[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 116 (Thursday, August 1, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1429-E1430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              TRIBUTE TO DOROTHY ``DOTSY'' LOCKHART-ELSKOE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. VICTOR O. FRAZER

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 31, 1996

  Mr. FRAZER. Mr. Speaker, Dorothy ``Dotsy'' Lockhart-Elskoe was born 
and raised on the island of St. Thomas and is the second child of 
Alfred and Elmira Lockhart. Dorothy was a graduate of the Charlotte 
Amalie High School Class of 1947. She attended on-island education 
programs for teachers that utilized professors from Puerto Rico and 
various mainland universities and colleges.
  In 1952, Mrs. Elskoe began her teaching career as an elementary 
school teacher; however, after 8 years as a teacher, she developed a 
throat condition which forced her early retirement from the classroom. 
Mrs. Elskoe worked at the Department of Education and the Department of 
Finance. Additionally, she held various positions in the government. 
She was Administrative Assistant for the Virgin Islands Urban Renewal 
Board, Director of Emergency Housing for the Department of Housing and 
Community Renewal, Director of Community Relations and Complaints for 
the Virgin Islands Legislature and retired in 1986 as Director of the 
Rotary Multipurpose Center for Senior Citizens.
  Dorothy's retirement gives her more time for community involvement. 
Her involvement in the community is both civic and political. She was 
president of the Democratic Party Women's Auxiliary for 8 years and a 
member of the Democratic Territorial Committee. Dotsy is still involved 
in politics--her assistance is often solicited by both senatorial and 
gubernatorial candidates. In addition to her past political 
involvements, Dotsy is a charter member of the League of Women Voters, 
member of St. Thomas is All of Us and the Welfare Rights Organization. 
Mrs. Elskoe chaired the Children's Sub-Committee of the Carnival 
Committee for 10 years and worked with Sam King and the late Halvor 
Hart, Jr. to bring children's rides to Carnival--began a children's 
village and started the tradition of a Prince and Princess float in the 
parade.
  Presently, Dotsy is a member of the Board of Governors for the Virgin 
Islands cultural Heritage Institute, United Way Board Member, member of 
the Downstreet People, Inc., President of the Committee to Revive Our 
Culture, Co-Chairperson of the Merry Carolers, member of the Challenge 
of Carolers, Inc., President of the Elskoe and Associates Carnival 
Floupe, founder and member of the St. Jude Prayer Group and a Red Cross 
volunteer. Mrs. Elskoe has given and continues to render assistance to 
schools, social and civic clubs whenever her services are requested.
  Mrs. Elskoe fosters her firm belief of preserving the traditional 
values and the indigenous customs of the Virgin Islands because they 
are on the fringe of extinction. In the summer of 1990, Dotsy assisted 
the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, in preparing a mini-parade 
and a past and present living exhibit about the islands for the 24th 
annual festival of American Folklife.
  She has presented and organized many demonstrations in the culinary 
arts and other arts and crafts to the schools and other organizations--
locally and abroad. In past summers, the Committee to Revive Our 
Culture, of which Dotsy is President, organized youth summer programs 
for children between the ages of 12 and 17. They learned native 
culinary arts and additional handicrafts. With the aid of the Tourism 
Department, the Committee to Revive Our Culture held several successful 
cultural fairs in May and December at the Emancipation Garden. In the 
near future, Mrs. Elskoe will be embarking upon a project to organize a 
cooperative where local crafts and articles made in the Virgin Islands 
can be purchased.
  Forty years ago, Dorothy Elskoe and master float builder--Ector 
Roebuck gave life to the then Elskoe and Roebuck Carnival Floupe--now 
known to all as the Elskoe and Associates Carnival Floupe. Dotsy and 
her floupe members have worked as ambassadors of the Virgin Islands, 
spreading the culture abroad to various areas in the Western 
Hemisphere. Elskoe and Associates have traveled to Puerto Rico, Miami, 
New York, Tortola, Washington, DC, St. Croix, St. John, Antigua, 
Toronto Canada and Atlanta--winning numerous prizes along the way.
  At home, Elskoe and Associates has won numerous first place awards 
within the floupe category as well as within the King and Queen of the 
Bands competition. In 1972, the then Elskoe & Roebuck was the first 
floupe to construct queen and king of the band costumes on St. Thomas. 
Fayer Elskoe-Liburd--Dotsy's eldest daughter--was the first Queen of 
the Band and the King of the Band was ``Ricardo''. One of the famous 
Elskoe and Associates floupe entries that was considered a masterpiece 
was a float which displayed a twenty cent Danish coin--built by the 
late Ector Roebuck. This coin included three ladies who were very 
prominent in Virgin Islands History. The ladies who portrayed these 
historic individuals where sprayed entirely in silver for authenticity.
  Mrs. Elskoe's overwhelming urge to protect and preserve our culture 
and heritage has not gone unnoticed by a supportive community. She has 
received many civic certificates, awards and honorable mentions 
including the Wilbur Bill Lamotta Community Service Award, The Queen 
Cosiah Award, the 1974 and 1996 Virgin Islands Carnival Committee 
Outstanding Participation Awards, the 1993 Virgin Islands Carnival 
Committee's V.I. Cultural Ambassador Award.
  Two calypsos were written in her honor by Glen ``Kwabena'' Davis and 
the late Dana Orie

[[Page E1430]]

in a Salute to Dorothy Elskoe by the Resident Calypsonians at the 
Reichhold Center for the Arts in 1984. Additionally, a resolution for 
her cultural and civic involvements in the community was presented to 
Mrs. Elskoe in 1994 by the 20th Legislature of the Virgin Islands. In 
July 1996, Dotsy was invited to Rio Grande, Puerto Rico by the Mayor of 
Rio Grande as the Grand Marshall of the Carnival Parade. She received a 
plaque in her honor for participating and assisting with the carnival 
since 1977.
  Family unity is an important priority in Dotsy's life. This is 
present from her marriage of 48 years to Winthrop T. Elskoe. Him along 
with their six successful children--Faye Liburd, Karolyn Roebuck, 
Monica Rabsatt, Glen, Sandyl and Lori--have been inspirations in all of 
Dotsy's cultural and civic endeavors. If the preservation of culture is 
not instilled in anyone else, it is Dotsy's hope that it will be fixed 
in the minds and hearts of her offsprings and their offsprings. Dorothy 
views the culture of these islands not as footprints on a beach washed 
away by every wave and forgotten . . . but as footprints made in wet 
cement and left to dry . . . engraved and preserved in the minds of our 
youth forever.

                          ____________________