A look back, a look forward, and farewell
This is the last article I will write for the Friends of the Randell Research Center Newsletter in my role as Director of the RRC. I will be retiring from the Florida Museum of Natural History on August 15, 2018.
For 21 years, the Museum’s Director Doug Jones and departmental chairs Keegan, Robinson, Steadman, and Reed have supported the growth of the RRC as I have spent a significant amount of my professional time working on its behalf. We have benefited from other aspects of the University of Florida, including the University of Florida Foundation. UF students have enriched the program by doing original research at Pineland and participating in public events. The Museum has pledged to hire a replacement for me as Curator of South Florida Archaeology and Director of the RRC. I plan to continue to be involved as a volunteer and to step aside and let some else have a turn working with the very best contingent of supporters I can imagine.
March, 2018 marked the 30th anniversary of our first archaeological research at the Pineland site, hosted and supported by Donald and Patricia Randell. This July, the Randell Research Center begins its 22nd year. The past year was our most successful ever in terms of visitation, donations, giftshop sales, and school programs. We instituted new tours and continued our great partnership with Captiva Cruises and the Tarpon Lodge. We hosted a popular speaker series that brought three scientists from the Florida Museum to speak. We installed three new interpretive signs on the Smith Mound parcel. We survived a near-miss by Hurricane Irma with only minor damages.
We have been thinking a lot lately about resilience – the ability to bounce back from challenges and keep moving ahead. The resilience of the Calusa people who lived at Pineland and elsewhere in this area has been an inspiration. People first started living at Pineland about 2,000 years ago, and occupied this place almost continuously for 1700 years. To put this in perspective, our own country is only 242 years old; the Calusa lived at Pineland for seven times that number.
The Calusa withstood serious challenges, including a devastating hurricane that destroyed their village about 300 AD. They adapted to global climate changes, including an episode between 550 and 850 AD that lowered water levels in the inshore bays and adjacent estuarine waters, driving fish to deeper waters. They withstood the European invasion by refusing to abandon their beliefs and their way of life. The Calusa thrived as recently as the late 1600s, when most Native societies in the southeastern US had been displaced or destroyed. In short, for more than 15 centuries the Calusa were resilient. Through challenges— environmental, political, and economic — they persevered.
The Randell Research Center has also been resilient. Don and Pat Randell’s gift of land valued at over $1.3 million established the Center in 1997, but there was nothing here except the land—no buildings, no staff, no budget. Fortunately we had some friends who were willing to help, and volunteers who rolled up their sleeves and got involved. On April 3, 2018 we hosted our annual Volunteer Appreciation Day, and I was able to thank personally many of our more than 75 volunteers who literally make the RRC work: docents, greeters, store operators, office assistants, and those who help maintain the grounds by keeping the invasive plants under control. Some who can’t volunteer at the site help in other ways, by making generous financial gifts to the Center. Annual memberships and donations we receive at the site help us pay for our staff, supplies, and maintenance. Some supporters have literally been donating for 10, 15, even 20 or more years. Being able to count on such loyal support year after year helps us immensely.
The first-time visitor sees the place today and imagines that it was always like this. If you are one of those friends who has followed us for a long time, perhaps even before there was an RRC, you know how far we have come. You remember when there was no headquarters house, no classroom, no Calusa Heritage Trail, no school programs. None of this could have been accomplished without the kind of support that you have given through the years. Each project we tackled seemed like a dream at the time, but with perseverance and your encouragement, these milestones were achieved.
Just like the Calusa, we have had setbacks. Hurricane Charley in 2004, for example, devastated our facilities and seriously tested our commitment. But like the Calusa, we came together and rebuilt, and now the Center is stronger than ever. Like the Calusa, we will need to adjust to global climate change in order to survive. Like the Calusa, we must refuse to abandon what we believe – that this is a special place for learning and teaching, and it must survive into the future.
What makes an organization last? Why do some institutions and programs adapt and respond to challenges, while others fall by the wayside? I think a big part of the answer is that resilient programs have people who believe in them, who find meaning in what they do, who take pleasure in seeing the program succeed. There is much, much more to accomplish, and I hope you will all continue to be involved, as I plan to be in my retirement. Thank you all again for what you have done to help make this dream a reality.
This article was taken from the Friends of the Randell Research Center Newsletter Vol 17, No. 2. June 2018.