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Mandarin Museum News
August 2025
Embrace the Mandarin Experience
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Dear Friends,
We hope you're faring well in the Florida summer swelter. If you're looking to beat the heat, may I recommend a visit to Walter Jones Historical Park? We're so lucky to call it home, a place where the natural vestiges of Old Florida still reside, a park where the towering canopy shades wide walking pathways, lowering daytime and evening temperatures by 10 degrees or more. You'll encounter your neighbors, adorable dogs big and small (on leashes), and swallowtail butterflies flitting across the landscape, landing on the vibrant blue porterweed in our aspiring Florida-Friendly Landscape garden.
The Duval County Master Gardeners have been hard at work transitioning the garden near the 1898 Schoolhouse to an educational Florida-Friendly Landscape space. In the coming week, the UF/IFAS FFL program coordinator will evaluate the garden to see if it meets certification standards. It's clear, though, that our pollinator friends already approve.
The Master Gardener volunteers and their efforts have inspired in local youth a deep appreciation for the many symbiotic relationships at work in our ecosystem. Recently, Eagle Scout Candidate Colin O'Brien with Boy Scout Troop 50 completed his eagle scout project with us, building and installing 6 bat boxes in the park. We have now found ourselves on "guano watch," checking the ground below periodically to determine if we have any new bat friends coming to roost. The bat boxes will serve as another stop on our school field trip tours as we accomplish our mission to share the stories of Mandarin's history, culture, and natural resources.
On your next visit to Mandarin Museum and Walter Jones Historical Park, be on the lookout for our precious pollinators and join in on our informal "guano watch" while you're at it!
We have a full month of programming ahead. Scroll on to read more.
And as always, I'll see you at the Museum!
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----Brittany Cohill
----Executive Director
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Eagle Scout Candidate Colin O'Brien and his fellow scouts with Troop 50 are pictured as they installed bat boxes in Walter Jones Historical Park.
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First Saturday @ the Museum
Saturday, August 2
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Join Mandarin Museum the first Saturday of every month from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm when all historic buildings throughout Walter Jones Historical Park will be open to the public.
The young and young at heart can pick up a free scavenger hunt at Museum Guest Services to complete as you visit the museum's exhibits and stroll along the park's paved pathways.
Learn more about the area's 19th-century past as museum volunteers greet you at the 1898 St. Joseph's Mission Schoolhouse for African American Children, the 1892 Losco Winery, the 1876 Barn, and the 1875 Webb-Jones Farmhouse.
The historic Mandarin Store & Post Office, located just down the road at 12471 Mandarin Rd., will also be open to visitors.
Admission is free.
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Mandarin Frog Painting - ALL SPOTS FILLED
Saturday, August 2
10:00 am
Museum Front Lawn
Purchase, paint, and take home your very own Mandarin Frog (or sea turtle). The cost is $22 + tax per person and all supplies are provided. Advanced registration is required, payment is due upon arrival to the event. To sign up, please email info@mandarinmuseum.org.
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Meet the Maple Leaf Divers
Saturday, August 2
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Maple Leaf Shipwreck Gallery
Meet the men who dove the Maple Leaf Shipwreck! On April 1, 1864, the Union steamboat Maple Leaf was sunk by Confederates in the St. Johns River just off Mandarin Point. In the 1980s, Dr. Keith Holland and his team of divers located and excavated the site. Now designated a National Historic Landmark, the nearly 3,000 artifacts they recovered have been entrusted to the State of Florida for preservation. Mandarin Museum displays many of these artifacts through a longterm partnership with the State Archives of Florida.
Dr. Holland and the Maple Leaf Divers will be in the gallery from 10:00 am to noon on Saturday, August 2nd to meet with visitors. This is an informal, coversational-style event. Drop in to hear their story of discovery, recovery, and preservation.
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Exhibit Opening Reception
Thursday, August 7
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Museum
Please join Mandarin Museum and the First Coast Plein Air Painters for the opening of Vestiges of Historic Mandarin: En Plein Air. This juried art exhibition will feature contemporary works depicting some of Mandarin's last remaining 19th and early-20th century structures and landscapes. We are thrilled to welcome Keith Doles as juror for the show.
