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EUGENE LYON TAKES HELM OF MEL FISHER  MARITIME HERITAGE SOCIETY AND MUSEUM BOARD

Eugene Lyon of St. Augustine was recently elected president of the board of the Mel Fisher Maritime Society and Museum for 2003.  Lyon, a Florida native, is an U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War.  He holds a doctorate in Latin-American History from the University of Florida and is a specialist in the sixteenth-century Spanish presence in North America and in the Spanish maritime trade system, the Carrera de las Indias.

Lyon has published a number of books and monographs, including The Search for the Atocha.  In Mel Fisher’s search for the Atocha, Lyon enabled its location and definitive identification through archival documents and by matching the markings on recovered bronze cannon and silver ingots with data from the ship’s arms list and manifest.  He has also published The Enterprise of Florida, Santa Elena: A brief history of the Colony,  Pedro Menendez de Aviles, A Sourcebook, and a monograph about the reconstruction of the historic ship Los Tres Reyes Magos. The St. Augustine Historical Society has published Richer Than We Thought, Lyon’s book on the material culture of sixteenth-century St.Augustine.

Lyon has written for National Geographic, including articles on the Atocha and Santa Margarita, as well as on Columbus’ caravel Nina, based on material he discovered in the Archives of the Indies in Seville.  He also wrote cover stories on the Manila Galleons and on the origin, thought and nature of Christopher Columbus.  He provided a translation of Columbus’ first voyage log to the National Geographic Society.

For thirteen years, Eugene Lyon directed the Center for Historic Research at Flagler College.  The Center operates a database from microfilmed primary documents from a variety of Spanish and American archives.  He has participated in the examination of manuscript collections in the archives of Menorca, Spain and Cartagena, Colombia, as well as assisting in the inventory of the parish records of churches in and around Havana, Cuba.

Lyon collaborated with archaeologists in the study of colonial Puerto Real, Santa Elena, Santa Catalina, and St. Augustine.   He has written on Native American demography in Florida.  Governor Lawton Chiles appointed him to the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board.  He has received high honors from both Spain and the Dominican Republic for his contributions to Spanish history and culture.  In 1992, the city of St. Augustine awarded him its highest honor – the Order of La Florida.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum is thrilled to have someone of Eugene Lyon’s caliber at the helm.  Few individuals have the credentials that Eugene possesses in the museum’s realm of interests and pursuits.

Other officers elected for 2003 include Gib Peters of Key West, first vice-president; George Robb of New York City and Key West, second vice-president; John Harrison of Miami, secretary; and Taffi Abt of Sebastian, Florida, treasurer.

Former board president Kim Fisher remains on the board, as do returning board members Don Kincaid, Betty Rubenstein, Guy Ross, all of Key West; and John Browning of Palatka, Florida.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum is currently organizing a capital campaign committee, as well as a facilities committee to spearhead renovations at the museum.  Board member John Harrison will chair the capital campaign committee.  Kickoff for the campaign will be a hard-hat party in April. 

The Museum’s Henrietta Marie travelling exhibit is presently showing at the Ritz Theatre and La Villa Museum in Jacksonville.  The Montana Smith exhibit will open soon at the State Museum of Florida in Tallahassee.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is a 501c(3) not for profit organization dedicated to the research, preservation, and education of New World history.  Founded in 1982, it is the most visited non-profit history museum in the Southeast.

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