Press Release
Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Kennesaw State University Partner through Grant for Education Reform
ATLANTA—December 6, 2006—Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Kennesaw State University’s Center for Hispanic Studies announce a new partnership, made possible by a grant from Spain’s Ministry of Education and Science, to raise awareness of little-known Spanish colonial history in Georgia.
The educational program, actively supported by the Spanish government, will focus on Fernbank’s permanent collection of Spanish and Native American artifacts, including more than one million objects from St. Catherines Island, the first Spanish mission settlement in Georgia, and artifacts recovered by the Museum’s project to locate mission Santa Isabel de Utinahica on the lower Ocmulgee River.
“Creation of this partnership is a logical and critical extension of Fernbank’s educational mission,” said Dennis Blanton, Fernbank’s curator of Native American archaeology. “The St. Catherines Island and Santa Isabel archaeological collections offer tangible evidence of the critical role Georgia played during a transformative period of world history.”
Together, the collections from these two archaeological projects will be used to examine life on Spanish mission settlements in Georgia and the relationships between Native Americans and Spanish missionaries, particularly their peaceful co-existence.
“Fernbank’s collections show how the Spanish friars used compromise to avoid conflict with the Native Americans, even though they lived outnumbered in their communities,” Blanton said. “By understanding the policies adopted by the friars in their relations with Native Americans, modern society can learn from the successes and difficulties of peaceful interaction and negotiation.”
From researching these artifacts, the scholars, educators and students involved in this partnership will ultimately offer recommendations for revised curriculum, particularly in relation to peace education, in Georgia schools.
“We are all very excited about this grant, which will enable us to bring together researchers from Spain, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and New York,” said Robert DeVillar, director for Hispanic studies and professor in the Bagwell College of Education at Kennesaw State. “We will be able to exchange critical information regarding the Spanish colonial presence in Georgia during the mission period, visit the excavation sites, view and discuss the important artifacts of the period, and converse with elementary, secondary and postsecondary leaders regarding integration of this exciting knowledge into our Georgia curricula.”
The first step in this partnership will be the “Seminar on the Integration of Spanish Identity in Georgia: A Model for Peace Education” held Dec. 11-15 at Fernbank Museum and KSU. As part of the weeklong program, participants also will visit St. Catherines Island in McIntosh County and the current archaeological excavations in Telfair County.
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(FAQs can be found below.)
“Seminar on the Integration of Spanish Identity in Georgia:
A Model for Peace Education”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How did Kennesaw State University, Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Spanish government become involved?
A: The opportunity began in June 2006 when Spain’s Honorary Vice Consul, Ignacio Taboada, learned of Fernbank Museum’s new archaeological program in Telfair County. After discussions with Dennis Blanton, Fernbank’s curator of Native American archaeology, Taboada was fascinated by the potential for fleshing out Spanish American history through excavations of a possible mission site. Discussions snowballed as excitement spread for the potential of these findings, and soon Robert A. DeVillar, director for Hispanic Studies and professor in the Bagwell College of Education at Kennesaw State University became involved. DeVillar and Blanton each realized the potential for an international collaboration and the opportunity to add more understanding of Spanish influence during the American colonial period.
Q: Who will participate in the conference Dec. 11-15?
A: A number of international dignitaries, educational leaders, archaeologists and scholars will take part in this conference.
Among the esteemed international colleagues to take part in the discussions is Isabel Simó Rodríguez, a paleographer and the director of the General Archives of the Indies, Seville, Spain. The archives is the single greatest and most important archival repository of the Spanish contact with the Americas (and Philippines), covering the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th. The archives contain the letters of Christopher Columbus, priests, military officers, Popes and other figures. There are more than 80 million pages, extending a length of five miles.
Accompanying Simó Rodríguez will be two specialists from the University of Sevilla (Seville, Spain): Julian Ruiz Rivera, a specialist in American history, and Fernando de Amores Carredano, a specialist in pre-history.
Other attendees include directors from the Georgia Department of Education, the State Archaeologist, and other state organizations, as well as academic colleagues from South Carolina and Florida, and possibly the American Museum of Natural History (New York).
In addition, Linda Johnston, director of the Center for Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University, will direct a session examining how peace education and conflict resolution might play an integral role in assessing the archaeological findings.
Q: What will the “Seminar on the Integration of Spanish Identity in Georgia: A Model for Peace Education” entail?
A: The seminar Dec. 11-15 will include a week of specialized programming at Fernbank Museum and Kennesaw State University, including trips to St. Catherines Island in McIntosh County and the current archaeological excavations in Telfair County. Participants will get a closer look at Fernbank’s collections, as well as an introduction to KSU’s Hispanic studies department. The seminar will also provide a platform for discussion and implementation. On the final day, scholars will share their knowledge and interact with preK-16 educators regarding opportunities for curricular development and integration. After the initial seminar, participants will be primed for future student exchanges, visiting researchers, access to archival documents and, ultimately, a sustained international, research-based collaboration to make the most of this trans-Atlantic forum.