The eccentric ethnomusicologist and collector Harry Smith was filmed offering explanations and instructions to officials at the Smithsonian Institute about his vast donation, including a stack of Seminole patchwork. He explains that the fabric should not be touched (despite not using museum-typical, protective cotton gloves himself) unless, teasingly, Washington is bombed. The joke is strange, but obviously shows that he attributes a great deal of importance to these fabrics and their maker. He does not mention her name. Like many artifacts of Seminole handiwork, the artist is very hard to trace.

Seminole Woman Doll, circa 1952
Coconut fiber, red and blue cape
multicolored patchwork dress,
plastic beaded necklace
small fabric pouch
15.25 x 5 x 5 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum
Museum purchase

The video indirectly highlights a collective twentieth century fascination with Seminole patchwork (indeed Smith even made an experimental film of Seminole patchwork abstractions). The handicrafts, and people’s interest in them, bolstered the fledgling early economy of the Native American tribe in a time of need. After the Seminole Wars pushed the tribe to South Florida in the second half of the nineteenth century, there was some confusion about how to make money and the tribe turned to tourism and part of that budding economy were the dolls depicting Seminole in traditional garb.

Stills from Harry Smith’s Film Number 15, Seminole patchwork film, ca 1965-66, 16mm, silent, ca. 10 minutes. Courtesy Harry Smith Archives. www.harrysmitharchives.com

In the early 1930s, a Protestant Episcopal missionary named Deaconess Harriet Bedell visited the Seminole and was troubled by their plight. Like all Americans, the Seminole were adversely affected by the Great Depression, and were in desperate need of a new economic outlet. In the first half of the century, there were commercial Indian villages, administered by non-tribal members were opened as sort of “human zoos” where tourists could come and watch the Seminole doing daily work in their native environment. She famously declared that the tribe should “exhibit arts, not people,” and hoped to bolster more Seminole owned businesses that would proffer up homemade handiworks. Deaconess Bedell encouraged the arts amongst the Seminole, and was hugely influential in the thriving art early in the tradition of doll making.

Seminole Woman Doll, circa 1952
Coconut fiber, teal cape with horizontal colored strips,
yellow skirt with multi-colored patchwork, red
and black strips, beaded necklace
15 x 7 x 3 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum

The Curious Vault of the Miami Science Museum has a collection of six Seminole Dolls, which date to approximately the 1950s. Dolls like this have been sold to tourists since the early 1900s, and are still available for purchase today. Their bodies were initially made of wood until around the 1930s when the practice of using palmetto fibers took over. These palmetto husks were a native material hand pulled from South Florida trees and woven into a rudimentary representative human shape. The Seminole preferred this material, and Historian Dorothy Downs suggests that it was favored because it closely resembled the population’s skin hue. Both male and female dolls are always depicted with a red mouth, and white and black eyes shaped like a “+” sign.

When the dolls were first offered, they only portrayed women. They are typically depicted with no arms and a cylindrical base for legs because in real life the traditional dress of Seminole women typically covered their feet. Thus the dolls have large and ornately sewn capes, which are beautiful small-scale representations of the intricate and well-known Seminole patchwork. They also have a bonnet like black piece on their head to signify the elaborate yet common style of hair bun popular amongst the women at the time. They also typically have beautifully beaded necklaces.

Seminole Woman Doll, circa 1952
Coconut fiber, lavender skirt with yellow/blue patchwork,
green and yellow cape under the skirt, beaded necklace
9 x 2 x 1.5 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum
Museum Purchase

In the 1940s, the Seminole started making male dolls due to popular demand, though they are less common because they were more difficult to make. This is because they have arms and legs, and are shown wearing what is known as a “Big Shirt”, a traditional piece of garb that actually went out of style amongst Seminole men around this same time. They are sometimes depicted wearing a scarf. The collection has two of these more rare male dolls.

