Director's Digest
By Greg Holbrook
Executive Director
New Smyrna Museum of History
It's March already and the weather seems eager to warm back up to summer time temps. Although we are not to thrilled to see the return of hot weather, we are very excited about one of the new projects we have in process at the museum.
The Veterans History Project was begun back in 2000 by the US Library of Congress to collect and preserve the firsthand remembrances of U.S. wartime veterans. Its mandate ensures future generations may hear directly from those who served to better understand the realities of war. It is a special project of the American Folklife Center, a research center of the Library of Congress.
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Pictured above are Dr. Frank Farmer on the left and Lt. Col. Phil Love on the right.
Beginning this month the New Smyrna Museum of History began capturing video footage for this project with the interview of Lt. Colonel Phil Love.
We will be working closely with local residents and historical society members, Dr. Frank Farmer and Ron Bayles to coordinate with local veterans to begin capturing on video first-hand accounts of veterans from right here in Southeast Volusia County.
Southeast Volusia Historical Society (SVHS) Board Member, and avid volunteer, Brion Reilly has also joined this project bringing years of experience in tv video and sound production experience to the project. Our hope is to begin capturing the stories of 1 wartime veteran per month so that the information can be uploaded to the Library of Congress for future access. We look forward to sharing additional information about this project in the coming months.
Dr. Frank Farmer has become a great contributor in helping capture the history of many of Southeast Volusia County's Veterans. He was one of the 7 foundational members of the Southeast Volusia Vietnam Veterans Committee. Their work has helped identity and capture photos of over 135 individuals from Southeast Volusia County that have earned the Vietnam Service Medal. The commemorative display board showcasing these individuals is housed here at the New Smyrna Museum of History.
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As an individual, Dr. Frank Farmer spearheaded a project to identify individuals from Southeast Volusia County who served in WW1. He recently met with us here at the museum to present us with the commemorative board listing their names, branch of service, and city they enlisted from when they joined. Dr. Farmer was also able to identify dozens of Black Americans who enlisted in WW1 from here in Southeast Volusia County. These enlistments were during a time that they had to serve in segregated units as support staff.
The Southeast Volusia Historical Society and New Smyrna Museum of History would like to extend a special Thank You to Dr. Frank Farmer.
Dr. Farmer's donation of his personal time to help develop these projects, along with his contribution to the preservation of historic information, are invaluable. His efforts will serve as inspiration to those who look for information of local area history in the future.
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Now Available At The Museum Store |
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Road Trips, you’ve either been on one, wished you had joined, or heard the stories. Written by New Smyrna Beach surfer Mike Clancy, “Surf Trip” tells the story of 4 young men from New Smyrna Beach, Skipper Epplin, Jimmy Smith, and Gordon Smith who are joined by then 16-year-old Mike Clancy and set out on an epic surf adventure to the West Coast in 1967.
Get your copy today from the New Smyrna Museum of History online store.
Just In Time For Spring
A Hot Seller!
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There's nothing quite like walking out of your kitchen and picking fresh ingredients to add to what you are cooking right now. Grab a pack or two of these heirloom datil pepper seeds direct from St. Augustine and before you know it you too will have your very own datil pepper supply to spice up whatever you might be cooking next.
Don't forget, if you're local you can avoid shipping by selecting "Self Pickup" at check out and we will coordinate a time for you to come by the museum to collect your items.
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Community Support
Although we may have our doors closed for general access to the museum's exhibits, the Southeast Volusia Historical Society continues to provide community support and strives to be your local resource for everything history here in Southeast Volusia County.
Along with our Facebook Page and ecommerce access to our gift shop, the New Smyrna Museum of History has staff and volunteers available each week to continue to support our local community. Each week we have people reach out with items to donate, questions about local historic sites and with requests for support from archaeology staff about sites and objects from the local area. Don't hesitate to reach out to us here at the New Smyrna Museum of History so we can assist with your donation, question, or research.
