Active Floridian Talks Pushing The Limits & The Aspects Of Technology In The Northwest Heart Of The State

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1 F I N D I N G TH E O L D F L O RI D A: D R. AN N E H O L T Active Floridian Talks Pushing The Limits & The Aspects Of Technology In The Northwest Heart Of The State Life is just a matter of ambition. The brilliance of what a mind can do and what history allows is a primary paradox in modern society. Dr. Anne Holt, who received her phd in History at 70, shows no signs of slowing down at 82. As one of the representatives for Jefferson County outside Tallahassee as well as the city of Monticello, she not only carries a reverence for the history, dark and light, of the area but also the hidden natural treasures that this area of Florida conceals. Using new technology, the door is being opened to a new age of discovery. Dr. Anne sat down with MRV: The Buzz Editor In Chief Tim Wassberg in the foyer of the Monticello B&B to discuss technology changing the face of archeology in Florida and keeping the aspect of strong minds aliv. T he B uz z : P e o p l e w ho a r e c o ming in f r o m T a l l a ha s s e e t o t his a r e a - - t his is jus t a hid d e n g e m o f his t o r y a nd s t yl e, t his l it t l e s p o t in J e f f e r s o n. C o ul d yo u t a l k a b o ut t ha t? A nd w he n p e o p l e c o me in he r e, ho w yo u w a nt t he m t o s e e it, t o e x p l o r e it? A H : A H : What I love to do is to observe the people and the love they have for this place. I did a six-week display at the Art Center of photographs of the founding families. And I had 40 photographs, and I only had a few of the founding families. I had people say,

2 "Why aren't my people up there? They came in 1826." I put them in my booklet, this was step one (laughing). But I found all these pictures on Florida Memory. T he B uz z : A g r e a t r e s o ur c e AH: And then I would look them up in Shoffman Genealogy & Family History which is the best history of this county, because it's based on genealogy. Through that I was able to expand and write a little history piece on each family I found. And people loved it. Some people just came back and came back and came back. T he B uz z : I t t ho ug h is a b o ut t he p r e s e r va t io n a s p e c t o f a l l o f t his a nd ho w it f it s t o g e t he r. A H : Our mission sometimes I'm quoted word for word and sometimes I just have to tell it our responsibility is to create economic development through protection and preservation of the physical and cultural history of the area. We have to protect these buildings. We have to encourage having them restored as many as we can. I dislike the fact that the National Register is written so that some important guy or some big event has to happen in a building to want to preserve it. I want to preserve a crosssection. I want to see T he B uz z : ho w t he p uz z l e p ie c e s f it t o g e t he r? A H : Yeah. How the big banker lived over here. How the workman lived over here. In my opinion, the every day -- the real heroes of the world are men and women who get up every morning and go to work, pay their bills, take care of their children. They're the true heroes in my opinion. T he B uz z : A nd t he y' r e t he o ne s t ha t a r e mo s t r e a d il y f o r g o t t e n in his t o r y. A H : Never noticed. Never noticed. T he B uz z : B ut no w yo u a r e ma k ing ne w his t o r y w it h s o me o f t he d is c o ve r ie s und e r ne a t h t he l a nd w hic h yo u ha ve he l p e d ma k e a r e a l it y A H : A H : Back in the '90s, they found an artifact in the river and now we have the Auxilliary Search Institute and we're doing some really special things. I've written some grants. I've helped them write some more. We have just done and finished a Lidar flyover out in the Gulf -- this new Lidar maps the surface of the water with oneradar, and they land on the water with another. So We know where the fresh water springs are 11 miles out, and the drowned river channel of the Aucilla and the Econfina.

3 T he B uz z : S o yo u c a n s e e t he o l d p a t hs o f t he r ive r s a s t he y o nc e w e r e? A H : The old river channel goes out, and in the river, there are fresh water springs all the way as you go. At every fresh water spring, that's where the animals and the people gathered, of course. [We can that impact.] It's really cutting-edge science. Plus, we are planning on doing a virtual museum with 3D scanning, and we have the space. We have offices. It's just amazing. T he B uz z : S o w e ' l l a l l b e a b l e t o s e e ho w a l l t his l o o k e d b a c k in t ime. A H : Yes. Scientists will be able to look at one of our artifacts, and put it on their computer and turn it this way and that way and every which way and study it without them having to come here. T he B uz z : F r o m w ha t yo u' r e s a ying, w it h ha l f o f F l o r id a, a nd t he w a y it ' s b uil t, t his k ind o f c ut t ing - e d g e s c ie nc e w o ul d b e a b l e t o s e e und e r ne a t h w ha t is s l o w l y a nd c o mp l e t e l y d is a p p e a r ing. A H : We funded a project by a scholar out of the University of Georgia, who is saying that, "I'm going to prove that I can tell what river an artifact, a lithic, a piece of stone came from by the patina." T he B uz z : C o ul d yo u e x p l a in w ha t t he p a t ina is f o r o ur r e a d e r s? A H : A H : [It is] like the finish on an old piece of furniture. Our scholar is very excited because we got that grant, so she can do that. We got two grants to [allow her to] work on Wakulla Springs. Now there, there's paleo, there's woodland, there's archaic,