The patchwork on both the men and women is sewn in rows, and can sometimes be read and attributed to particular artists, though today this expertise is almost solely left to the Seminole.  Given the size of the fabric strips we can assume they were made specifically for dolls, showing that they were concentrating on the tourist industry.

Seminole Woman Doll, circa 1952
Coconut fiber with legs, red neckerchief, jacket of multicolored
patchwork and horizontal insets, skirt bordered in lavender and
blue with orange and brown patchwork, beaded necklace
10 x 4.5 x 2 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum
Museum Purchase

Seminole dolls are said to be the best known amongst all Native American dolls, but their history is not inextricably linked with the Seminole people themselves. There is some evidence that the Seminole made dolls before 1900, however, the tradition of doll making was almost always driven by commerce, and primarily geared towards the tourist industry. This distinction is unique to the Seminole. There are two different histories in place because their people have a history and tradition, as well as a second history linked specifically with tourism.

These particular dolls in the Curious Vault are rare because a great deal of people saw these objects as throwaway tourist toys, and were treated as such. Another explanation for their rarity was briefly illuminated by Harry Smith’s unfounded fear that the Smithsonian’s team might over-handle the objects the patchworks and dolls are fragile. A lot of the early Seminole patchwork and handicrafts have since been lost due to the harsh terrain of the swamp, and that is why these Seminole dolls, so well preserved, are a special addition to the Curious Vault.

Seminole Woman Doll, circa 1952
Coconut fiber body, yellow and red cape over white skirt
machine stitched green, white teal and black rick-rack,
beaded necklace
8 x 5 x 2 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum
Museum Purchase

In 1949, the Miami Science Museum opened its doors initially as the Junior Museum, soon changing its name two years later to The Museum of Science and Natural History. An unwritten intent was to give the children of Miami exposure to people of different cultures, adding ethnographic and educational items to build local understanding, and these six exquisite little dolls would have been a way for young people to relate to the nearby Seminole tribe. In January of that same year, 1952, Deaconess Harriett Bedell donated the rare male Seminole Doll and a number of other important Seminole artifacts to the collection. The Curious Vault of the Miami Science Museum is proud to be able to make the connection between such a distinguished member of local history.

Seminole Man doll, circa 1952
Traditional costume of turban, jacket with multi-colored
Horizontal striped rick-rack and multi-colored
skirt with patchwork, rick-rack and orange edge
13 x 5 x 1.5 inches
Collection of the Miami Science Museum
Gift of Deaconess Bedell

This Curious Vault post relied on the research of Dorothy Downs and David Blackard and the input of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum. 

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org.

“I manufacture but one type of these Registers: THE BEST.” -Julien P. Friez

The Electrical Sunshine Recorder (photo by Dogan Arslanoglu)

In the late 19^th century, Julien P. Friez  (1850-1916) and his Baltimore based company began mass producing highly technical weather monitoring systems, and provided many technical instruments to the U.S. Government Weather Bureau. The company started in 1876, and was not focused purely on weather machines initially, yet in its first official catalogue (1893) Friez officially declared their direction. He was not the only manufacturer in this industry, and there was a great deal of competition at the time, however, in the catalogue he clearly states his intention to be the first manufacturer to provide tools for not only professional meteorologists, but also at-home amateur scientific enthusiasts.

The piece pictured above from The Curious Vault of the Miami Science Museum is not singular or particularly rare, but its provenance is intriguing. Friez’s Electrical Sunshine Recorder was donated to the Museum in 1984 by prominent Miamian, James Danielson Deering (1915-1991). Deering is the great nephew of James Deering, builder of the Vizcaya Estate, and grandson of Charles Deering, builder of the Deering Estate at Cutler. The Miami Science Museum is proud to be able to make this link to such  distinguished pioneers of the early South Florida community.

