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Blanchard House Museum
is closed until further notice.

In an abundance of caution to protect our staff, volunteers, and visitors, the Blanchard House Museum is closed to the public due to the pandemic until further notice. We will provide updates on our museum operations online and through social media. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Celebrating Florida's Emancipation Day - May 20th
Check out the statewide virtual events

(Click on the flyer below)
A reenactment of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation
on the porch of the Blanchard House Museum, portraying
Brigadier General Edward McCook, May 20th, 1865, Tallahassee, Florida.

(Click on the photo below)


The museum may currently be closed, however we are hard at work . . .


* * * NEW EXHIBIT * * *

In commemoration of our County's Centennial,
we've put up a new exhibit in the Old Charlotte County Courthouse
226 Taylor Street, in downtown Punta Gorda
(first floor near the main entrance)
Spotlight: George Brown, Early Entrepreneur
(Apr 2021)


Check out our new virtual exhibits,

Exceptional Women in History
"And Still I Rise"
(Mar 2021)

Just click on the photo below to open the exhibit.
Punta Gorda
"The Town that Unity Built"
(Feb 2021)

Just click on the photo below to open the exhibit.

"Stay Well: Boosting Your Immune System Using Traditional African Herbs"
     
   Just click on the photo below to open the exhibit.

Check out our first virtual exhibit: "PANDEMIC"      (posted June 2020)
                         Just click on the photo below to open the exhibit.

Looking for something to do, how about . . .

Pearl’s Wisdom:  Blog on Facebook
 
 Along with African foodways and spirituality, traditional healing practices were one of the most significant African cultural retentions. African healing practices survived the middle passage to be transplanted and adapted in the new environment. The enslaved played an active role in their own healthcare and plantation medicine forced the survival of African folk medicine. Granny doctors and midwives, highly respected by the enslaved community were the major source of healthcare on the plantation.

 In this blog, Cousin Pearl, the fictional doctoring woman and midwife, a character in “The Womb Rebellion”, by pwlong, shares her experiences as the granny/midwife in the sick house that she oversees on the Bellamy Plantation in South Carolina during the 1850’s.   

Through Pearl’s journal, readers will be introduced to the practice of “sacred medicine” that Pearl uses to heal the sick on the plantation. They will get a glimpse of the types of illnesses that the enslaved suffered and how “powerful doctoring women” like Pearl healed both the bodies and the minds of the enslaved. In addition, Uncle Dan, an elder conjure man on the Bellamy Plantation will add his voice to Cousin Pearl’s.

Watch for the blog,” Pearl’s Wisdom”, published on Monday’s twice per monthly on Facebook.

Read the blog here: Pearl's Wisdom

The Blanchard House Museum of African American
History and Culture of Charlotte County

Our season feature exhibit:

   African Origins of Modern Healthcare

Will remain in the museum for the 2020 - 2021 season, and can be seen once the museum reopens.
(click here for the exhibit program)

The museum is currently closed.

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See the Blanchard House through the years - here.
What's new at
the Museum?

Museum's History Quest
Questing - A place-based, educational scavenger hunt with clues and questions designed to pass along knowledge about a location.
Download and start your Quest today!
(Click here for the Quest)
Photo Gallery Click image to enlarge