Fort George Continues

Yesterday, Museum Trustee Dr. Donald Keith arrived on island. Almost as soon as he was picked up from the airport, he started situating himself in the conservation labs. He'll be staying on island for 3 weeks to continue the conservation of the artifacts donated from Fort George. Hopefully, in that time, we'll see a number of artifacts cleaned, conserved, and the clues to their valuable history will be analyzed. The information will add to the story of life on Fort George and the society and culture of the TCI.

Dr. Keith, who is an expert at underwater artifact conservation and was one of the marine archaeologists that excavated the famous Molasses Reef Wreck with Ships of Discovery, and was one of the original founders of National Museum itself. He was also an integral part of the excavation of the HMS Endymion off the coast of Salt Cay.

Tours, Tours, Tours

By Rory McEathron

It’s been a great week here at the Museum, which I’ve spent preparing new guided tours for the opening of the cruise season in April. The new tours include a shipwreck snorkeling tour, a military tour, and several different behind-the-scenes tours of the museum. The shipwreck snorkeling tour includes half an hour of snorkeling in the wrecking yard in front of the museum before traveling up to the north end of the island to view the lighthouse. The military tour will focus on the Naval Facility on the north end of the island, while the behind-the-scenes tours will allow visitors to learn about the conservation of artifacts and the preparation of exhibits. These tours, which will be offered solely off the Museum’s website, are going to be the best things to hit the Turks and Caicos since the Molasses Reef Shipwreck!

Back Again!

by Jessica Brody

During my last visit to the museum, we applied for a Pine Cay Association grant to resume the after school program. It seemed that every afternoon brought students to our door asking if the program had restarted yet and how long would it be until it did? Just a few weeks after my departure in October, our application was accepted and now we can finally answer “we’re open!” when we hear the knocks on the door. I’ve returned for 6 months to help run the program and continue some of the projects that Tiffany and I started in our visit last fall.

So far the after school program is getting a good response. One of our regular visitors contributes to the Children’s Club Blog and wrote an entry on the positive attention he received from his teachers after he properly cited the sources he used for his homework. You can view it here: http://tcmuseumchildrensclub.blogspot.com/2010/01/tuesdays-with-tuvol.html

I’m also working on picking up the archives project where Tiffany left off. She ordered a shipment of supplies before she left island, and once that arrives we can store the records properly. Then I’ll continue to add the records to the database so we can find what we need every time! It’s an exciting prospect from someone who values organization and usable systems.

We’d also started the slide digitization project last time I was on island. In my absence, Aliatt has completed more than half the scanning! We’re planning great things for that collection so I’m eager to continue scanning images and prepare them for future viewings.

It has been easy to slip back into the swing of things here: I retained all the tour information and facts I’d thought I’d forgotten resurfaced with ease, driving on the “other” side of the road feels natural again, and I’ve found snorkel equipment that fits me. With the basics in place, I’m ready for another great (and productive!) visit to the National Museum.

The Trials of Files

We are finally finishing the re-filing project that began after the hurricane now more than a year ago. Aliatte has been spending her holiday break from the Grand Turk Community College transferring miles of files into our new cabinets that arrived with the AC equipment in November.

Last year we had an order of file cabinets come with our shipment of replacement supplies following the hurricane. These cabinets, however, were the wrong size. Our second order put us into the file business and we are almost back in order. At least alphabetically!

New Intern Arrives At Museum

Our new intern Rory arrived this week. Rory has deferred admission from Davidson College for a year and lives in Vermont with his parents and four younger siblings. He has been shadowing our tour guides for the last few days, as well as learning about the famed Molasses Reef Wreck. Today he successfully led the last two tours off the Carnival Glory. He proceeded to jokingly declare himself "The #1 Tour Guide on the island," to heated debate from the museum's other guides. Rory will be with the Museum for the next two months.

If you happen to be by, please request his #1 tour!

Welcome to the New Year

The new year has started. We have had five ship calls this New Years weekend. Our Historic Houses and Museum tours have been full.

Thanks to the storms off the U.S. coast we have had unbelievable choppy seas for three days. New Years day was flat and calm. Everyone was on the water. Today, it is choppy again.

But like I told visitors a couple days ago...it is never raining inside the museum.