Label on the Electrical Sunshine Recorder

By 1900, many of Friez’s weather monitoring machines, like the Museum’s Sunshine Recorder, were electrified.  Given that this particular piece is labeled on its base, “J.P. Friez and Sons”, we can pinpoint its date of manufacture to between 1914 and 1929, when Julien’s youngest son, Lucien was with the company. A team of around 20 highly skilled professionals constructed this fascinating instrument by hand. It is a Quadruple Register, meaning it could measure four different meteorological phenomena: wind velocity and direction, rain, and sunshine. The apparatus pictured would have been attached through wires to a weather vane placed in a suitable location to record the conditions of the day.

Electrical contacts close-up

The machine itself was wound like a clock and the roll of paper traveled around as each reading was made. When the weathervane moved, a set of ball bearings rotated along with it, causing contact with a thin iron cylinder that was connected to the four wind direction contacts on the device through a series of wiring. It required a decent amount of technical skill to set up the apparatus correctly.

The rain gauge and the sunshine recorder were attached to the weather vane. The rain gauge was a simple measuring tube that worked on a circuit rigged balance beam, while the sunshine recording device functioned on the relationship between carbon black and a thin column of mercury, in what was effectively a sunshine thermometer. The lower bulb is coated with a carbon black substance, which absorbs sunlight and warms the air in the lower bulb more than the air in the clear upper bulb. The expansion of the air in the lower bulb displaces the mercury, which then rises in the tube and completes an electrical circuit, causing a reading. When there is no longer sunshine on the instrument, the mercury retreats, causing a blank line reading.

Ink close-up

Purple ink

Printout roll close-up

Though it cannot be determined at this time where the Deering Family put the vane that attached to this particular instrument—whether at Vizcaya, the Deering Estate, or elsewhere—we can postulate that given the privilege it would have required to purchase such an apparatus, it was most likely put to use. One can hope that the great Deering family sat intimately around a dinner table and discussed the weather reading printouts.

The second Friez Weather Device

There is a second J.P. Friez and Sons piece in collection of the Museum that appears to be of the same time period and the Museum is now investigating the provenance of this unit as well. These two machines help underscore the scope of the collection of fascinating objects on hand in The Curious Vault. Amazingly, after 137 years, J.P. Friez and Sons is still in existence as Belfort Instrument making high quality modern day products, a testament to the lasting excellence and superb vision of Julien P. Friez and his weather monitoring devices.

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org.

“I call this my magic window.” -Captain Nemo from the 1916 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Sp.69, Sp.71, Sp. 72, 1924, watercolor on paper 11 3/4 x 9 inches

The Roy Miner Collection was donated to Miami Science Museum in 1976 and sat untouched in the archives room until it was re-discovered again in 2000 by Rachel Delovio who was the Collections Manager at the time. The archive itself consists of 4500 glass lanternslides and negatives made between the 1920s to the 1940s as well as various ephemera from the period. The story of how it was found again is dear to our hearts, because the practice of carefully combing through and looking for unknown clues at the Miami Science Museum is what The Curious Vault column is based on. In exploring the Miner Collection our team had a unique “EUREKA” moment when we came across a peculiar series of watercolors depicting various underwater scenes and specimens.

The Roy Miner Collection (photo by Paul Stoppi)

On the sketches themselves, 6 in total, are various notations written in pencil, but one consistency screamed out for further investigation. They are numbered, “Tube Sketch No. 3” for instance. We decided to spread them out to check the notations on the pictures and saw that some are simply numbered, while others have longer descriptions. Two in particular say “Sketched from Mr. Williamson’s Submarine Tube”. It was then that we realized that these watercolors were actually made underwater (!) at Hog Key Inlet in the Bahamas in 1924.

Tube Sketch no. 2, 1924, watercolor on paper 9 x 11 3/4 inches

Diving a little deeper we found an image of the apparatus at work. Captain Charles Williamson initially built the device around the turn of the 20^th century for the purposes of treasure salvage. A 1911 article in the New York Times shows the excitement around the search for $500,000 in silver from the shipwreck Merida off the shores of Williamson’s hometown Norfolk Virginia. However, by the 1920s, the treasure of the Merida was still unrecovered, and it seems Williamson’s sons had begun to understand the Tube’s power as a facilitator to the study of underwater life. They decided that the Tube was perfectly suited for documenting underwater life, particularly through photography, and most importantly motion pictures (see January 1915 article in The American Magazine).

