front of a building where secret meetings were organized by leaders of the 1848 emancipation like Moses Robert, George William, Morse Henry, John “Buddhoe” Gotlieff a.k.a. Moses Gotlieb, Martin “Admiral” King, and others. They risked their lives to organize, to lead people against their oppressors and galvanize a movement for freedom. Two of those people, Moses Robert and George William, were enslaved on this very plantation. This tree commemorates their courage, planning, and careful leadership to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles from enslavement to freedom.

Hundreds of thousands of people were enslaved in the Virgin Islands, forced to labor on plantations like this one. Over the years, many people rebelled or resisted – most of their stories are not known. Organizing against enslavement was punished by death, and their sacrifices have been buried in a history that was never recorded.