Turks and Caicos MuseumTurks and Caicos Museum
  • Contact Us
  • Locations & Directions
  • Get Involved
  • FAQ’s
  • Home
  • The Museum
    • About the Museum
      • Astrolabe
        • What is an Astrolabe?
    • Museum History
    • Guinep House
    • Genealogy
    • Board of Directors
    • Capital Campaign
  • Community Events
    • Museum Day
    • Upcoming Events
    • Museum News
    • A Day at the National Museum
    • Children’s Club News
    • Where is Simon, Sandy?
  • Culture & History
    • Golden Age of the Turks Islands
      • A Golden Age: Anything Was Possible
      • Jeremiah Denis Murphy
      • The Grand Turk Lighthouse
    • Nature & Environment
      • Geography & Geology
      • Birding Tours for All Ages
      • Coral Reefs
      • National Parks
      • Botanical and Cultural Garden
        • Museum Garden History
      • Plants & Animals
      • Further Reading
    • Slavery
      • Background & the TCI
      • Brief History of Emancipation
      • Depopulation of the Islands
      • Bermudans & the Salt Industry
        • The Salt Industry Begins
      • The Loyalist Period
      • Plantations
        • Cheshire Hall Plantation
        • Wades Green Plantation
        • Haulover Plantation
      • Runaway Slaves
      • Emancipation & Beyond
      • Liberated Africans
      • Slave Ships
        • Trouvadore
      • Mary Prince
      • Sources of Slaves
      • Biased Recording
      • Slave Records 1822 – 1834
      • Religion & Records
      • Punishment
      • Conclusion
      • Bibliography & Related Material
    • Lucayans
      • Return of a Duho
      • Loans from the Smithsonian Institution
    • Space Race
      • Project Mercury
      • John Glen
      • Friendship 7
      • Scott Carpenter
      • Stamps Celebrating Space
      • Tracking Stations
      • 40th Anniversary Celebrations
      • United States Airforce
    • Shipwrecks
    • Salt Industry
    • Sisal Industry
    • Royal Events
      • Queen Elizabeth II
      • Royal Visits
      • Stamps and the Royalty
    • Turks & Caicos History Timeline
    • Landmarks
    • Further Reading
  • Membership
    • Membership: New & Renewals
    • Gift Memberships
    • Donor Recognition
    • Join Our Special Donor Circles
      • Friends Circle
      • Benefactor’s Circle
      • Director’s Circle
    • Corporate & Institutional Support
    • Museum Fund
    • Friends of the Turks & Caicos National Museum
  • Tours
    • Tours
    • Grand Turk Tours
    • Providenciales – Grace Bay Village Tours
  • Projects
    • Burrell Steam Traction Engine
    • Fort St. George
      • A Short History
      • Expedition Team
    • Governor’s Cannon
    • Maravedit Cove
    • Molasses Reef Shipwreck
      • Molasses Reef Shipwreck Part 1
      • Molasses Reef Shipwreck Part 2
      • Molasses Reef Shipwreck Part 3
      • Molasses Reef Shipwreck Part 4
    • Sapodilla Hill
    • Slave Ship Trouvadore
    • Southwest Harbor Bluff
    • Turks Islands Gates
    • Windmills
    • Occasional Papers Series
DONATE
  • Home
  • Museum News
  • Archive from category "Museum News"
 

Category: Museum News

Support the Museum.

Help preserve the history of the islands.

Find out what’s been happening at The Museum. Includes updated post of previous events, visitors, volunteers, our monthly newsletter and more!

February 2019 Newsletter

Tuesday, 05 February 2019 by

Click here to access our February 2019 Newsletter

 

 

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

Grand Turk Museum Day 2018

Thursday, 13 December 2018 by

On Saturday, November 3rd 2018, the National Museum on Grand Turk hosted a Museum Day Community event. The purpose of the day was to reintroduce residents of the community to Turks and Caicos National Museum and to introduce new programming by the museum.  The new programming includes the “People of the Islands Oral History Project”, a Community Mosaic on the boundary wall for the museum and garden and a monthly children’s club program to begin in January 2019.

The mosaic project was especially well received as both kids and adults really embraced the creation of the mosaic. We look forward to the continued involvement of the Grand Turk community as the mosaic is continued over the next year.

The tremendous support and participation shows that the Museum continues to receive the support of the community of Grand Turk.

