Nevis Historical and Conservation Society
The Nevis Historical and Conservation Society (NHCS) is a non-governmental organization based in the Caribbean island of Nevis, which is part of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies.
The NHCS was founded in 1980, and is charged with protecting the cultural and natural heritage of Nevis. The mission of the society is "to conserve the natural, cultural and historic fabric of the Island of Nevis and her surrounding sea for all its people." [1]
The organization is funded through local and international memberships, donations, museum admissions and sales, annual fundraising events, and an endowment fund.
The NHCS has quickly become one of the most respected organizations of its kind in the Caribbean, and has consistently led the way in instituting projects and policies designed to not only preserve the islands unique history and environment but also make it accessible to locals and visitors alike.
The NHCS maintains two museums.
The Alexander Hamilton Museum
This museum is located in Hamilton House, on the waterfront near the center of Charlestown. Alexander Hamilton is believed to have been born in this building and lived there during his childhood. The museum now features a presentation of his life and times.
The upper floor of Hamilton House hosts the current Nevis Island Government's Legislative Offices, The Nevis House of Assembly.
The Museum of Nevis History
The NHCS also maintains The Museum of Nevis History, which is located just outside of Charlestown at Bellevue. This facility houses the Nevis Island Archives of historical records. It also features an extensive collection of Admiral Horatio Nelson memorabilia.
When Nelson was a young sea captain, he was stationed on Nevis during the mid 1780's and married a young widow, a local plantation owner's daughter-in-law, Frances (Fanny) Nesbit, in 1787.
Joan Robinson Biodiversity and Oral History Resource Centre
The Bellevue facility also houses the Joan Robinson Biodiversity and Oral History Resource Centre, which was opened on April 22nd, 2009, and which currently consists of two laboratories. One is dedicated to recording and preserving the flora and fauna of Nevis and the other is a video editing suite, which is designed to preserve the oral history of the island by digitally recording the oldest people on the island, to preserve their memories of life on Nevis during the early parts of the 20th century.
The Biodiversity and Oral History Projects are jointly funded by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CIDA); the British High Commission (Barbados); and The Strabon Project (French Embassy, St Lucia).
One of the unique aspects of these two projects is that local high school students perform most of the work, while learning technical and scientific skills from NHCS staff and other local and visiting experts in a wide variety of disciplines, including but not limited to, archaeology, marine and terrestrial biology, GPS/GIS mapping and surveying techniques, still and video photography, website design and maintenance, video editing and production, botany and desktop publishing.
NHCS publications
The society puts out a quarterly newsletter, "The Gathering", which details its current and ongoing projects.
In 2000, the society published a book on the natural history of the island of Nevis. [2]
References
- Robinson, David, & Jennifer Lowery (Editors), 2000. The natural history of the island of Nevis. Nevis Historical and Conservation Society Press, Ithaca, New York