Help in Our Mission to Preserve and Educate

Next year Gomez Mill House will celebrate the 290th anniversary of the establishment of a business here by Luis Gomez.

As a child his parents had left Spain and moved to France to leave religious persecution behind. His grandparents were trading from Europe to the islands in the Caribbean. When Louis XIV revoked the Treaty of Nantes, Luis left the old world and followed this trade route to the Caribbean and then later to New York — about 1700.

In April 1704 he purchased a certificate of denization from Queen Anne, giving him the rights of a citizen of the English domain.

This document, this exciting treasure — was donated in 1998 by the Jesselson family — and is on display here at Gomez Mill House.

How great it is to be able to tell the Gomez story using this document! In fact, when you get right down to it, the basic tools to teach and to illustrate the history in house museums are the buildings, collection and the documents. These artifacts — an object made by human work — are used by our docents to make the story of Gomez Mill House come alive.

How gifted and talented the owner/occupants of Mill House were! Artisans in stain and leaded glass, and paper makers, and writers and publishers.

Artifacts that tell of their religion, their country, their business, their family, and their lives are needed to continue to tell their stories.

Awards

The Gomez Mill House website is the winner of The Médaille d’Or Award for Web Site Excellence

The Gomez Mill House website is listed as one of the “50 Great Museum Websites” on MuseumStuff.com between the Frick and the Guggenheim!

GMH website was nominated for inclusion in the Global Museum Web Awards 2001

GMH website is listed by bestweb.net as a “bestweb experience”

GMH website is the 2004 Winner of the The New York City Metro Award

Gomez Mill House was the recipient of three Awards for Excellence presented by the “Lower Hudson Conference of Historic Agencies and Museums” at their Annual Meeting. The 13th Annual Awards for Excellence Program was hosted by the Huguenot Historical Society, Huguenot Street, New Paltz on Monday, October 5, 1998:

Mildred Starin — Special Trustee Recognition Award

Special Recognition goes to Mildred Starin who foresaw the need to preserve the special character of Gomez Mill House, documented the history of the house and its occupants in a nomination to the National Register, and led the formation of the Gomez Foundation for Mill House to accomplish that goal. Through her devoted efforts the house is now a museum and 300 years of history are preserved and interpreted to thousands of visitors each year.

Pictured is Frances Low, President of the Gomez Foundation for Mill House, who accepted the award for Mrs. Starin.

Judy Brewton — The Video

“Gomez Mill House and the Spirit of the Hudson Valley” written, directed and produced by Judy Brewton. The video orients actual visitors to the historic house and its history, in the narrative context of the larger region. Production research enhanced the body of archival information about the site, reversing some assumptions and locating some lost items, while giving visual form to the layers of historical resonance at Gomez Mill House.

Pictured is Judy Brewton accepting her award for writing, directing and producing the video.

Melissa Maurer — The Website

www.gomez.org created by Melissa Maurer. This virtual visit to Gomez Mill House provides a clear historical perspective of the periods of occupancy from Luis Gomez to the present, peaking the interest of on-line visitors to see the house in-person, and thereby widening the public audience of the site and the Hudson Valley.

Pictured is Melissa Maurer accepting her award for web design and development of www.gomez.org.