The day could not have happened without the kind support of our sponsors: Carnival, Morris Cottingham, Blue Water Divers, Jack Shack, Oasis Divers, Turks Head Inne, Salt Raker, Digicel, Exclusive Escapes, White Sands Charters n’ Tours, Osprey, and Island Creations. A special thank you also goes to all of our volunteers who helped to make the day a success.

 

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

Grand Turk 2019 upcoming Projects

Thursday, 13 December 2018 by
Children’s Club – We are starting the monthly Children’s Club again. The first club will be held on February 16, 2019. Arts, crafts, games and field trips will be designed to be both fun and educational. Children from ages 8-12 are invited to participate. The club is FREE!! Enrollment will start in January. The club will be held once a month on a Saturday from 1pm – 3pm.
Oral History Interviews – Oral histories are the collection and study of historical information using tape recordings of interviews with people having personal knowledge of past events.  Preserving oral history is a critical phase of genealogical research and data preservation. If you are interested in participating or know someone who should be interviewed please contact us. Individuals from all islands will be included.
Community Mosaic – We plan to turn the museum wall into an original handmade mosaic. This project started on Museum Day and be an ongoing project. We had children draw pictures of landmarks, animals and plants. Those pictures were used to create the various images that will be part of the mosaic. The wall mosaic will transform our environment and community creating a lasting, beautiful change.  Participants will learn mosaic techniques and gain deeper pride in the community. The mosaic will include representations of all areas of life in the Turks & Caicos including our history, culture, nature and wildlife.
for more information on any of these projects please email us at info@tcmuseum.org
Read more
  • Published in Children's Club News, Museum News, Upcoming Events
No Comments

Grand Turk host SPCA Clinic

Thursday, 13 December 2018 by
The museum assisted the Turks & Caicos SPCA on Grand Turk by allowing them to hold their Spay and Neuter clinic in the Science Building. The clinic was held from November 14th to November 20th and was a huge success. There were over 90 animals that were treated! They even had a chicken show up! The space was well suited for the clinic and the central location made it easy for pet owners to bring in their pets. We had many children show up on a day that school was cancelled due to weather. The children learned about the importance of spay and neutering their pets and even watched the surgeries. Our own director Michael Pateman ended up adopting two puppies. One of our prior volunteers from Florida, Kelly Scudder-Temple, also adopted a puppy. This is another event that benefits the community that we were proud to participate in.
A very well done and thank you to the
TCSPCA volunteers, veterinarian and vet tech that also volunteered their time for this important cause.
Interested in adopting a pet or getting involved with the TCSPCA?  Visit their website tcspca.tc or grandturkspca.org
 
Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

Fathom Volunteers – Garden Event – Grand Turk

Thursday, 13 December 2018 by
A group of over 50 people from the Crown Princess volunteered to assist the Grand Turk museum on November 22nd. The amazing volunteers painted the garden fence, primed the garden wall, primed the shed, cleaned the garden and rebuilt the south gate. The participants of the Travel Deep program combine a vacation with an opportunity to give back. Adults and Children showed up ready to work!! We can not express our gratitude enough for what was accomplished by this group. Many of them actually thanked us for the opportunity! This improvement to the garden is a benefit to the entire community. As residents and visitors alike travel down Front street the improvement is immediately evident.
The volunteers even donated school supplies that we will be using at Christmas to give out free gift bags to children.
A special thanks goes to our local volunteers Ed & Teresa Grice, Edgar & Claudia Schnetz, Joe Smith and Hilary Day for also volunteering and helping us with the group that day. We would like to also thank Jack’s Shack for providing ice for the event.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE
WHO MADE THIS INCREDIBLE DAY POSSIBLE!
Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

2018 Turks and Caicos National Museum’s History and Cultural Heritage Quiz

Wednesday, 24 October 2018 by

Congratulations to winners

1st Place Winner – HJ Robinson High School
2nd Place Winner – Raymond Gardiner High School

Thank you to all of the schools that participated. The students were engaged and eager and from their answers, it was clear that they were well prepared. We applaud the principals, your teachers and students and parents for a job well done.

Thanks to our sponsors Fortis TCI, interCaribbean Airways, TC Reef Fund, Department of Education, Department of Culture, Turks and Caicos Taxi Association, British West Indies Collegiate, Mr. Stuart Haynes and Mr. Brandford Handfield for Technical Support.
We wish to thank our quiz masters, judges for both the preliminary and final round, facilitators, caterer and support teams from Department of Environment and Coastal Resources and the Turks and Caicos National Museum.

