An unusual collection of St. Thomas historical documents and ephemera will be on exhibit this weekend at Haagensen House Museum, accompanied by lectures by Michael Paiewonsky.
The show, from Paiewonsky's MAPes MONDe collection, focuses primarily on St. Thomas history. It includes maps, letters, books, etchings, paintings and newspapers going back to the 1600s. All of the exhibit is on sale to benefit the museum.
Paiewonsky said there are some things he hasn't exhibited before, such as an 1860 map of the harbor when the first cut was made at Frenchtown, creating Hassel Island. The British Royal Mail had threatened to leave St. Thomas if something wasn't done about the garbage in the harbor which they thought was causing malaria (not realizing the disease was carried by mosquitos).
Also included in the collection are newspapers from the 1700s, books by J. Antonio Jarvis one of which is a first edition, and an etching of Admiral Jepperson who is buried in the Danish graveyard next to Knud Hansen Hospital. Paiewonsky said the admiral is not an ancestor of St. Thomas' Jepperson and his Band of Renown.
The exhibit will be open Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Paiewonsky will deliver three lectures:
Friday at 6 p.m., "Blake and the Abolitionist, Art and the Development of Humanity";
Saturday at 4 p.m., "Outline of Virgin Islands History in the Danish Period";
Sunday at 3 p.m., "History of Slavery from Greek and Roman Times."
Teachers are welcome to the exhibit, and will receive a free MAPes MONDe print, Paiewonsky said. Also, teachers can photograph any of the prints or books for school use. Haagensen House Museum is located on Government Hill at the top of the 99 Steps.
