Purse Snatching … It’s a Crime!

In 1996 local quilters collaborated with the museum to create the Miami Centennial Quilt, now part of our collection. Quilters submitted too many blocks to fit in the quilt, so some gems had to be left out.

This block made it into the museum’s collection, but not the quilt. This block is decorated with tiny doll’s purses surrounding a tiny toy revolver. The purses contain little messages.

What’s this about? The maker had recently had her purse taken at gunpoint. Liz Chifari describes the incident and the block she had made in this paragraph:

“I needed to make ‘Paradise Stolen’ for therapeutic reasons, as I was mugged downtown several years ago. … The block shows that one criminal with a gun has his choice of easy targets who are powerless to stop him. It also points out the incongruity of the ugliness of crime and the beauty of the tropical backdrop against which it is played out. … “

Lift the flap at the bottom of the block, and there’s a larger message.

“Under the flap at the bottom of the block is a clear message that we must begin saying no to those who would take our paradise away. Inside some of the little purses are further messages of protest against crime …”

The Crime in Miami exhibition presented curatorial staff with a variety of challenges, one being having too many artifacts to fit into the gallery. Once again, this bittersweet quilt block was left out. Nevertheless, it conveys a victim’s perspective on a crime in Miami.

-- Rebecca A. Smith, Head, Special Collections 

Apollo 11

On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Neil Armstrong, “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins ventured through space to the moon. On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step out onto the moon’s surface, followed shortly thereafter by “Buzz” Aldrin. The astronauts safely returned to earth on July 24, the mission a success.

This pass came into HMSF’s collection in 1989, a gift of Marie Oscar. Individuals invited to watch the launch of the mission were issued one of these official guest passes. Even though Kennedy Space Center is over two hundred miles from Miami, Dade County residents were still able to see the orange streak in the morning sky created by the Saturn V rocket as it pushed the spacecraft into orbit, though the view was certainly much better for those “official guests.”

As a space geek, I would like to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 by reminding everybody that it was “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

-- Robert Harkins, Assistant Curator – Object Collections

1989.031.001