Museum presentation reveals the reality behind "those elusive Spanish missions"
February 20 , 2007
RALEIGH -- Discover the nostalgia and romance that has long surrounded the Franciscan and Jesuit missions in America when the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosts a lecture by David Hurst Thomas, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History. Join us at the Museum on Saturday, March 3 at 3 p.m. for "Those Elusive Spanish Missions: Romance and Reality in America's Mythical Mission Past."
From San Francisco (California), through the American Southwest to St. Augustine (Florida) and even into the Carolinas, mainstream American history has constructed and perpetuated an idealized, romanticized version of the Spanish mission -- complete with Mission Revival architectural styles and reconstructed archaeological sites that sometimes resemble Hollywood stage sets. This presentation, the final offering of the first Joffre Lanning Coe Lecture Series, draws upon the most recent archaeological evidence from throughout the United States to suggest more historically appropriate perspectives on America’s mission heritage.
Co-sponsors of the lecture series include, The Coe Foundation, N.C. Museum of History, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, Division of State Historic Sites and Properties, Division of Historical Resources and the N.C. Humanities Council. The lecture is free, but space is limited. Please RSVP to audra.slaymaker@ncmail.net or call 919.807.7858.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 am to 5 pm, and Sun., noon to 5 pm. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the Web at naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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