Illustrating Justice

I had the privilege of working with Shirley Henderson in curating Illustrating Justice, an exhibition of courtroom drawings that spans her thirty years of work in this field. You may recognize her work from nightly network news broadcasts and newspapers; that is because media outlets commission her to go into federal courtrooms and sketch scenes that cameras, by law, are not allowed to capture.

Henderson was incredibly interesting to work with because she knows so many of the individuals who make justice work in Miami, as well as a number of those who have passed through the justice system. While we were working to choose the 93 pieces that are on display in Illustrating Justice, she told me some of her stories about folks like Alcee Hastings, Ted Bundy, Yahweh Ben Yahweh, Raul Martinez, and Alex Daoud.

Illustrating Justice: The Courtroom Art of Shirley Henderson will be on display at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida until June 20, 2010. There you can see her work and learn more about the process of creating them. If you’d like to hear some of those stories straight from Ms. Henderson herself, you can do so on June 17. She will be talking about her experiences as part of HMSF’s Explore History & Culture Series from 6:30 to 8:30.

-- Robert Harkins, Assistant Curator, Object Collections

The Educational Empire of Historia

In the fall of 2008, my dear friend M worked at the Miami Art Museum. The education team across the plaza at MAM is smaller than ours is, and during an afternoon of comic conversation at MAM, they formed an empire.

Well, M suggested that we form an empire as well, and that we have "cultural exchanges," such as private tours of new exhibitions for each other and the sharing of programming details for our family events.

Our education department quickly rose to this comic challenge and came up with, not only an empire, but titles for ourselves, a coat of arms and a flag! I designed the flag and coat of arms at home one night, and “my subjects” approved them.

The Educational Empire of Historia is made up of:

• Empress of Historia – who is in charge of the department;
• Grand Duchess of George – who is in charge of Dr. George’s tours;
• Duke of Craftonia - who is in charge of all family programs and creative projects;
• Baroness of Academia - who is in charge of booking school programs;
• Duchessa de Curricula - who is in charge of all curriculum;
• Grand Duke of Eds - who is in charge of the museum educators;
• Lady Retailia – who is in charge of the gift shop.

At MAM they have flag and motto. They also have royal titles, but I am not free to release those.

I love museum folk and our culture!!

-- Cecilia Dubon Slesnick, VP Education a.k.a. Empress of Historia

The 1907 Jamaica Earthquake

During 1906 and 1907 three catastrophic earthquakes and subsequent fires nearly destroyed three cities:

• 1906 April 18 -- San Francisco, California -- 7.8 magnitude
• 1906 August 16 -- Valparaiso, Chile -- 8.6 magnitude
• 1907 January 14 -- Kingston, Jamaica -- 6.5 magnitude

Just as the press of today compare the Haiti and Chile earthquakes, writers in 1907 compared Kingston with San Francisco and Valparaiso. Here are some examples. This illustration is from Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, January 31, 1907. The following eyewitness account is from Collier's Magazine, February 2, 1907:

"In the middle of the afternoon ... the city began to fall to pieces. ...

"The shock was not severe as compared to that at San Francisco or at Valparaiso. ... But the flimsy nature of Kingston's architecture led to a ruin from the quake more complete than on the Pacific Coast last April. Practically all the houses in the business district were shaken down. This district extended along the harbor front for more than twenty blocks, and back from the quays for two or three blocks. Kingston's two big tourist hotels, the Myrtle Bank and the Constant Springs, were wrecked; the Supreme Court, the Merchant's Exchange, the Customs House, and many churches went to ruin before the fire broke out. After the first quake a number of shocks less severe were felt. ...

"Refugees from the destroyed city described the terror of the inhabitants on the day of the earthquake as extreme. Women with children clasped in their arms prayed in the streets while the choking dust of the fallilng walls rose up and darkened the sky. Parties fleeing through the streets were pitched headlong by the quaking earth, and were separated in the darkness. When the ruins could be inspected, it was found that many persons had been buried under debris; at least one man was taken out practically unharmed after the fire had burnt over him and the ashes had cooled. Hospital camps were established on the docks and in the outskirts of the ruined city. Many of the injured were sent off to Spanish Town and Port Royal. ...

"After the shock of January 14, fire broke out and completed the destruction of the city. The camping scenes at San Francisco were reenacted; relief work was, in the beginning, prompt and effective; and ... the spirit of mutual help ... prevailed."

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Curator of Research Materials

Haitian and Jamaican Earthquakes

Port-au-Prince has the misfortune of being near a fault zone that seldom causes earthquakes, but when thy occur, they are monsters. Most people along this fault zone live out their lives, never knowing that danger lies beneath their feet. The last major earthquake near Port-au-Prince occurred in 1770.

The fault zone that caused this disaster runs east-and-west, through Hispaniola and Jamaica (map). In 1692, an earthquake along this fault zone nearly destroyed Port Royal, Jamaica. Read more.

Most of the survivors moved across the bay, to Kingston. In 1906, the Kingston residents heard of an earthquake and fire in San Francisco that nearly destroyed that city, never suspecting that they were about to endure the same catastrophe. Then on January 14, 1907, the earth moved, and Kingston was nearly destroyed.

This postcard shows the damage at the corner of King and Harbour Streets, Kingston, Jamaica. It was printed in Great Britain shortly after the earthquake.

Port Royal, San Francisco and Kingston recovered and rebuilt after their disasters. Now it is Port-au-Prince's turn, an endeavor made all the more difficult by its population density and poverty.

One aspect of this catastrophe is that Haiti's heritage is threatened, not only by the damage and/or destruction of its historic buildings, but also by the damage to its libraries and archives. To learn more about their destruction and recovery, visit the Digital Library of the Caribbean's web site.

The people of Chile and Haiti have reason to fear earthquakes. Let us hope they do not have to endure catastrophes again for a long, long time.

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Curator of Research Materials