South Florida Collections Management Center
Re:Collections
Winter 2012
What’s New . . .
Recent additions to the DRTO museum collection include the first flag which flew on the motor vessel Activa and the donation of an 1899 photograph album with pictures of Fort Jefferson and surrounding areas in the park. Sadly, EVER collection additions include a great blue heron killed on the main park road by a park visitor’s car and a juvenile flamingo. The SFCMC also welcomes back Museum Technician Adel Pena, a STEP hire who first worked here in FY10-FY11.
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NPS Web Catalog Update
The NPS has re-vamped the Web Catalog! Check out the new interface and find out what is in your collection at http://museum.nps.gov/ParkIndex.aspx
SFCMC Staff Spotlight
Meet Lynn Moulton
Lynn has lived in Vermont, Boston, Paris and Miami. Her diverse background includes a career as a pastry chef. She is a recent graduate of Florida State University with a Master’s in Library & Information Science. She is now working on a graduate certificate in museum studies at Florida International University. She is working on EVER & DESO archives in FY12.
Lynn enjoys photography, reading, jazz and creating chocolate-related foods—much to the staff’s delight. So if we are a bit heavier next time you see us, please be kind and don’t say anything! Mmmm.
BICY Swamp Buggy Moves to New Home
On November 17, 2011, BICY 16065, a 1980s-era swamp buggy was moved from temporary storage on the Preserve to the new exhibit beside the Welcome Center. Its new home is a climate-controlled building with windows on three sides which allow visitors to view it from nearly all sides. The actual move was accomplished by towing it on a flat-bed wrecker; maneuvering it into its new home was a nearly “all hands-on-deck” exercise by the Preserve staff. We are happy to report that neither staff nor buggy was damaged during the move! Still to come: the swamp buggy will be ‘re-stocked’ with the appropriate fire equipment to complete the display—BICY and EVER fire staff will be hearing from us soon!
Conservation Corner
An assortment of DESO, DRTO and EVER artifacts came back to the SFCMC after undergoing treatment at James Swope Fine Arts Conservation and Maryland Archeological Conservation Laboratory. Among the objects treated: 24-foot long mural by Bernard P. Thomas which was commissioned by the NPS in 1966 and was originally displayed in the Parachute Key VC (which was destroyed in Hurricane Andrew); six original HM-69 Nike base signs; a 16th-century arquebus gun barrel; a Rodman gun platform traverse rail; a 16th-century cannon; and objects recovered from Cuban chugs which landed at DRTO. The chug objects may have been the most challenging due to the “mixed media” involved, including a knife with faux-leather sheath, keys with acrylic on the fob, machete with plastic handle, and two tool boxes of assorted tools and equipment for the journey to freedom.
SFCMC Welcomes HAI Contractors
On November 7, 2011, History Associates, Inc. contractors Colleen Benoit and Michael Folkerts began working at the SFCMC on archival records created by the Everglades science program. Colleen is originally from Rochester, NY, while Michael grew up in Chicago, IL. When they are not hard at work processing archives, they have both been enjoying exploring South Florida and our parks.
SFCMC Hosts Oral Historians
During the week of October 31-November 4, 2011, the SFCMC hosted the Effective Oral History Workshop, coordinated by LuAnn Jones and Nancy Russell. Instructors were LuAnn Jones, historian (WASO); Alan Marsh, historian and chief of resource management, (ANDE); Carla Mattix, solicitor (DOI); Laura Ogden, cultural anthropologist (Florida International University); Paul Rogers, archivist (PWR); Nancy Russell, museum curator (SFCMC); Bob Blythe, historian (formerly of SERO); and Hannah Nyala West, historian (JOTR). Topics included planning oral history projects, legal and ethical issues, recording technologies, interview preparation, interviewing, processing interviews, and using oral history for interpretive programs, exhibits, web sites, and publications. Participants had the opportunity to conduct oral history interviews with current and former Everglades National Park Staff, including Gordon Anderson, Rick Anderson, Ben Morgan, and Jonathan Taylor. The interviews are archived at the SFCMC.
Multi-park Exhibit at FIU
The SFCMC partnered with the Green Library at Florida International University to develop the exhibit “Collection Selection: Nature and Culture in Our South Florida National Parks”. The exhibit, curated by SFCMC staff, included a selection of natural and cultural objects which reflect park resources and address current research and resource management issues at BICY, BISC, DRTO and EVER. Objects included: artifacts from the English China Wreck, recently recovered by BISC Archeologist Chuck Lawson and his team; Florida panther recovery-related materials from EVER and BICY, including an incomplete panther skeleton, tranquilizer gun and darts, tracking collar, and plaster casts of tracks; the 75th anniversary photo exhibit of DRTO, prepared by DRTO Exhibit Specialist Kelly Clark; Seminole and Miccosukee objects; and native plants of the Everglades. Visitors can view the exhibit through January 24, 2012.
Last updated: March 28, 2024