Women Recount Atocha Treasure Recovery at Mel Fisher Maritime Museum

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum’s panel “The Quest for the Atocha” brought five women to the stage Feb. 17 at 200 Greene St. to recount roles they played in uncovering, recovering and interpreting artifacts from the 1622 Spanish galleons Nuestra Señora de Atocha and Santa Margarita. Panelists KT Budde-Jones, Judy Gracer, Damien Lin, Greta Philips-Ford and Carol Tedesco spoke during a free-admission event; doors opened at 6 p.m. and seating was limited.

The Atocha and Santa Margarita were among the treasure-laden Spanish galleons that shipwrecked off Key West in a 1622 hurricane. The museum framed those recoveries as the end point of an "epic and unrelenting search" led by museum founder Mel Fisher, and the panel tied present-day display and interpretation directly to that multi-decade hunt.

Panelists drew on a range of hands-on experience tied to the wrecks but the museum and program materials did not assign specific job titles to individual speakers. Attendees heard behind-the-scenes accounts covering roles that included diver, captain, photographer/videographer, confidential assistant to Fisher, business manager and a specialist in Spanish colonial coinage, trade routes and cargoes, with discussion focused on search, recovery and documentation of the Atocha and Santa Margarita shipwrecks.

Museum officials emphasized institutional stewardship during the program. The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and bills itself as a center for excavation, preservation, research and exhibition of New World maritime artifacts. Its permanent exhibits feature what the museum describes as a comprehensive, context-driven showcase of artifacts and treasure from the Atocha and Santa Margarita wrecks, displayed at the 200 Greene St. facility.

Admission to the presentation was free and organizers reiterated logistical details at the event: doors opened at 6 p.m., seating was limited, and timely arrival was encouraged. For those seeking additional information about future talks or curatorial materials tied to the Atocha and Santa Margarita collections, the museum remains the primary contact point for schedules and exhibit details.