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June
25, 1995
Mel
Fisher Maritime Heritage Society
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Maritime
Festival, Lecture Series
Mark
10th Anniversary of Atocha
Discovery
July
20, 1995, marks the ten-year anniversary of one of the
most significant discoveries in maritime history: the
remains of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha , sunk off Key West in a 1622 hurricane.
Located by Mel Fisher and his Treasure Salvors crew
after a grueling sixteen-year search, the shipwreck
ultimately yielded $400 million worth of early
17th-century artifacts and treasures.
To
celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Atocha
mother
lode’s discovery, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage
Society is hosting an archaeological dive workshop; a
commemorative dive at the wrecksite; and a lecture
series on the shipwreck, its excavation, and its
historical significance. All three events are part of
the society’s fourth annual Maritime Festival,
beginning July 17 and running through July 23.
The
archaeological dive workshop, scheduled for July 17
through 21, includes four days of diving and learning
underwater archaeological techniques on an 1800s
wrecksite. This is followed by a day in the society’s
laboratories studying artifact identification and
conservation procedures.
Each
evening during the week of the Maritime Festival,
members of Mel Fisher’s “Golden Crew” who
participated in the incredible discovery of the Atocha
will share their recollections in a series of lectures.
Focusing on the drama of the search and the accompanying
research that led to the discovery, the lectures will be
held at the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society Museum
at 200 Greene Street in Key West. All lectures are free
to the public and will begin at 7 p.m.
On
Monday, July 17, Mel Fisher himself is scheduled to kick
off the lecture series with an overview of the search
for the fabled galleon. Joining him will be Dr. Eugene
Lyon, the historian whose research in the archives of
Seville was instrumental in pinpointing the Atocha’s
location
and verifying her identity.
The
following evening, Deo Fisher, Mel Fisher’s wife and
partner in the search and discovery, will present her
recollections of the sixteen-year odyssey. Appearing
with her is Don Kincaid, an internationally recognized
photographer who was a captain and diver on the Treasure
Salvors crew and will speak about the shipwreck’s
treasures—many of which he discovered himself.
Wednesday,
July 19, features a presentation by Duncan Matthewson,
Mel Fisher’s chief archaeologist during the long
search. He will offer an overview of the archeological
processes used to recover the Atocha’s
artifacts and treasures.
Winding
up the lecture series on July 20 are two people who are
guiding the present-day activities of the Mel Fisher
Maritime Heritage Society Museum. Dr. Madeleine
Burnside, the executive director of the society,
recently launched a highly-acclaimed exhibition of
artifacts from the English merchant slaver Henrietta Marie ; she will explain the society’s future projects.
Museum curator Angus Konstam, an armaments expert who
was formerly a curator at the Tower of London, will
share his knowledge of 17th-century Spanish shipping.
Saturday,
July 22, and Sunday, July 23, the organization offers a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for certified divers: an
overnight dive excursion to the wrecksites of the 1622
treasure fleet. Participants will depart Saturday to
dive the shipwreck of the Nuestra
Señora del Rosario , which sank with the Atocha
in the 1622
hurricane. Anchoring overnight at the Atocha
site, on
Sunday they will explore the main treasure pile of the Atocha
and her
sister galleon, the Santa
Margarita . Following this historic dive, they will
return to Key West to join Mel Fisher’s Golden Crew
for a tenth anniversary celebration.
Founded
in 1982, the Maritime Heritage Society is a nonprofit
organization whose purpose is to accumulate and
disseminate information on 17th- and 18th-century
maritime activity in the New World. As well as operating
the museum, it spearheads the preservation,
conservation, and study of artifacts from the Atocha
, Margarita , and Henrietta
Marie . For more information about the society’s
fourth annual Maritime Festival or lecture series,
please call (305) 294-2633.
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