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News and Information for members of the Southeast Volusia Historical Society |
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Museum Volunteers Art Siebel and Paul Ladd take apart some shelving in the Sheldon Research Library. |
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Paul Ladd adds a fresh coat of paint to shelves that hold archival boxes of materials related to our local history. |
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Did you know the vapors of chemicals used to preserve lumber can damage museum collections even when they are stored in archival quality boxes?
It's true, due to a condition known as off-gassing, these chemicals are slowly released over time and can damage irreplaceable documents and photographs.
Several members of the Southeast Volusia Historical have been working to make some much needed updates to the upstairs areas in the museum facility.
Updates include placing new insulation and ceiling tiles in the upstairs meeting room and hallways, cleaning of the existing air conditioning vents, and painting of shelving that is used to store items in the Sheldon Research Library so we can guard against, you guessed it, off-gassing.
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Board President Gary Swanson, Art Siebel and Paul Ladd stage the library's shelving in the museum's upstairs meeting room and prepare to give the shelves a few coats of paint. |
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Board member and facility director Art Siebel updates old fluorescent lighting to new LED lighting in the upstairs meeting space. |
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Your Membership and Support Matters!
In Memoriam:
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VOLUNTEER CORNER
By Mark Spradley
BILL MEAD
When I think of history, I am usually dreaming about the buildings and architecture of the early settlements and how they got to that place in time. I don't usually think of politics. But today, I spoke with Bill Mead, whose history has everything to do with the politics in New Smyrna Beach. But more on that later.
Bill was born in 1940, spending most of his youth in Baltimore and returning there to live on several occasions. He went to high school in downtown Baltimore and said his favorite subject was history.
He enlisted in the Coast Guard at an early age where he was primarily an electrician. After that stint, and with the knowledge he had gained, he started work with the phone company in Baltimore. He was a repairman for the PBX systems. This came in handy later in his life.
When he was married with 2 children, his family took a vacation to Florida, particularly Disney World. He fell in love with Florida, and finally by the age 32, he moved to New Smyrna Beach, where he worked for the Bell Telephone Company.
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It was during that time, living beachside that he became interested in density control. He was president of the South Beach Improvement Association and then in 1977 joined the New Smyrna Beach Planning Commission. The next year he became a New Smyrna Beach City Commissioner.
Some of his early memories of New Smyrna Beach are riding across the South Bridge which was a drawbridge and driving the 2-lane road out to the beach past Bouchelle Island which was just a sand bar/mangrove swamp. He recalled that the bridge was closed during bad lightning storms.
He also had homes in town, one being on Palmetto which had to be moved in order to expand Bert Fish Hospital. Another Spanish style house on N. Peninsula was leased to him by Hannah Bonnet.
Bill has a long history with the Catholic church beginning with ancestors who came to America from Ireland in the 1600's and became tobacco farmers in Southern Maryland which at the time was a Catholic colony.
As a life-long Catholic, he was instrumental in forming the Star of the Sea Catholic Church on the beachside. His wife was working at Coronado School and because of her connections, she was able to let the congregation meet at the school on Sundays. He later helped guide construction of the church building as it exists today.
When the Mead family first moved to New Smyrna Beach, Bill says he really didn't know much about its history. That changed when he and his wife moved back permanently 11 years ago and joined the New Smyrna Beach Museum of History.
But I think it would be safe for me to say that Bill hasn't just learned about the History of New Smyrna Beach, but became part of that history with his memberships in neighborhood improvement and city planning boards, the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and then his election as a City Commissioner.
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During my time volunteering at the museum, I have met many of you who shared your family's history with me. I miss those conversations with you all!
If you have some written history you would like to share, you can send it to my email address. If you have a verbal history you would like to share, I can meet up with you in a safe environment to record that history. Simply email me so we can select a time to talk. We miss our volunteers and would love to hear from you!
drmarks@hotmail.com
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The New Smyrna Museum of History
120 Sams Ave., New Smyrna Beach Fl. 32168
Phone: 386.478.0052
nsmofhistory@gmail.com
PO Box 968, NSB, Fl. 32168
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