Southeastern Spanish Legacy Symposium

Integrating the Southeastern’s Spanish Legacy into the Educational Curriculum

An invitation to speak at a seminar about the Spanish presence in South Carolina and along the southeastern coast of the United States brought Drs. Stanley South and Chester DePratter, and myself to Atlanta in late December. The “Seminar on the Integration of Spanish Identity in Georgia: A Model for Peace Education” brought together researchers and educators to discuss the rich historical archaeological record of the Spanish presence in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The main purpose of the event was to strategize ways in which to incorporate this information into Georgia’s educational curriculum. Arranged by Dr. Robert DeVillar, director of the Center for Hispanic Studies at Kennesaw State University, and Dr. Dennis Blanton, curator of Native American Archaeology at Fernbank Museum of Natural History, the symposium also included several distinguished colleagues from Seville, Spain: Isabel Simó Rodríguez‚ a paleographer and the director of the General Archives of the Indies‚ Julian Ruiz Rivera‚ a specialist in American history‚ and Fernando de Amores Carredano‚ a specialist in pre−history to discuss means of mutual collaboration and assistance. Spain’s Ministry of Education and Science funded the seminar.

The two-day seminar featured Dr. John Worth, researcher at the Randell Research Center, Florida, speaking about the Spanish missionary system from the 16^th century until its collapse under pressure from British colonial sponsored slave raids in the mid to late 18^th century. I presented on the Maritime Research Division’s recent work on searching for the capitana shipwreck associated with the Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon expedition to colonize along the southeastern coast in 1526 [see Ayllon article in this issue], and on our work researching the French corsair, Le Prince, and its predatory relationship with Spain’s New World empire. Dr. DePratter spoke about the ongoing archaeological work in Santa Elena, while Dr. South reflected on the past 25 years of his and Chester’s work at the one time Spanish capital of La Florida. Dr. Blanton talked about his recent work in locating a Spanish mission site on the lower Ocmulgee River in Georgia. A discussion then ensued with our Spanish colleagues on potential avenues of mutual research and educational initiatives.

Figure: Participants of the symposium.

Figure 1: Participants of the seminar, including SCIAA researchers Jim Spirek, Chester DePratter, and Stan South, front and left, respectively (photo courtesy of Kennesaw State University).

The following day focused on bringing together various representatives of the Georgia educational system to learn about and devise strategies to incorporate the Spanish historical presence into the state’s elementary, middle, and high school, as well as college curriculum. Additionally, as one educator noted, this information will help the growing population of Hispanics in Georgia, as well as throughout the region, to realize the past Spanish contributions to the heritage of the southeast, and in turn help to connect them to their new homeland. In South Carolina, promoting the public educational component of the work at Santa Elena has always been a high priority. For a number of years, Drs. South and DePratter have facilitated field trips for interested school groups to visit the site while excavations are underway. Additionally, a popular text, “Archaeology at Santa Elena: Doorway to the Past”, discussing the findings of the Spanish experience on Parris Island, is geared towards a general audience. The discussions about promoting the educational values of the historical Spanish presence in Georgia is applicable to South Carolina. We intend to continue and contribute to this initiative discussing our mutual historical past and its educational value with our colleagues from the neighboring state.

Maritime Research and Research Divisions, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, USC