WE ARE PAN: A graphic novel about revolution, immigration, and the love of family

with Andre R. Frattino

Thursday, October 1

7pm

FREE with registration

The Matheson History Museum welcomes historical graphic novelist, Andre R. Frattino to the Museum on Thursday, October 1 to discuss the experience of researching and writing WE ARE PAN. The graphic novel is based on the true story of Operation: Pedro Pan and the exodus of 14,000 children from Cuba to Miami in the early 60s. He’ll discuss the experience of interviewing surviving Pedro Pans, living in America all these decades later and how transforming their story into a comic has shaped his own approach to fatherhood.

We Are Pan registration

Preserving Your Family Heirlooms

with Elise V. LeCompte

Saturday, October 3

10am

FREE with registration

Matheson Board Member and Museum Collections Care Specialist Elise V. LeCompte will give a presentation on how to preserve your family heirlooms. Participants are asked to bring an object (or photo of an object) that they wish to preserve.

The program will feature a presentation on the care and preservation of precious family heirlooms, including metal objects, ceramics and glass, artwork, textiles, books and paper, photographic material, and audiovisual material, by Elise V. LeCompte, a specialist in museum collections care. The processes and agents of deterioration that work to destroy our precious objects, and how to minimize them, will be described. Then, simple museum-quality techniques for storing and displaying your treasures will be discussed. These are techniques that anyone can carry out in order to preserve their heirlooms and treasures for years to come. Sample storage and display materials will be available for examination, and handouts listing museum-quality supplies and suppliers will be provided.

The presentation will be followed by a hands-on, group discussion of each participant’s object, based on the information provided in the presentation.

Elise V. LeCompte registration

Art from the Archives exhibition

Opens Saturday, November 14

11am-4pm

FREE (no registration required)

In celebration of the Downtown Festival and Art Show, we are excited to welcome visitors to a temporary exhibit at the Museum – “Art from the Archives.” We will have on display throughout the Main Museum Building art that is rarely seen – oil paintings, photographs, and more!

This free exhibition will give visitors a chance to gain a broader understanding of the Matheson’s permanent collection and the Museum’s ongoing work to preserve our collective history.

Registration Links Coming Soon

  • Wednesday, October 28, 7pm – When the Sky Speaks and the Body Trembles: Timucua Spiritual Practices in Colonial Florida with Dr. George Aaron Broadwell
  • Wednesday, November 4, 6pm – Becoming Buffalo Film Screening with Montana Cypress
  • Wednesday, November 11, 7pm – The ‘Nam AC-48 with Andy Adkins
  • Wednesday, November 18, 7pm – B-Roll: Life in Front of the Blackboard and Behind the Lens with Steve Robitaille
  • Wednesday, December 2, 6pm – Matheson Members’ Holiday Sip and Shop
  • Sunday, December 13, 4pm – Hoggtowne Bronze Christmas Concert

Recordings

1) The Other Book: Part 2 with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project (2026)

(Recordings by the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program)

2) “A Legacy of Excellence: African American Education in Rural Alachua County during Segregation” with E. Stanley Richardson