Williamson Submarine Tube attached to the boat

The Tube took many different technical variations, but it’s most public and important contribution to underwater exploration was the production of the groundbreaking cinematic photography used in the 1916 version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Skip to 30:00 into the YouTube clip for underwater footage, or more interestingly 59:10 for the footage of the sea monster that the Williamson Brothers patented a year after their production company made the film. The movie was the first time the general public had ever been exposed to underwater motion picture footage. Think of what it must have been like at the time to see this unbelievable motion picture. This is a fascinating link to film history that the Miami Science Museum can make to real objects in their collection.

The watercolor sketches are currently on display at the museum for public viewing. They were made by Charles E. Olsen, whose biographical information is scarce. He appears to be a highly skilled amateur, and the watercolors themselves are beautiful in their near perfection. Most importantly is their uniqueness to the time period. These paintings were made underwater in 1924! It appears, as these pictures show, that the Williamson brothers went on to utilize the Submarine Tube for not only entertainment, but also scientific discovery. Their contribution to the niche world of early underwater photography and exploration is significant. This series of watercolors is just one of the many treasures to be uncovered inside The Curious Vault. Endless fascination lay hidden and ready for all of our eyes to see. We are so glad to be a part of this cultural excavation and hope that you will stay with our continued journey of the Museum’s hidden secrets in the New Year.

Tube Sketch no. 3

5. Algae and Digitiform Gorgonia

Tube Sketch no. 7

Special thanks to Rachel Delovio for re-discovering the Roy Miner Collection and The Rebreather Site for the New York Times Image and the Sea Monster Patent. Check out their site for more images of Mr. Williamson’s Submarine Tube. If you have any knowledge about the artist Charles E. Olsen please contact the Museum.

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org.

A living fossil, sea turtles still nest up and down the busy and overbuilt South Florida coast and travel past our shores throughout the year. The various species of ocean roaming turtle are approximately 200-300 million years old but because they lay their eggs on our beaches, scientists are able to closely study the nomadic animals. For this reason, and with modern techniques such as satellite tagging, we can occasionally glimpse closely into their mysterious lives.

Loggerhead Shell (photo by Paul Stoppi)

One of the finer specimens in the Miami Science Museum collection is a gigantic loggerhead shell. It is from a specimen estimated to be around 150 years old when it died! The shell is marked with a label that the object came from United States Customs, confiscated from someone trying to trade illegally in sea turtle paraphernalia. This is part of the reason the Museum’s collection of sea turtles, around 25 specimens, is so impressive. Even though bycatch – the accidental killing by commercial fisherman – is the greatest threat sea turtles, for many years they were hunted for their shells as luxury items, or to adorn jewelry. In some places, like in Cuba, the flippers, eggs, and head of sea turtles are still eaten by people holding on to age-old traditions, even though hunting them was banned years ago.

Green turtle specimen (photo by Paul Stoppi)

The Miami Science Museum’s very own Fernando Bretos is an expert on green turtles and he follows their movements and mating throughout the Caribbean, but mostly focusing on nesting and migrations between Florida and Cuba. Fernando is a Cuban-American who is trying to pick up the dialogue between Cuba and the United States through sea turtles. It is one of the few links in which exchange is allowed and encouraged, “maybe the only link even,” states Bretos, “and we must share information and resources to protect the animals.” Sea turtles become not just amazing animals to study and appreciate but are also fascinating to consider as a bridge between two politically embattled nations.

