EVIDENCE OF THE 1492 LANDING OF COLUMBUS IN THE AMERICAS
Kathy Gerace
We are pleased to welcome back WMSLSSAS president Kathy Gerace, co-founder of the Gerace Research Center with her late husband, Donald Gerace, for a topic most appropriate for October, the landing place of Columbus. She kindly presented this topic at the October 2017 meeting and has some additional information to share.
For nearly 500 years, there was controversy among scholars and lay people over the exact location of Columbus’ first landfall on his maiden voyage in 1492. A review of historic documents, maps, and descriptive photos show why there were numerous theories, but by the 500th anniversary of the landing, in 1992, some undeniable evidence came to light through archaeological research and excavation. During the 1980’s, under the direction of Dr. Charles Hoffman of Northern Arizona State University, excavations of a Lucayan Indian site on the western side of San Salvador Island, Bahamas, unearthed numerous European artifacts. Analysis of these artifacts revealed they were of Spanish origin and dated from the very late 1400’s. The significance of these finds cannot be overstated, as it provides further proof that the island of San Salvador was the location of Columbus’ first landfall in the New World.
We acknowledge the devastating effects inflicted on the Indigenous peoples on the Lucayan Archipelago (Bahamas), Caribbean Islands and all of North and South America as a result of European contact, and value and respect their feelings regarding this October federal holiday, also federally recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day, to honor and commemorate Indigenous cultures and people.
Kathy Gerace holds a M.S. degree in anthropology/ archaeology from Michigan State University. In 1971, she was teaching at Elmira College, in Elmira, NY, when she was asked to teach a four-week field course in Historic Archaeology on the island of San Salvador in The Bahamas. Meeting the Executive Director of the field station, Dr. Donald Gerace, led to their marriage, and Kathy became the Assistant Director of the field station. Over the years, the field station grew to provide a venue for scientific studies and research for over 100 colleges and universities from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. In 1988, the Geraces formed a Bahamian, non-profit corporation named the Bahamian Field Station (BFS). The Geraces gave the BFS to the College of The Bahamas (COB) in 2003, and it was renamed the Gerace Research Centre (GRC). When the COB became the University of The Bahamas (UB), the GRC became one of their campuses, and it continues to provide accommodations, lab and field equipment, and all types of logistical support for professors, students, and scientific researchers in the disciplines of archaeology, biology, geology, and the marine sciences.
October meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85854912085?pwd=VAQTbzYFRAAOgfK6kNKIKNNamde3la.1
ID: 858 5491 2085 Passcode: 488075