Page 3 - AHATA

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local Saturday 13 april 2024
The Internet Archive now houses the Aruba Collection!

(Oranjestad)—This week one collection item for ev-
marks an important devel- ery citizen of Aruba. This in-
opment in the preservation cludes 40,000 documents,
of the Aruban history and a 60,000 images and seven
step forward into modern- 3D objects.
izing the island. For the first
time ever, the entire history The Aruban history is some-
of Aruba is now backed up thing that we cherish and
on the Internet Archive. love to promote, both to
the younger generation
In collaboration with the and our lovely visitors. It’s
National Library of Aruba for this reason that the digi-
(BNA), the non-profit orga- tization and preservation
nization was able to digitize of our documents act as
various types of documents not only a precautionary
pertaining to the history of move, but also one that
Aruba, including those from 2018, when Stacy Argondiz- physical historical docu- Archives to organize the further promotes—and in
the national library itself, zo—a long-time visitor—be- ments. It is for this reason collection, they created a some ways—modernizes
along with the National Ar- gan to find interest in the that Argondizzo reached huge online deposit of our our history.
chives (ANA), the archeo- preservation of the island’s out to Peter Scholing, an island’s most precious his-
logical museum of Aruba history. Although Aruba lies information specialist at the tory. You can access digital
(MANA) and the University outside of the hurricane national library. Together, documents of Aruban his-
of Aruba (UA), among oth- belt, we are still vulnerable using Aruba’s own scan- The collection holds 101,376 tory through the website of
ers. for natural disaster, which ning equipment along with items so far. To compare the national library of Aru-
is very likely to end in a de- the software technology this with the population of ba, https://www.bibliote-
The project started back in struction of our preserved provided by the Internet Aruba, it would amount to canacional.aw/pages/.q

Visit the historic museum at Fort Zoutman!

(Oranjestad)—Located in the original structure of the fort,
middle of downtown Oran- and is actually called “Wil-
jestad, situated right next lem III Toren”. Constructed in
to the government building 1867, this tower was named
“Cocolishi”, is one of the old- after the then-reigning king
est buildings of Aruba: Fort of The Netherlands, Willem III.
Zoutman. First constructed Willem III Toren was originally
in 1796, this site has been a light tower, but after a re-
used (or left unused) in many quest from Lieutenant Gov-
ways and have survived eras ernor Jan Helenus in 1866, it
of war and attempted dis- also became a bell tower.
mantling.
The fort itself was originally
When anyone refers to Fort constructed to protect the
Zoutman, they are actually commerce bay of Paarden-
referring to two separate baai from pirates and other
buildings that, over the years, disreputable characters
have been merged: the fort roaming the Caribbean Sea.
and the tower. That’s right, Unlike the Willem III Toren,
the iconic 5-story, squared Fort Zoutman had a more
tower was not part of the tumultuous past, including
the on-and-off reception of unwanted members of the
English military several times Despite its small size, The His-
(The Netherlands was at toric Museum guards a rich
constant war with England depository of the commer-
back in the colonial era). cial, military and social his-
tory of Oranjestad, offering
Over the years, both the a glance into how the social
fort and the tower had culture of the town came to
functioned as different be. If you are interested in
government center points, history and want to learn
including a tax and stamps more about Aruba, then Fort
office. For some time these Zoutman should definitely be
two buildings also housed a included into your itinerary.
police precinct and jail, and
even experienced aban- The museum is open Monday
donment until the Cultural to Friday from 9am-6pm, and
Center Aruba Foundation Saturday from 10am-2pm.q
(CCA) petitioned for its ren-
ovation in 1964, turning the Source: The Old Fort of Aruba
site into the Historic Museum by Jan Hartog.
it currently is.