For the complete story and other Heritage Month projects we participated in click here

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

A Day of Many First – School Visit to Village at Grace Bay campus

Tuesday, 02 October 2018 by
A Day of many Firsts

We were pleased to welcome Mr. Toby Barkworth Knight principal of the newly established Providenciales Middle School and their very first grade 7 class of fifteen students on Thursday 27th September to the Museum’s Grace Bay Campus.
It was a day of many first as our new Director Dr. Michael Pateman made his first school presentation at the Grace Bay campus. It was the first time we used our new prototype Lucayan education kit. I must say the houtia is the star of the kit.
The museum plans to create additional education kits in other subject areas to enhance our offerings for class field trips so that we can be even a greater resource to the classes that visit the museum.
The students enjoyed taking the trip through time along our historical timeline. We were delighted to have the opportunity to share a bit of history with them. We are excited at the prospect of doing so much more in the future as we work towards getting the new museum building started at the museum campus in Grace Bay Providenciales.

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

September 2018 Newsletter

Tuesday, 04 September 2018 by

Review Our September 2018 Newsletter 

 

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

August 2018 Newsletter

Tuesday, 04 September 2018 by

Review Our August 2018 Newsletter 

 

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments

Honoring the Ancestors – Emancipation Day Wednesday August 1st

Wednesday, 01 August 2018 by

Celebrating the spirit and tenacity of the people of the Turks and Caicos

When: August 1, 2018 – TODAY 6-7:30 PM
Where: Cheshire Hall Plantation, Leeward Highway, Providenciales
Admission Free
Coordinated by Mr. David Bowen

Performances

  • Sea Breeze
  • Rip Saw Band
  • TUCA Cultural Group & Drummers
  • Spoken Word Artists:
    Cora Malcolm
    Derek Rolle
    Beth Atkins
    Lavinia Bishop
    Steven Wilson
  • Dance:
    Sara Goldsmith
  • Negro Spiritual Choir
  • Bible Readings – Pastor Goldston Williams

Sponsors:
Fortis TCI
The Church of St. Monica

Emancipation Event Flyer

Read more
  • Published in Museum News
No Comments
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

Community

  • Community Events
  • Museum Day
  • Upcoming Events
  • Museum News
  • Children’s Club News
  • Where is Simon, Sandy?

Make Contact

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The Museum is a publicly funded not for profit organization.

It is not a part of the TCI Government and receives no regular support from the Government. Only your Membership & Support makes it all possible. Become a member today — we can’t do it without your help.

Become a Member

The Colors of the Turks and Caicos Islands

RED was chosen to represent the nation’s capital, Grand Turk. The color is taken from the red/pink fruit found on the national plant, the Turks Head Cactus. They were once found in abundance on Grand Turk before they were removed to accommodate the salt ponds.

WHITE was chosen to represent Salt Cay. The color came from salt. The salt industry was largely responsible for populating the islands of Salt Cay, Grand Turk and South Caicos.

ORANGE was chosen to represent South and East Caicos. The color comes from the Spiny Lobster and fish and reflects the fishing industry in the “Big South.”

TAN was chosen to represent Middle Caicos. The color is taken from the raw material (thatch) that once covered the roofs of the houses. It is also used to make straw hats, baskets and brooms. Middle Caicos is known for the superior quality of native craftwork.

GREEN was chosen to represent North Caicos and Parrot Cay. The color is taken from the fruit trees and other types of trees that flourish in the most fertile of all the islands. North Caicos is also home of Wade’s Green Plantation, the most successful of Caicos Islands cotton plantations.

TURQUOISE was chosen to represent the islands of Providenciales, Pine Cay and West Caicos. The color is taken from the beautiful turquoise waters that surround these islands on which our famous Caicos fishing sloops sail. These turquoise waters also contribute to our newest industry, tourism.

PINK was chosen to represent the beautiful conch shell, flamingoes and the numerous uninhabited cays that make up our chain of islands.

YELLOW represents God’s glory as the sun shining down on all our beautiful islands and cays. The sun also contributes to our newest industry, tourism.

View a timeline of important events and dates in the history of the islands

View Timeline

A Few Artifacts You’ll See at the Museum

Our collections represent the rich historical, cultural and natural heritage of the Turks and Caicos Islands and its people.

Lucayan Duho

Photo courtesy of Joanna Ostapkowicz. The Duho is one of the rarest artifacts in the museum’s collections. It was used a ceremonial seat for the cacique or chief of the Lucayans, the first inhabitants of these islands.

