DECEMBER 2016
MERRY CHRISTMAS

DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Another year has almost passed us by. I think it appropriate to think back on the success of the year and look forward to 2017.
 
We have had many successes this year such as fundraisers like Pancakes in the Park and Night at the Museum. With your help we were able to raise funds to have a built in screen, projector, and speaker system added in the museum. This benefit will certainly enhance any speakers and presentations that we offer. Also with your help we were able to purchase cocktail tables that will be appropriate for many uses. It will also save us rental fees when we do use them. We partnered with the New Smyrna Beach Public Library for two lectures, both of which were very strongly attended. We hosted exhibits from the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Knights of Columbus, and the National Park Service. This is just the tip of the iceberg as we held numerous lectures on site and most importantly hosted thousands of visitors through the doors.
 
As we approach 2017 we look forward with much optimism. We will again be hosting Pancakes in the Park and Night at the Museum fundraisers. We were very fortunate to receive a Florida Humanities Council grant and with this will be offering exciting programs for African-American History Month and Florida Archaeology Month. We will be partnering with the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation for an exhibit and will be hosting an exhibit honoring the Atlantic Center for the Arts 40th anniversary later in the year. Plans are in the works for an archaeology display as well. Our history walking tours will be starting up in January and will be available through mid-April. We are continuing our partnership with Ponce Inlet Watersports to offer a weekly River of History boat tour on the Intracoastal Waterway. We will also be hosting speakers who will be sharing their knowledge and passion on subjects of historical interest.
 
Finally, I want to thank each of you for your continued support and interest in the New Smyrna Museum of History. Without your dedication what we do would not be possible.
 
Merry Christmas!
See you at the Museum, Robert Redd,
Executive Director
New Smyrna Museum  of History

Museum hours:
  • 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Tuesday ~ Saturday
Admission by donation.
120 Sams Avenue
New Smyrna Beach
386-478-0052

Go to the Amazon Smile page (click below) and register to make all your purchases benefit the Museum. It costs you nothing!

The Viking Discovery of North America
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016 -  1:30pm
Archaeologist Dr. Roger Grange will be giving a lecture and PowerPoint presentation on the Viking discovery of North America. Come and learn about how Norsemen were settling in areas of the North American continent more than 400 years before the traditional "discovery" date. We were hoping to get this on the schedule in time for Columbus Day but it just didn't work out. 
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 - 6:30pm
Our annual Christmas party is always a great time and a chance to catch up with friends, make new ones, enjoy tasty treats provided by our members, and enjoy wonderful music. This year rather than have a concert type setting we will be having it more like a traditional party. There will be tables set up, a banquet table with food and drinks, and it will be easier to mix and mingle.
Cyndi Fraser
Live music will be provided by Cyndi Fraser. Come out and listen as she plays a mix of holiday songs with a sprinkling of classic tunes you enjoy. Sing along and have a great time as we get ready for the jolliest day of the year. In addition, that night only, we'll be offering 25% off in our gift shop. 
Community Museum Meeting/Annual Banquet
January 19, 2017 - 6:30pm
Our January Community Museum Meeting is traditionally the month when we hold our annual banquet. We are still finalizing the location and price for the banquet and this information will be available ASAP. Our speaker for the event will be James "Zach" Zacharias from the  Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach. Zach is the Senior Curator of Education and Curator of History at MOAS and speaks widely on many topics of Florida history. His topic for our meeting will be Florida Forts. This is a meeting you won't want to miss. 
VOLUSIA COUNTY HISTORIC
PRESERVATION BOARD
Museum Executive Director Robert Redd was recently appointed to the  Volusia County Historic Preservation Board and attended his first meeting as a Board member in November. The Historic Preservation Board (HPB) is appointed by the Volusia County Council to issue certificates of designation for eligible historic resources (structures, archaeological sites and historic districts) and certificates of appropriateness for demolition, alteration, relocation and new construction. The HPB advises the County Council on all matters related to historic preservation policy, including use, management and maintenance of county-owned historic resources.
FLORIDA HUMANITIES COUNCIL GRANT
The Southeast Volusia Historical Society was recently awarded a grant from the Florida Humanities Council to help provide events and content related to African American History Month in February 2017 and Florida Archaeology Month in March 2017.
 
For African American History Month we will be bringing in speakers like Mary Fears to discuss Harriet Tubman, Dr. Michael Butler from Flagler College to discuss Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his role in St. Augustine during the Civil Rights marches, and Dr. Len Lempel will be discussing Dr. John Milton Hawks and the founding of Freemanville. We are also working on plans for a tour of the Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune home in Daytona Beach and will also be developing a small exhibit in coordination with the Bethune home.
 
Florida Public Archaeology Network will be a key component of our Florida Archaeology Month events. They will be providing four presentations including a Saturday event aimed directly at children. In addition Sarah Bennett will be our speaker during the March Community Museum Meeting. For those not familiar, Sarah has worked closely with Dot and Roger in our lab and has recently earned her M.A. from the University of West Florida. She is involved with the Florida Anthropological Society and FPAN and participates in many digs throughout the state. Dot and Roger will also be putting together a display in our north room.
 
Please be sure to check our January newsletter to confirm dates, times, and locations of these events. All events will be free and open to the public courtesy of the Florida Humanities Council.
 
"Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Florida Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities."
OUR MUSEUM COMMUNITY
NEW MEMBERS
Frank and Peggy Farmer
Mark Stenzel

Memberships can be purchased  on-line.

River of History  Cruise
Wednesdays @ 10am
Every Wednesday at 10 am in coordination with Ponce Inlet Watersports the museum offers a River of History cruise on the Intracoastal Waterway. The tour leaves Ponce Inlet and heads south, reaching the marina area before returning north. Tours last approximately two hours.
Click here for details & pricing.
"Do you have a local mystery you would like help with? Submit your photo or question to the museum at [email protected]. "

Research in files of available eighteenth century documentation is underway to prepare a comprehensive report of food resources imported into the Smyrnea Settlement by Dr. Andrew Turnbull and Gov. James Grant during the 1766-1777 time frame.  The types and amounts of imported foodstuffs provided to the colonists during these years will be informational to historians. Past historians have stated the settlers were not provided sufficient dietary nutritional foods. This may have been a valid statement during certain times, especially drought. At other times adequate foods may have available to the majority of the settlers, either provided by hunting, gathering or by the plantation's staff. Turnbull himself stated that each settler's home included space behind the structure for a garden in which they could plant their own subsistence crops. An important report of the species of mammals, fishes, birds and reptiles consumed by the settlers at one site has previously been prepared for us by a professional zooarchaeologist.  Heavy usage of marine shellfish as food resources has also been documented by the numerous discarded shells excavated at various Turnbull sites. 
Dr. Roger Grange
Dot Moore
 

386-424-6931