Port votes to push major projects
Florida Today
... the 500th anniversary of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon's landing in Florida. Many historians say that landing occurred in south Brevard County. ...
Interesting development in Brevard County/Port Canaveral - the money quote [literally]:
"Funding for the development of an exhibition center beyond the shell, as well as an associated observation tower, would fall to a local nonprofit organization called the 1513 Foundation Inc., which was formed to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon's landing in Florida. Many historians say that landing occurred in south Brevard County."We're talking about raising tens of millions of dollars," said Robyn Fern Perlman, a principal with Miami-based CoreStrategies for Non Profits Inc., the company working with the 1513 Foundation to raise donations."
Its encouraging to see that someone else is looking to do something for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Florida. The are several proposed official government commissions on the Federal, State, and local levels at various stages of authorization, appointment, and funding. Thought thus far none seem to have gotten to the actually doing anything stage. Other than FLH's Company of Ponce de Leon I haven't seen any other side of private interest in the subject.
One hopes that Florida can at least get some Museum exhibits like :
“The Threads of Memory: Spain and the United States” Exhibit
http://www.nileguide.com/destination/blog/santa-fe/2010/08/31/%E2%80%9Cthe-threads-of-memory-spain-and-the-united-states%E2%80%9D-exhibit-opening-kicks-off-lectures-panel-discussions-musical-performances-and-more/
Note in particular:
Juan Ponce de León’s letter reporting his discovery of the “island of Florida.” A statement which puzzled me, and give me hope for a short while, that perhaps a new primary source on the 1513 voyage had been found. In brief, almost everything that's known about Ponce's 1513 discovery and naming of La Florida is based on the account of Herrera which was published almost a century after the fact. There are only five known letters from Ponce that have survived; a 1511 letter that went up for auction a few years ago and sold for over $500,000.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-103438424.html
http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/D41236/d4123680x.jpg
http://www.christies.com/Lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?sid=&intObjectID=4123680&SE=CMWCAT03+13324+1448970189+&QR=M+1+0+Aqc0000900+12703++Aqc0000900+&entry=Ponce+de+leon&SU=1&RQ=False&AN=1&link=prev&page=10
I think we've got an overenthusiastic/inaccurate press release and its likely that the letter in question is the letter Ponce wrote before the ill fated 1521 settlement voyage [page 57 of the PDF]
"Among my services I discovered, at my own cost and charge, the Island of Florida,..."
http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/aj&CISOPTR=12071
See also:
http://89.140.111.52/English/Activities/Activity_Library/Pages/ACTIVITY_381_1.aspx?type=3
No comments:
Post a Comment