VOL 1
16TH & EXCHANGE STREET, ASTORIA, OREGON 97103
NO. 3
NEW MUSEUM BUILDING WILL OVERLOOK SHIP CHANNEL AT HISTORIC ANCHORAGE SITE
It is entirely fitting that 9ur new museum building will be built on the edge of the Columbia River at the exact site where ships of trade and exploration anchored nearly two hundred years ago. Here, where the first settlement was established on the Great River to open up the vast Northwest, our modern, efficient new quarters will greatly increase our ability to preserve and relate a rich maritime heritage. The structure will be capable of accommodating our largest artifacts, now in storage. Increased exhibit space, coupled with modern display techniques, will permit more dynamic presentation of the collections. Rapidly increasing attendance demands the greater degree of accessibility pro-
vided by the new building, while at the same time maximum protection will be provided. A large, fully-equipped lecture room and a research library will augment the Museum's rapidly expanding educational programs. Work shop and storage facilities are planned to operate efficiently with modern tools and equipment for care and maintenance of the artifacts. The building will be situated on a landscaped park area directly overlooking the Museum's Lightship No. 88 Columbia and the main ship channel. Designed to meet the needs of the future, it will be a thoroughly appropriate home for the fastest-growing maritime museum in the West.
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QUARTERDECK REVIEW
We can report good progress toward construction of the new museum building. With delaying strikes settled we again have earth fill arriving in quantity. Our fingers are crossed for reasonable weather for the heavily loaded trucks, and a continuous supply of fill material. The building platform should soon be ready for final leveling to engineer's specification and the driving of support piling. Architects and engineers are at work on final building plans, piling locations, drainage, heating, ventilation, and plumbing problems. Other good news is also at hand. The Capital Fund Drive is rapping at the half million dollar door! Members of George Shaver's Portland committee have called for "full ahead" on a concerted drive to raise the balance of $180,000 needed to reach our goal. In August the committee arranged for a select group of donors and friends to visit the Museum on a Sunday afternoon. Some had not seen the collections in several years, others had never visited. Tours of the Museum ended on board the lightship with refreshments, questions and answers, and a review of progress on the new building project to date. Later in the month the Board of Trustees sponsored an "Evening at the Museum" to provide Lower Columbia Area friends with a similar opportunity for personal tours and explanation of the Museum's plans. Both events elicited many laudatory comments as well as encouraging indications of assistance. Now is the time for all who cherish our great nautical heritage to join in helping us reach our goal. Be one of those to assist in making this worthy effort become a reality. Rolf Klep, Director
MUSEUM PRESIDENT R. GEORGE
T.
CARRUTHERS, COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
SHAVER AND U.S. REPRESENTATIVE WENDELL
WYATT
DISCUSS MUSEUM PLANS
CONGRESSMAN SPEAKS
U. S. Representative Wendell Wyatt met in Portland recently with Museum officials and representatives of the news media to discuss plans for our new building and launching of the final phase of the capital fund drive. Congressman Wyatt, a long-standing member of the Advisory Board, expressed great pride in the accomplishments of the Museum over the past eleven years, noting that completion of the new facility will be "a milestone in the Museum's historic effort to preserve the priceless maritime heritage of the Pacific Northwest." *
Curator Michael Naab has been awarded a travel grant funded by the National Museum Act. Mr. Naab will use the grant this fall to finance a tour of major East Coast museums, where he will observe methods of exhibit design, record-keeping, etc.
