ST. CROIX - The annual celebration to honor the legacy of labor leader, newspaper publisher and judge David Hamilton Jackson is set for Wednesday at Grove Place.

The annual Liberty Day holiday celebration, also known as Bull and Bread Day or D. Hamilton Jackson Day, begins with a parade for the first time since the community began commemorating the Jackson contributions decades ago.

The event begins at 11 a.m. with a mini-parade that will feature majorettes, Central High School's JROTC, and Eulalie Rivera Elementary School students, said Raymond Williams, chairman of the Grove Place Action Committee, which organizes the event each year.

The parade will shove off at 11 a.m. from the Eulalie Rivera School, head west toward Lorraine Village housing community, then turn north at the Grove Place Fire Station and end at the D. Hamilton Jackson Park and Community Center.

A short ceremony will follow the parade with remarks from government officials, a reading by local author and poet Richard Schrader Sr. and an essay by the Eulalie Rivera student who won the school's annual oratorical contest.

Also for the first time, the celebration will feature a re-enactment of how Jackson won freedom of the press for the territory and improved conditions for laborers. The re-enactment is sponsored by Generation Now, a nonprofit organization, and the V.I. Tourism Department.

Festivities will end with entertainment from Stroka Band and Estate Grove Place's own band called Black Star.

David Hamilton Jackson, who died in 1946 at the age of 62, changed the course of V.I. history by leading the fight for more freedoms.

The Danish government imposed a strict censorship on all publications in the territory and had passed a law providing that only government subsidized newspapers could be published.

In 1915, Jackson traveled to Denmark to fight for the revocation of the royal edict and convinced the king of Denmark to change the law, thereby granting freedom of the press. He returned home and published The Herald, the first V.I. newspaper that did not bear the Danish government seal.

In honor of the publication, a bull was slaughtered and roasted, and roast beef and bread were given to the public to celebrate, which is why Liberty Day is also known as Bull and Bread Day.

The Herald Newspaper was just the beginning of Jackson's efforts for his people. Jackson organized the first labor union in 1913. With the union, the people were able to abandon physical uprisings and begin discussing the problems with organized protests.

Nov. 1, 1927, was the day of one of Jackson's most powerful labor speeches, and since then Liberty Day has been celebrated on Nov. 1 with the traditional feast and toddy drink.

He also served as an educator, lawyer, judge and legislator before his death.

At this year's celebration, the Grove Place Action Committee will honor Public Works Commissioner George Phillips and Public Works Deputy Commissioner of Operations Tony Messer.

"We chose George Phillips because he is a Grovian and we think he demonstrates what Grove Place represents," Williams said. "He's a hard-working individual who delivers and who isn't afraid of the criticism or the rhetoric."

"Tony Messer is an unsung hero who goes above and beyond the call of duty," Williams said. "We have never taken the opportunity to give him the level of appreciation he deserves."

Williams also said a two-day Liberty Day celebration featuring local bands and cultural dancers will be held at Bethlehem Sugar Factory on Saturday and Sunday. The celebration begins 5 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.