The gallery and refreshments open at 6:00 pm. Remarks and the award presentation will begin at 6:30 pm. Admission is free.
Parking: All parking is free. Limited parking is available on site in the main parking lot at Walter Jones Historical Park. Overflow parking is located across the street at Mandarin Presbyterian. Please use lighted crosswalk when crossing Mandarin Rd.
| | Cover art by Douglas Johnson, M.D. | |
Third Thursday Lecture
Roots and Routes: From Edisto to Florida - A Family's Journey
Thursday, August 21
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Museum & 1898 Schoolhouse
Mandarin Museum is pleased to partner with the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor as they present "Roots and Routes," a 3-part virtual series amplifying the history and living legacy of Gullah Geechee people in Florida. While Sessions 1 & 3 are entirely virtual, Session 2 will be hosted in person at Mandarin Museum (as well as online).
"From Edisto to Florida - A Family's Journey," features Greg Estevez, author of Edisto: The Migration to Florida, and Gullah Historian Elaine Ford Jackson. Estevez will share his family's journey from Edisto Island, SC to the Mandarin area of Florida, his use of Ancestry.com to trace his lineage, and how documenting personal history helps preserve collective heritage. Jackson will offer historical framing and personal reflections to deepen the conversation around cultural continuity and community resilience.
Mandarin Museum and refreshments open at 6:00 pm. The program will begin at 7:00 pm in the 1898 Schoolhouse alongside the Museum. Admission is free.
For comprehensive information regarding all 3 sessions, including how to register for virtual attendance, click HERE.
| | Special thanks to our Fall 2025 Lecture Series Sponsor! | | |
September Lecture
Stowe's Inspiration: A Presentation on "A Plausible Man" with Dr. Susanna Ashton, Professor of English, Clemson University
Friday, September 19
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Mandarin Community Club
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Mandarin Museum's 3rd Annual Fundraising Dinner: Always the River presented by Yoga Den
Thursday, September 25
6:00 to 9:00 pm
Blue Bamboo Canton Bistro
10110 San Jose Blvd.
| | Tickets are selling quickly. We anticipate a sold out event. | | |
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society is thrilled to host its 2025 annual fundraising dinner on Thursday, September 25th at Blue Bamboo Canton Bistro. With a theme of “Always the River,” it will be a true celebration of what has been foundational to our love for the community and its history - the St. Johns River!
The evening begins at 6:00 pm with Mandarin Museum’s Board of Directors welcoming guests for cocktail hour and the opening of the silent auction. The fun continues as Chef Dennis Chan presents a custom curated four-course menu. Throughout, guests will enjoy a fun-filled program of speakers and entertainment chronicling the river’s central role in the history and culture of Mandarin, including a very special “Always the River” musical performance by museum house band The Orange Pickers. Mandarin Museum will also bestow its inaugural Always the River Award on the 2025 honorees for their role in ensuring the St. Johns River remains in the hearts, minds, and hands of the community.
Our 2025 Always the River Award recipients are Dr. Keith Holland and his St. Johns Archaeological Expeditions, Inc. team who dove and excavated the Maple Leaf shipwreck site. Team members include: (pictured left to right, back row) John Pugliese, Bobby Lunsford, Steve Michaelis, and Ron Gebhard. Not pictured are Larry Tipping, Paul Kramer, and Lee Manly. (Lee Manly will be honored posthumously.)
| | The Maple Leaf Divers, posing in front of artist Julie Fetzer’s floor-to-ceiling map in Mandarin Museum’s exhibit showing the location of the Maple Leaf shipwreck site. | | Thank you to our 2025 Presenting Sponsor, Yoga Den! | | | |
Dr. James and Mrs. Renee Waler
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| Sponsors for Museum Volunteer Dinner Tickets | | |
Fourteen hours over the course of two days, that's how long it took to photograph Mandarin Museum's Memphis Wood Collection. Countless more hours will be spent in post production to ensure each image is an accurate and detailed representation of the original piece.
Why should museums photograph their permanent art collections?
