The Caloosahatchee Manuscripts were a gift from Florida Power & Light (FPL) to the city of Fort Myers, FL. A pair of bronze cylinders engraved with thousands of letters illuminate the front of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Maryland sculptor Jim Sanborn created the Caloosahatchee Manuscripts to commemorate the transition of an old power plant from oil to natural gas. He’s the same man who created the “Kryptos” sculpture at CIA headquarters. The eastern drum contains the text of a story told by Maskoki Indian leader Tchikilli to James Oglethorpe about the migration of Native Americans into the lower southeast, including Georgia (where Oglethorpe had founded his colony) and Florida. The Creek, Seminoles and Miccosukee trace their ancestry to Tchikilli and his people, and the Seminoles replaced the Calusa Indians, who lived in this area from 500-1700 A.D. The western drum is no less historic. As the nearby dedication plaque reveals, “From 1927-1931, Thomas A. Edison studied and tested 13,000-17,000 species of plants for their suitability in the manufacture of a domestic source of rubber. The plants listed (in Latin) on this cylinder were collected in the Fort Myers area and throughout the State of Florida.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 13:27:42 +0000
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