Volume 5, No. 1

South Florida Collections Management Center

Re:Collections

Spring 2015

Happy Anniversary SFCMC!

Can you believe it? February 2015 marked 10 years since the South Florida Collections Management Center (SFCMC) was officially created under a charter as a multi-park museum management program serving the South Florida parks. The parks worked together before that, of course, but the charter marked a new stage in our programmatic development for BICY, BISC, DRTO, and EVER, with DESO added in 2006. The charter is currently being updated to guide the next 10 years of multi-park cooperation and collaboration. We couldn’t do what we do without the support of our partner parks, our superintendents, and regional staff. We look forward to another great decade.

NPS Web Catalog

The NPS manages over 42 million objects and specimens and over 52,400 linear feet of archives (as of FY2010). The NPS Web Catalog lets you search some of these collections by park, object name, type of collection, and more. Check it out. http://museum.nps.gov/ParkIndex.aspx#.VRmclqHD8eg

SFCMC Staff Spotlight

Meet Mark Walters and Alison Skaggs, two of SFCMC's newest interns!

They have Masters in Library and Information Science degrees from University of Maryland. They began working with us as archives interns in January 2015.

Marks archives experience includes Mercy Medical Center; Fairfax County Public Library; Frederick County Public Libraries; and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. Outside of work, Mark enjoys visiting museums and historic sites, going to the beach with a good book, and sampling vegetarian dishes. previously worked at the Digitization Center at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Outside of work, Alison enjoys drawing, camping, live music, and learning all about scuba diving.

BISC Permits

Park Ranger Astrid Rybeck is the new scientific research permit coordinator for BISC. While wearing many “hats” at the park, Astrid is new to the challenges of the permit system. The “old hands” (PJ Walker, Steve Schulze & Jennifer) have one word (run) – no, actually welcome!!!

BICY Artwork

The Preserve’s fine arts collection continues to grow as a result of the artist in residence program. Recent additions to the museum collection are pictured to the right (clockwise from upper right): Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake by Ramona Maziarz [pen & ink], Sunrise Mist 45 by Richard Eskin [photograph], River Gator by Bob Rosell [photograph], Summer Storm by Linda Apriletti [oil painting], Kirby Storter Cypress by Lynn Uhlmann [oil painting] and Big Cypress Gold by Mark Fletcher [watercolor with pen & ink]. The BICY art collection is exhibited at the Welcome Center, Oasis Visitor Center, and headquarters. The exhibits are changed quarterly so there is always something new to see. Enjoy!

Conservation Corner

Sometimes collections need a little extra care to stabilize their condition, to repair damage from past use or poor storage conditions, or to make them ready for exhibit. SFCMC works with conservators around the country to best meet our collection needs. Some of the professionals working on our collections in FY2015 include:

• Retired NPS Conservator Al Levitan stabilized and created an exhibit mount for a Seminole canoe at BICY;
• Northeast Documents Conservation Center (NEDCC) has been and will be conserving and scanning photographs and documents from BICY, BISC; and DRTO.
• The Maryland Archeological Conservation Lab is treating Dr. Mudd’s tea service from DRTO and archeological artifacts from BISC, with more objects from EVER to come;
• Tuckerbrook Conservation from Maine will be treating EVER’s 100+-year-old Florida panther specimen (affectionately named Kitty) and will be creating an exhibit mount for a Seminole canoe at EVER. Tuckerbrook also finished mounting the Rodman guns at DRTO in November 2014.
• Florida Conservator James Swope is cleaning EVER’s eight Charley Harper paintings.

Thanks everyone for your expertise and assistance. Our collections thank you too.

What’s Bugging DESO?

Curator Nancy Russell joined Harpers Ferry Center Conservator Barbara Cumberland February 18-20, 2015 at DESO for a site visit to prepare a museum integrated pest management (IPM) plan. Barbara also provided training to DESO ranger Dan Stephens in pest identification and using the IPM database to record catch data. Dan is the lucky duck who gets to check the traps and send the results to the SFCMC as part of our ongoing collection care partnership. Thanks Dan.

Archives in Action

During the week of March 9-13, 2015, ten University of Virginia students escaped from the chilly winter weather to participate in an alternative spring break at the south Florida parks.

The SFCMC archive was lucky enough to have their assistance for a quick paced day of photo collection inventory work. The students enjoyed the opportunity to view images in the EVER and DRTO photograph collections. Some favorite photos include a squirrel! During the course of six hours, they completed comprehensive box inventories of thirty-four photograph boxes (and polished off two boxes of donuts during break time). Their energy and enthusiasm made the day pass quickly, and we are very grateful for the work that they completed!

Fun Facts: Did You Know . . .

• According to legend, a pirate called Black Caesar, who once served as a crewman aboard Captain Blackbeard’s ship, worked in the waters of what is now Biscayne National Park, the area is now called Caesar’s Creek!
• Biscayne National Park is getting an Administrative History and the historian has been conducting research in the SFCMC archives!
• Combined, Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks have over 11,000 photographs in their collections!
• The original data and photographic slides from the c. 1980s Everglades and Big Cypress Fire Study were recently acquired by the SFCMC!
• De Soto N.M. Resource Management Records are being digitized & microfilmed to improve access to the records!