4 there's modern, and there's historic. T he B uz z : S o yo u' r e no t jus t d e a l ing in t he his t o r y yo u r e g o ing o ve r a l mo s t int o a r c he o l o g y a nd e ve n b io l o g y A H : Well, isn't that the first history? T he B uz z : V e r y t r ue. A H : The Auscilla River Basin, the lower part of Jefferson, Taylor, and even some of the Wakulla, which is just below Leon, the biodiversity is like a rainforest. T he B uz z : T his a r e a o f F l o r id a ha s a l w a ys b e e n f a s c ina t ing. E ve r yt hing a b o ve L a k e C it y up t o he r e, a nd t he n t o t he b o r d e r, t he r e ' s jus t s o me t hing s o d if f e r e nt t ha n p r e t t y muc h a nyp l a c e e l s e in t he c o unt r y b e c a us e o f t he s e s p r ing s, b e c a us e o f t he l ime s t o ne A H : Well, all of Florida is on a honeycomb of limestone. Aucilla Research Institute is going to bring this area back. It's going to be the economic driver. We have also used a new device which is, I think, fabulous. We created a program we call Associate Scholar [for seniors]. So when people retire from a university, usually as early as they can, they still have all these brains, all this training-- T he B uz z : A nd t he y w a nt t o c o nt inue t o us e it. A H : A H : They want to continue to use it, but they just don't want to have to be somewhere at 8am. They don't want to have to correct 100 papers each week. They don't want to have to fight to get tenure and keep it. They can come here and petition us to become a Scholar with us. We look at what they offer, and they get a grant, which they run through our 501(c)(3). And then they can do their project if they're 80 wherever they are. And they're as happy as they can be (laughing) and so are we.

5 T he B uz z : T ha t is a r e a l ne a t p r o g r a m e s p e c ia l l y f o r p e o p l e w ho t hink t he y ha ve o ut l ive d t he ir us e f ul ne s s A H : We have a tendency to throw people away. I mean, I have to argue every once in a while that this white in my hair is not my brains running out (laughing) Last fall, I had my 82nd birthday. And last summer and last fall I've published two books. I probably publish two, maybe three, this year. T he B uz z : W o w. P l us yo u' r e d o ing a l l t his o t he r s t uf f. A H : I mean, I have a real problem with the prejudice of when you start getting a little gray in your hair, you'll feel it. T he B uz z : B ut yo u' r e s ho w ing t ha t t ha t ' s c o mp l e t e l y no t t r ue a t a l l. A H : Most of the people I'm working with are not kids by any means, but they're brilliant. They're impressive. And now we have a scanning and mapping lab over in medical building right on Jefferson Street which is owned and operated by a group called Healthy Ways. Healthy Ways is sort of, not exactly a parent, but they have supported us through this. T he B uz z : S o t he y' ve a l mo s t b e e n a n umb r e l l a s e r vic e t o yo u? A H : Yeah, they have gotten us started (laughing) and now we've been donated several large collections of artifacts. We have mammoth bones, a mammoth tooth. I helped move this thing and here's this mammoth - a mastodon really in this area and held a mastodon tooth in my hands (laughing). T he B uz z : F r o m t his a r e a? A H : And we found skeletons. There are two skeletons that will be excavated

6 T he B uz z : I me a n e s p e c ia l l y w it h t he g e o l o g y a nd t he c l ima t e he r e, w it h t ho s e r ive r s t he y p r e s e r ve t hing s. A H : Yeah, and I'm supposed to sit at home and knit [laughter]. T he B uz z : W e k no w t ha t ' s no t g o ing t o ha p p e n. A H : Oh, no. (smiling) T im Wassbe rg A graduat e of New York Universit y's Tisch School Of The Art s wit h degrees in Film/TV Product ion & Film Crit icism, Tim has writ t en for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pict ures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys t raveling and dist inct craft beers among ot her t hings. Make Sure T o St ay At : Big Oak RV Park, which offers a spacious area at very affordable rat es. Guest s are t heir number one priorit y and at t heir beaut iful RV locat ion, you will find a t rue sense of communit y and a world of opport unit ies.