“I want to preserve what is left. If we lose our culture, we are nothing.”
–Richard A. Schrader Sr.
An old baobab tree has fallen, but its roots still nourish a community. Its roots are the words that tell stories to young children of the days “When Sugar Was King.” Its roots are the poems that feed and enlighten the souls of Virgin Islanders who will plant seeds of culture, history, unity, and humanity. Its roots are the archives of living history, unraveling through threads of time, making sense of the long-forgotten past and the traditions that wove together the moonlit village.
What can one say to honor a man so brave and bold? A man whose love for the U.S. Virgin Islands was as involuntary as a heartbeat. In every rhythm, in every poem, in every story told, Dr. Richard Schrader Sr. offered glimpses of olden times in the community and the glory days of St. Croix. A writer is a soldier armed with a cache of ammunition: his or her words. When Schrader picked up his weapons and painted his first poem, his words, like a canoe, floated through the celestial sky at the top of Blue Mountain, and while mesmerized by the constellations of glowing stars, he did not know where this vision would lead him. He did not know how many lives his weapons would save. He certainly did not know this was his initiation into a life of purpose and dedication. This spark, this flame, this literary fire would kindle into an archive of Virgin Islands history.
few of Richard A. Schrader, Sr. ‘s published literary works. (Photo collage by Enrique Corneiro.)
Schrader was a living, breathing vessel of wisdom. Through the publication of more than twenty-nine books on Virgin Islands history and culture, readers were privileged to enter the gobi of his time, immersing themselves in the tales of the “Good Old Taman” while nourishing their souls with seeds of oral traditional stories. It is especially the youth who gravitate to Schrader’s work, amazed by the historic facts his poems contain and the stories written in old Crucian dialect almost lost in passages of history. Schrader was like an archeologist excavating traditions of old and shining a light on legacies that should be told. He was a cultural preservationist who won the 1994 Humanist of the Year Award, an honor he proudly embraced.
In July of 2016, after the emancipation celebration at Fort Frederik in Freedom City, Frederiksted, Schrader spoke with me. He had just finished delivering his remarkable poem “Eighteen Forty-Eight” that depicts the legacy of the July 3 Emancipation of the Danish West Indies led by “Buddhoe the Star.”
There, he shared his writing process with me. I learned that day that Schrader’s perspective as a writer was rooted in his wealth of experiences as a Virgin Islander; his courage to tell his own story gave his writing a distinct voice that stood out and gleamed on its own. Many of the poems and stories in Schrader’s wide range of published books are reflections of his direct experiences growing up as a Crucian descendant on St. Croix. Schrader was the historian who never allowed the “hunt” to “glorify the hunter.” In his poem, “Please Tell Me, Tell Me Please” from If the Gobi Tree Could Talk: A Calabash of Poems, he makes this clear to his readers but specifically to “Mr. Dane”: “You who kept the most detailed records / on slaves have not written a line / about the disappearance of Buddhoe? / … What have you done with my hero?”
That insightful conversation with Schrader inspired me to publish my first book of poems in 2018, Roots ah de Baobab, a recollection of my experiences as a Virgin Islander growing up on St. Croix. It was Schrader’s legendary poem, “Who Am I,” that sparked the creation of the poem “Cultural Identity” in Roots ah de Baobab.
This year, while attending the 54th Annual Agriculture and Food Fair of the U.S. Virgin Islands, I noticed that Schrader wasn’t vending at his booth. He was usually there selling his books, t-shirts, and other noted works with his daughter Patricia “Pat” Schrader. I would always purchase one of his books to add to my autographed collection. Not seeing him there was the first time I felt despondent at the thought of losing someone whose works plunge deep into the soil of Virgin Islands history. Later on, whenever I’d speak to Schrader via telephone, although ill and aged, he never forgot my work as a writer, and he believed in me as a Virgin Islander.
An example of Schrader’s strong recollection of the people and accomplishments of his time would be a conversation that I had with him on the morning of December 28, 2025. I had read an article about the revered Crucian painter Lloyd “Dove” Braffith, and I wanted to write a blog about Braffith’s life. The first person I thought about who may have unique facts to share about him was Richard Schrader Sr. I reached out to Schrader, and he responded. During the conversation, he expressed that he knew Dove personally: “Yeah man, I know Dove from the time he actually … well, he’s been painting all his life, you see, from West End and den he come to Bassin.” Schrader recalled that “if Dove knew you, he’d talk a lot … he had his own spirituality, you know.”
