Contact: Melissa Reifert
October 12, 2007

Chief Archaeologist to Speak at MECC on October 24

Dr. John Broadwater, Chief Archaeologist of the National Marine Sanctuary Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will be the guest speaker at a special forum at Mountain Empire Community College on Wednesday, October 24. Broadwater’s appearance is brought to the area by the college, specifically History Professor Mike Strouth, in collaboration with the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap.

From 2005 to 2007, Broadwater was Program Manager for NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program. In addition, he served as Manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary from 1992 to 2005, during which time he directed eight major expeditions to the remains of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. The Monitor lies in 235 feet of water, 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

During 1978 to 1990, as Virginia’s first State Underwater Archaeologist, he directed a study of shipwrecks from the 1781 Battle of Yorktown, and also developed a statewide underwater archaeology program. He has participated in numerous national and international underwater archaeological expeditions, including deepwater expeditions in the Black Sea and North Atlantic. In September 2001, he descended to a depth of 12,600 feet in the Mir 2 submersible to the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

Broadwater has strong roots in Southwestern Virginia. Both his parents were born and reared in Big Stone Gap, while he grew up just across the Cumberland Gap in Middlesboro, Kentucky. He has a master’s degree in American Studies from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in Maritime Studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Broadwater has published a variety of technical and popular articles, including “Secrets of a Yorktown Shipwreck” in the June 1988 issue of National Geographic Magazine. He has also contributed to several archaeological books and encyclopedias.

His appearance at MECC will be held at 1 p.m. on October 24 in the Goodloe Center. For more information, contact Strouth at (276) 523-2400, extension 234 or mstrouth@me.vccs.edu.

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