Fresnel Lens

The Grand Turk Lighthouse was erected in 1852 and was originally designed to burn whale oil and had an Argand reflector lamp. In 1943 the lighthouse was converted to a Fresnel Lens one of these lenses is now on display at the Museum.

Swivel Gun

The Molasses reef wreck, an early Spanish Caravel was equipped with three types of breech-loading swivel guns, one type is shown above. The swivel guns are thought to be anti-personnel weapons placed wherever convenient along the ship’s rail.

Salt Industry Post Card

The museum has diverse collection of early postcards of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Most post cards depict scenes on Grand Turk, the capital and from the salt industry.

Take a Look

Governor of the Turks & Caicos Islands

H.E. Dr. John Freeman

“The National Museum is a TCI national treasure, which has grown from a quiet private initiative into a national resource and repository. It has gradually accumulated objects and papers of inestimable value to the collective sense of belonging in these Islands.

It now serves as a living expression of a collective memory; and without a collective memory there can be no sense of collective identity. The National Museum should be dear to the hearts of all those who live on these Islands.

I am struck deeply by the valuable holdings; not just of wonderful artefacts, but also of the tremendously evocative paper holdings, the records of births and deaths, the evidence of continuities in the Islands' population – who they were and who they are now. Visiting the museum, one gets a real sense of how life in these Islands were lived.

The TCI lives in all its cultural and historical richness through the National Museum. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that it remains such an important part of TCI’s heritage and I encourage all readers to visit and support it.”

Dr. John Freeman H.E.

Governor of the Turks & Caicos Islands

Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands

Hon Sharlene Cartwright Robinson

"As a proud Turks and Caicos Islander and a holder of a degree in history, I have always taken a very keen interest in history generally and then in the history, heritage and culture of these wonderful Turks & Caicos Islands.

From my humble beginnings growing up in the fishing capital, South Caicos, and the real capital, Grand Turk, to becoming the first female Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, history has played a big part in my life.

The Turks & Caicos National Museum is a veritable goldmine of information on the history of these islands; spanning over a thousand years, from the Pre-Columbian Indians, to the space age and everything else in between.

I welcome you to the TCN Museum website, and should you be fortunate enough to visit Grand Turk, I encourage you to visit this marvelous national repository, and immerse yourself in the surprisingly deep and rich history of these beautiful by nature Turks & Caicos Islands".

Hon Sharlene Cartwright Robinson
Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands

President of Turks and Caicos Islands Community College

Dr. Hubert A. Fulford

"My interest in history and research goes back to my years as a student at the then Grand Turk Secondary School, where my teacher and later mentor, the late Helena Jones Robinson instilled a curiosity in me to appreciate context.  At that time, not fully appreciating the impact that curiosity would have on me, I sought only to please my teacher.

Pursuing tertiary education at various institutions, in various countries and at various levels, my initial foundation of inquiry was further stimulated.  Libraries and museums would form a very important part of my education, specifically during my studies in Jamaica, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Returning home after my studies abroad, my first visit to the Museum so captivated me that I began to tell all persons, visitors and islanders alike, that a visit to the museum was a MUST! The quaintness, yet thorough organization and presentation of artifacts of various kinds avowed me.

I found tremendous joy in taking my TCI Studies students to the Museum, standing back and listening to their expressions of excitement and curiosity as the curators and assistants would walk them through the various displays and presentations.

The Jamaican expression “likkle but tallawah” (small but strong) aptly fits our Museum.  The significance of this institution to our history and culture cannot be over stressed.

Welcome to The Museum.  A combination of history, culture and enchantment awaits you."

Dr. Hubert A. Fulford

President of Turks and Caicos Islands Community College

Historic Photo Gallery of the Turks and Caicos Islands

All images and the design of this Web site are protected under federal copyright laws. Any downloading, duplication or reproduction of any part of this Web site by any method whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the Turks & Caicos National Museum Foundation is strictly prohibited. Photos and/or usage rights are available for purchase please contact us for details.

See More

Locations

Guinep House, Front Street

Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands, British West Indies (BWI)
Tel (01 649) 247-2160
From the US (786) 220-1159
Hours Vary - See our schedule under Locations

The Village at Grace Bay

Development Office and Caicos Heritage House
Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, British West Indies (BWI)
Tel (01 649) 941-9358 Mobile (01 649) 247-2161
Grace Bay Hours: M-F 9am – 1 pm, closed holidays

Site design by NH Web Design Company Danconia | © 2018 All rights reserved.

TOP