When asked about where on St. Croix Dove enjoyed painting, Schrader stated: “As you know in his studio, I’m talkin’ ‘bout de outdoor studio and ah old building … It was longtime in my young days … and de last lil’ gallery on Company Street comin’ just before you meet Time Square on de left-hand side, and you cross over and you go to de cemetery … so right to de left before you cross over that street that runs from south to north, and at de end of that street on de left-hand side there was a building called de ‘Lighthouse,’ and Dove would be there painting. Wherever he painted, there was always an audience—few people hang round and see wha he doing, and he loved that—whether it was in Frederiksted or in Christiansted.”
Toward the end of the conversation, Schrader voiced his profound sense of admiration for Braffith and his work: “Dove was forever a part of me because he was a very special person, and since his death I get to understand him more, you know? And I only wished I took more time and bought some more of his paintings.”
In Schrader’s masterful poem, “The Madras That Binds All Ahwe,” he honors the spirit of Dove in one of its lines.
Like Zora Neale Hurston, the African American writer who captured the cultural and spiritual traditions of her community and the wider world, Schrader was an ethnographic scholar who, through many local interviews, documented, both historically and culturally, the habits, customs, and unique traditions of the people of the Virgin Islands. Schrader’s remarkable research brought to light the hidden legacies of Virgin Islands history.
How can we memorialize the spirit and legacy of Dr. Richard Schrader Sr.? We must honor him through the literary works he offered to all. We must feed our children his sweet, riveting words of wisdom—words woven and stitched with the madras that binds all of our cultural traditions and unites us as one people. Beyond doubt, Schrader was able to kindle his literary torch and keep his fire blazing in our hearts. He was the soul of the city. He was a shining sun of Crucian soil who loved and embraced his island home. He is the “old baobab tree / beaten by storm winds” with roots that still nourish a community. To a great man, beloved, courageous, and strong, in his own words:
“If in these islands
St. Croix is to play
A greater part
We must always remember
The soul must guide the heart”
Farewell, Dr. Schrader. Thank you for all you’ve done for the heart of our community, both seen and unseen.
Geron A. W. Richards is a local author, educator, and artist whose work is dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the Caribbean. His first literary publication, Roots ah de Baobab, is a compilation of eighty-eight poems that explores identity, ancestry, and the enduring legacy of Virgin Islands history. Through his writing and artistic direction, Richards seeks to document and celebrate the stories, folklore, and ancestral legacies that have shaped the Virgin Islands.
Dr. Richard Schrader Sr.’s Literary Publications:
Prose, History, and Story Collections:
- Home Sweet Home, 1986 (2 editions)
Edition 2 published: 2012
- Notes of a Crucian Son, 1989 (2 editions)Editio
n 2 published: 2004
- St. Croix in Another Time, 1990 (2 editions)
- Kallaloo: A Collection of Crucian Stories, 1991
- Fungi: More Crucian Stories, 1993
- Maufe, Quelbeˊ and T’ing: A Calabash of Stories, 1994 (2 editions)
Edition 2 published: 2001
- Under de Taman Tree, 1996 (2 editions)
- Hurricane Blows All Skin One Color, 1997
- The Journey from La Vallee to the Legislature, 2000
- A Musical Journey and Other Stories, 2002
- The Men of the 872nd Port Company and Other Stories, 2005
- Otto Tranberg of Mt. Washington and Nicholas and Other Stories, 2006
- Sonny Barnes of West End, 2007
- Teach a Man to Fish, 2009
- Memories of My Enchanted Island and Other Stories, 2012
- The Real Mackay and Other Stories, 2013
- In a Heartbeat: Stories of the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, 2014
- Celebration: Salute to the Living and the Dead, 2015 (2 editions)
Edition 2 published: 2017
- Surviving Vietnam & Lost at Sea: The Dennis A. McIntosh Story, 2018
- Let the Drums Roll: The Men and Women of The 666th and 73rd Army Bands of the Virgin Islands National Guard, 2023
Poetry and Haiku Collections:
- Home Sweet Home, 1986 (2 editions)
Edition 2 published: 2012
- Walking Through Kasha and Roses, 1988
- Prayers and Poems from the Leeward Side by Lucia Christian, 1998
Compiled, edited, and published by Richard A. Schrader, Sr.
- Like a Flower Blooming, 1999
- This Little Island Mine, 2000
- No Words Has the Rose, 2003
- The Madras That Binds All Ahwe: The Inaugural Poem, 2003 (2 editions)
Edition 2 published: 2021
- Haiku: This Other Joy, 2005
- If the Gobi Tree Could Talk: A Calabash of Poems, 2007
- Haiku: A Leaf in the Wind, 2010 (2 editions)
- Red Flamboyant Blooming, 2022
Theatrical Playwright:
- 1878 Queen Mary and Dem, 1998
Editor’s Note: Opinion articles do not represent the views of the Virgin Islands Source newsroom and are the sole expressed opinion of the writer. Submissions can be made to visource@gmail.com.
