Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2014 | Page 67

Clockwise from top left: Amphitrite, a floating
hotel docked at the original Sea Island Yacht
Club, 1928; Howard Coffin, Sea Island founder;
the resort’s original golf clubhouse

W

hile some may brush aside
old albums of black-and-white
photos and frayed newspaper
clippings as dull pieces of the
past, Mimi Rogers, Sea Island archivist,
sees these historical objects as treasures,
each telling colorful stories about a place
and how it came to be.
“History is basically about people, so
how can it be boring?” asks Rogers, genuinely bemused by the notion. Most people,
however, probably don’t have ties to storied
Sea Island, where the past is ever-present
and Rogers has served as archivist since
1999. Rogers’ own history, which dates back
to an upbringing in Monroe, Ga., is heavily informed by her college history major
mother’s proclivities for the past, as well as
her aunt’s tales of earlier times. Together,
Rogers to pursue history as a passion before
a profession—although, in the end, she
would do both.

History in the Making
love of history,” Rogers remembers. “She
instilled in her children a love of American
history in particular.” Rogers says she
has very vivid memories of family trips to

Jamestown, Williamsburg and Monticello in
Virginia and to Washington, D.C. Eventually,
Rogers would leave her formative years’
stomping grounds for Durham, N.C., and
the hallowed halls of Duke University,
where she pursued and earned an undergraduate degree in zoology. But the budding
archivist’s ardor for bygone eras remained,
so Rogers enrolled in a museum studies
graduate program jointly administered by
Parsons School of Design and the CooperHewitt, National Design Museum in New
York City. Scholarship rewarded her with
a master’s degree in history, focused on
decorative arts.
Rogers then served as chief curator for
the museums and historic preservation
divisi ۈو