Mel Fisher Maritime Museum Displays Historic Shipwreck Treasure
KEY WEST, FLORIDA – Since explorers first discovered the New World, the Florida Keys have been on the trade routes between the Americas and Europe. Because the water surrounding the island chain hide a literal treasure trove of shipwrecks, Key West was the headquarters of shipwreck salvagers throughout the 1800s.
Today Key West is home to the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum, an internationally recognized center for excavation, preservation, research and exhibition of New World maritime artifacts. Visitors will find the richest single collection of 17th century maritime and shipwreck antiquities in the Western Hemisphere at the society’s museum. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum has been awarded accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM). This is the highest honor that a museum can attain, placing the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in the top five percent of museums in the country.
The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is Florida’s most-visited historical museum, with more than 200,000 visitors annually.
Mel Fisher, a long-time Key West resident until his death in 1998, discovered the $400 million treasure of the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha in 1985 after a sixteen-year search. Wrecked in a hurricane in 1622 off the Florida Keys, the Atocha was on her way home to Spain laden with gold, silver and other cargoes from the New World. Fisher and his team also recovered significant artifacts and treasure from the Atocha’s sister ship, the Santa Margarita, and the English merchant slave vessel Henrietta Marie.
One of only a handful of shipwrecked slavers ever identified by name, the Henrietta Marie sank in 1700 near the Marquesas Keys. From this wrecksite, the society’s archaeological teams excavated priceless English-made pewterware, trade beads, ivory and cannons – as well as iron shackles that are a chilling reminder of the slave trade’s cruelty.
Shipwreck artifacts donated from these three vessels forms the cornerstone of the museum’s exhibitions. Among the items on display are a fortune in gold, silver bars and coins destined for the coffers of Spain; a gold chain valued at more than a quarter of a million dollars; a horde of contraband emeralds; religious and secular jewelry; and a variety of rare navigational instruments and weapons. Visitors can even lift a gold bar found on one of the wrecksites. No measure of value can outweigh the historical significance of the museum’s collections as many objects are the sole surviving example of European craftsmanship in the world.
Other artifacts on display come from one of the earliest and most complete Spanish shipwrecks ever found in the Western Hemisphere. Called the St. John’s wreck, the site is currently undergoing comprehensive excavation by Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society archaeologists.
The museum’s second-floor gallery hosts a new exhibition every six months -each one exploring a different aspect of the New World’s rich maritime heritage. Throughout the museum, interactive modules as well as innovative audio and video components make it an intriguing stop for visitors of all ages.
The current exhibition – Reefs, Wrecks and Rascals – focuses on the legacy of piracy in the Florida Keys and Caribbean. Three-dimensional dioramas, interactive maps, engaging hands-on activities, and never before seen artifacts provide a plentiful bounty for any pirate fan.
Prior exhibitions have included Montana Smith and A Voyage Through Time – which is part Clue and part scavenger hunt and takes visitors on a shipwreck exploration adventure. The exhibition, designed to educate and entertain, takes viewers through the Age of Sail from 16th century galleon precursors to the clippers of the 1800s. The Plot: Noted archaeologist of the Museum of Maritime Mysteries, Dr. Montana Smith, seeks to solve the puzzle created by retired philanthropist Griffen Reynolds, Jr. Reynolds plans to give the Museum his collection of artifacts from one of the shipwrecks he visited when he was a pioneer scuba diver in the 1950s and 60s if Montana Smith can select from six ships the exact origin of the artifacts. Visitors to the exhibit help these fictional characters solve the puzzle. This exhibit is the creation of the Mel Fisher Museum’s talented staff and is a hit with all that view it.
The Henrietta Marie, Montana Smith, Pirates! exhibits are available for touring, as is an exhibit entitled The Last Slave Ships, a riveting story about slave ships captured by the US Navy and brought to shore in Key West.
What sets the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum apart from other history museums traces to how the museum acquires many of its artifacts. The museum has a highly-trained archaeological dive team, that utilizes state of the art field equipment and vessels, provided by the RPM Nautical Foundation, performs its own archeological digs in search of sunken ships. Artifacts recovered by the dive team are documented in place, and when feasible, recovered for treatment in the museum’s extensive conservation lab. The lab has more than 5,000 square feet dedicated to treatment tanks, conservation work stations, computer assisted conservation logs, and treatment records. Artifacts are documented, researched, and conserved with an emphasis for preparation for inclusion in public exhibitions. At the core of the museum’s commitment to these precious artifacts is developing an understanding of the object as it was used in the past and how best to convey that knowledge to the museum-goer.
The museum has an extensive artifact collection. At any one time, no more than 15% of the museum’s collection is on public display.
The Museum has an extensive educational program for children in place to educate area school-aged children about science,area marine life, underwater archaeology and the fine arts.
This world-class museum has been supported by a number of government, corporate and foundation grants, including support from the National Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Historical Museums, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Humanities Council, Monroe County Tourist Development Council, James S. and John L. Knight Foundation, Newman’s Own Foundation, General Motors Corporation, Sony Corporation of America, American Airlines/American Eagle, Remo Drums, and Robb, Peck, McCooey, Inc. Major endowment funding has been received from the Fisher family, the RPM Nautical Foundation, the Rodel Charitable Foundation and the John P. Evans Foundation. Maritime Society memberships and museum visitor donations have also helped to underwrite the museum’s activities.
The museum is currently celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Main Pile of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha (July 20, 1985- July 20, 2005) with special events scheduled throughout the year.