- Preservation
- Accessibility
- Engagement
- Collaboration
Long-term preservation of collections is aided by capturing a visual record of works of art, allowing museums to monitor their condition over time and to inform decisions related to conservation and restoration. Detailed visual records are also a key part of museums' disaster preparedness plans.
And in this digital age, museums are focusing considerable energy on making their collections available beyond the in-person visit. High-resolution images increase accessibility by enabling museums to curate virtual exhibits and share their collections online. This expands public and scholarly access. Additionally, these incredibly detailed images allow researchers and art aficionados to study details not visible to the naked eye.
Visitor engagement benefits greatly as museums use these images for exhibition planning, marketing, in educational and presentation materials, and in publications.
And in the arts and culture realm, collaboration is essential. No community's history and traditions were formed in a vacuum. Neither should they be presented in that manner. Digital and visual records of collections ensure a broader reach and a wider audience, promoting engagement and understanding across communities.
Mandarin Museum is eternally grateful for our dear friend and photographer Olis Garber for his unwavering belief in our mission and dedication to his community.
Stayed tuned as we leverage this work and continue to create awareness of and excitement for Mandarin's unique place in the local, national, and international historical canon.
| | Olis Garber is seen photographing a piece of Memphis Wood pottery, donated to Mandarin Museum by Nofa Dixon. | | |
New in the Museum Shop! The University Press of Florida has reprinted John T. Foster, Jr. and Sarah Whitmer Foster's 1999 innovative work, Beechers, Stowes & Yankee Strangers: The Transformation of Florida. Winning acclaim from the Journal of American History, Florida Historical Quarterly, and the Journal of Southern History, the Fosters are credited with challenging the notion that Gilded Age railroad and hotel magnate Henry Flagler was the first among migrating northerners to appreciably spur tourism in Florida. Instead, the Fosters resituate the origins of the Florida tourism industry in the Reconstruction Era with figures like Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Pick up your copy when it hits our shelves this month!
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John T. Foster, Jr., professor emeritus of anthropology at Florida A&M University, has published widely in the social sciences and history. Sarah Whitmer Foster (1945–2015) was professor of sociology and anthropology at Florida A&M University and published in the areas of comparative studies, the social sciences, and history.
Beechers, Stowes & Yankee Strangers: The Transformation of Florida is a volume in the Florida History and Culture series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino.
| | Local artist Julie Fetzer has expanded her selection in the Museum Shop. Our favorites are definitely the "Greetings from Mandarin" and "Greetings from Duval the 904" prints and postcards. Get yours today! | |
Be a supporter of arts & culture in our community through the purchase of an annual membership! Benefits at the individual, family, and patron levels include free guided walking tours of Walter Jones Historical Park, reciprocal benefits at other museums across the nation, discounts in our Museum Shop, and more!
Every contribution made through the purchase of an annual membership enables us to fulfill our mission!
| | Mandarin Museum members at the Family Level and above automatically enjoy the benefits of NARM (North American Reciprocal Museum Association)! By supporting your favorite museum, you receive reciprocal member benefits at almost 1,500 museums, botanical gardens, aquariums, and more across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and The Cayman Islands. Simply show your Mandarin Museum membership card at participating locations! | | |
Read 2025 issues of the Mandarin Newsline online now!
This free newspaper allows Mandarin Museum to share history, events, and programs with the public. The newspaper remains free to readers due to the robust local advertising. Please visit, shop, and eat at those businesses who support the community in this way.
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...help find a solution to a problem nearby!
A big thank you to Arnita Curry with JAXParks for her quick response and oversight of repairs at the boardwalk at Walter Jones. A recent storm took one of our large cypress trees and caused significant damage to the structure. Arnita ensured the area was properly contained while crews removed debris and restored the walking path.
| | More ways to stay up-to-date! | | | |
Thank you to all our community partners!
Mandarin Museum is supported, in part, through the Cultural Service Grant Program administered by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and funded by the City of Jacksonville.
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OUR MISSION: Mandarin Museum & Historical Society shares the stories of Mandarin's history, culture, and natural resources by providing engaging programs that educate, entertain, and inspire.
VISIT. JOIN. VOLUNTEER.
Mandarin Museum & Historical Society
904-268-0784
info@mandarinmuseum.org
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