The Last Slave Ships

Key West was never a slave trading port - a place where people were imported to be bought and sold - but because of its unusual geography it was often affected by the Transatlantic Slave Trade. A remote outpost, poised along the maritime highway of the Gulf Stream current and very close to the plantations of Cuba, the small island saw a number of slave ships sail through, wreck in, or be forcibly brought to her waters.

A millennium exhibition without equal. Take a look back Florida and New World history for the first 500 years. Examine all the cultures that have contributed to modern day Florida. Organized by the Jay Kislak Foundation in cooperation with the Historical Association of Southern Florida, this exhibition will travel to Florida's leading history museums during 2001.

The St. John’s Bahamas wreck is what remains of an as yet unidentified mid-16th century Spanish sailing ship. Though the ship does not have a name or a specific history, it is proving to be one of the richest archaeological sources for examining the ways in which Europeans colonized the Americas. Portions of the ship itself have been found in association with artifacts that reflect the lifestyles of those onboard, and their experience in the New World.