Virgin Islanders today will celebrate Liberty Day on St. Croix to commemorate the life and legacy of labor and civil-rights leader D. Hamilton Jackson.

Also known as D. Hamilton Jackson Day, or Bull and Bread Day, Liberty Day is observed annually on Nov. 1 in recognition of a powerful labor speech given by the activist on that date in 1927. Since that day, Liberty Day has been celebrated in the Virgin Islands each Nov. 1 with a traditional feast and toddy drink.

Because the holiday fell on a Sunday this year, today is the official holiday in the Virgin Islands.

Activities hosted by the Grove Place Action Committee and the Grove Place Weed and Seed Program will begin at 1 p.m. today in D. Hamilton Jackson Park in Grove Place. The event will feature a selection of remarks and presentations followed by the traditional serving of beef, bread and toddy.

Jackson was born Sept. 28, 1884, in Estate East Hill, St. Croix. Before his death in 1946, he worked as an activist in the labor and civil-rights movements, as well as as a newspaper publisher, educator, lawyer, judge and legislator. In the early 1900s, the bookkeeper and educator-turned-activist changed the course of history in the fight for freedom of the press and by establishing labor unions and lobbying for citizenship.

Dating back to 1779, the Danish government imposed a strict censorship on all publications in the territory and had passed a law allowing for only government-subsidized newspapers to be published. In 1915, Jackson traveled to Denmark in a fight to revoke the royal edict, persuading the king of Denmark to change the law, granting the territory freedom of the press. He then returned home and published The Herald, the first Virgin Islands 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.

Jackson's feats were not limited to this victory. In 1913, Jackson became the first Virgin Islander to organize a labor union in the territory, enabling plantation workers to address labor issues with discussion and organized protests rather than physical uprisings.

In 1917, when the Danish West Indies became the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hamilton lobbied for U.S. citizenship for the islands' residents.

What's closed for the holiday