Green turtle specimen, close-up (photo by Paul Stoppi)

Fernando is attracted to sea turtles, not only because they are beautiful and need help, but also because he sees a link to himself. They are migratory; he has lived in Cuba, the U.S.A, and Australia. And the green turtle traveling through the Gulf Stream is particular to both his homeland of Cuba and home country of America. But he feels it’s important to understand what our changing definition of nature is. Fisheries biologist Jeremy Jackson suggests at the time of Columbus the green sea turtle population was approximately 660 million turtles. The Tortugas were named such because of this drastic overabundance, and some tales speak of sailors walking from shell to shell on over crowded beached. Indeed sea turtle was one of the primary food resource in the Caribbean. That is in contrast with the estimated 88,000 nesting females in existence today, as reported by the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

In a bittersweet moment, it is almost because of this overabundance of sea turtles in combination with the regulations now put against their trade, that the impressive collection of sea turtle specimens at the Miami Science Museum could be compiled. Through conservation and conversation they can come back, but the dialogue must remain. The collection also shows us how important sea turtles are locally in Miami. In fact, Florida’s beaches are the most important nesting site for loggerhead turtles on the planet! Even though it is 25 specimens, because the scientific community is trying to conserve the animals, a collection like the one the Miami Science Museum is actually quite impressive. It would be impossible to compile today, making it truly unique.

Turtle tracking via satellite

The image above is a satellite track from SeaTurtle.org of five green turtles that were tagged off the coast of Guanahacabibes UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in August 2012 immediately after laying eggs. Since their tagging, these five female turtles have begun their annual voyage to foraging and mating grounds. Two of the animals, one named Conchita, after Fernando’s mother, made a fast dash immediately for Florida. Conchita, whose track is labeled in green, suddenly made an abrupt turn and swam to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula where she is now feeding on shallow sea grass beds.

It is critical to study the migratory movements of these enigmatic creatures. Without knowing where they feed, nest or travel, it is impossible to draft policies to protect them, particularly across international maritime borders.)

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org

Calcite

Tucked away on a high shelf in the collections room of the Museum of Science is a startlingly unique rock specimen. It is white with long jutting crystal arms and made of a fragile mineral called calcite. The piece looks like it comes from completely different planet.

How calcite looks isn’t the only amazing thing about it.  Scientists in England have recently shown that calcite might unlock the secret to invisibility. They even make a paperclip disappear! By using the light that reflects off two specially made pieces of calcite, they are able to make the object behind them undetectable. Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak could one day happen due to this amazing mineral.

Calcite Detail

If you want to learn more about calcite, the Miami Mineralogical and Lapidary Guild is the best resource in town. They are a quirky and fun group, dedicated to all things rock-related. Founded in 1955, the Guild has been an affiliate study group with the Museum for those interested in rare or semi-precious stones, cutting and shaping them, and most importantly learning about them.  They are very friendly, and welcome all visitors to learn about their unique hobby.

The members of the Guild explained to me that you can identify the specimen as a calcite because of its “habits”.  Simply put a habit is the rock’s shape, or in this case, the crystal arms that jut out. How the habits are formed depend on where the rock was made. This particular specimen was found in Wisconsin and its habits come from the precipitation of either ground water or surface water piling on top of each other and hardening over the course of millions of years. The water drips and dries leaving coatings with small particles of the limestone walls that build up and form the calcite.

Snowy River Cave (Image Source: PlanetGreen.com)

One of the more fascinating places calcite can be found is the Snowy River Cave in New Mexico. There is a dry underground riverbed of white calcite, much like the Museum specimen. Only 9 miles of the cave has been mapped and the full extent of the bed is still unknown, but the discovery is one of the most important recent calcite and caving finds in America.

“Nature makes it different every time,“ said the Mineralogical and Lapidary Guild’s Vice President K.C. Foster.  This is an important sentiment for minerals because, like a fingerprint, no calcite is ever the same. Whether an underground riverbed, a composite that can make things invisible, or a beautiful specimen like the one in the Museum’s collection, calcite is an amazing and unique mineral.

The Board of the Miami Mineralogical and Lapidary Guild

The Miami Mineralogical and Lapidary Guild meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Miami Museum of Science. They also set up interactive demonstrations for families and visitors the fourth Sunday of every month from 1-4 p.m.

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org