CAPTAIN CHARLES ACKERMAN
Captain Charles W. Ackerman first "went on the river" as deckhand on a sternwheeler in 1907. Twenty years later he became a Columbia River pilot. By the time of his retirement in 1964, he had piloted more vessels of every description on the Columbia River than any man alive. His record still stands. During his long career, in addition to piloting sea-going vessels between up-river ports and the mouth of the Columbia, the Captain served at times as master on a number of well known rivercraft. Among these were the sleek propellor steamers Georgiana and Iraida, and the sternwheelers Lurline, Undine, Weown, J. N. Teal, Madeline, and Gen. Washington. Last month Captain Ackerman presented to the Museum a unique souvenir of his many years on the river. It is a collection of cap devices worn by officers of the ships he boarded as pilot between 1927 and 1941. Each device represents a steamship company, embodying that line's stack insignia, house flag, or other identifying symbol. There are 136 devices altogether, arranged in frames made from a traditional ring buoy and a pilot wheel. M ichael Ziegler Photo -
Daily Astorian
MODULAR DISPLAY UNITS AS MEMORIAL DONATIONS
Modular display units, capable of being used individually or grouped together to form movable walls, will be employed extensively in the new museum. The resulting display system will afford maximum flexibility to meet the demands of changing exhibits in the future. Flexibility is a key feature of the highly · functional exhibit system designed for the new museum. At the heart of the system are interchangeable, modular display units which can be used separately or in conjunction with others to form movable display walls. The sketch shows a number of cabinets ranging in price from $500 to $2,500. A donor may purchase an individual unit, or a combination. This affords many opportunities for memorials, with appropriate plaques designating the donor and the person in whose memory a gift is made. It is proving to be a popular permanent memorial idea. For further information on memorial gift possibilities ranging from display cases to major rooms of the Museum, contact Rolf Klep or Michael Naab at the Museum (Telephone 325-2323). * NO. 88 COLUMBIA
* Summer is a busy time at the Museum, not only because attendance is higher than in other seasons, but also because a good deal of the outside chores which pile up over a year have to be accomplished in the dry months from July to October. Much of this seasonal work is done by student employees. This past summer, with assistance from the Neighborhood Youth Corps program, we were fortunate in having on the staff two local high school boys, John Hurt and Jeff Cleys. The boys spent a lot of their time on board the Lightship, engaged in the sailor's fine arts of soogying paintwork, chipping and scaling rust, polishing brightwork, and applying fresh paint to nearly everything that doesn't move. They also performed numerous jobs in and around the building and grounds. Hard workers both, Jeff and John were a great asset to the Museum. It was a pleasure to have them around.
With the help of Northwest Seaport, the Seattle organization which has restored and maintains Lightship No. 83 Relief, the tug Arthur Foss and the three-masted schooner W awona, an important artifact was recently returned to our own Lightship No. 88 Columbia. It is the original, 2'3'' brass builder's plaque of No. 88, displayed on the Seaport's lightship No. 83 until research uncovered the error. Robert D. Ashley, president of Northwest Seaport, felt that the plaque should be returned to its proper place on board No. 88. He invited Director Klep to come to Seattle at a mutually convenient time for a presentation. The agreed upon time c_ame on June 2nd, when presentation of the plaque was made a part of ceremonies held on board the W awona to dedicate the famous schooner and formally designate her a National Historic Ship. It was a gracious gesture by Northwest Seaport to the Columbia River Maritime Museum.
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LAKSLODA ON THE LIGHTSHIP
The ladies of the Museum Auxiliary iauugurated their 1973-74 season on Friday, September 21st, with a traditional Scandinavian luncheon on board the lightship Columbia. Nearly 200 diners took advantage of the warm fall day and paid $1.50 each to partake of Laksloda (a delicious, potato and salt salmon casserole) served with green salad, fresh-baked homemade bread with butter, and hot coffee. The meal was prepared in the lightship's oil-fired galley and served at tables set up on the main deck. Enthusiastic comments and satisfied expressions-not to mention a comfortable increase in the Auxiliary exchequer-clearly indicated that the event was a great success. Those who missed the luncheon, but would like to try the Laksloda, can obtain the recipe from the Auxiliary's Fish Cookery book, on sale at the Museum for three dollars. NEW TRUSTEES
Bar pilot R. 0 .. Elsensohn and newspaper publisher J. W. Forrester have been appointed to the Board of Trustees. They will fill vacancies left by the death of Capt. E. A. Quinn and the resignation of Eldred Penttila. Annual trustee elections were held on September 25th. Elected to four year terms on the Board were Charles L. Wood and Roy Hammond. Re-elected were Morgan Coe, Captain Kenneth McAlpin, CDR Edward Nelson, and Max Schafer, Sr.
QUARTERDECK REVIEW OF THE
COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM ASTORIA, OREGON 97103
PEA SOUP HAROLD
Born in Norway 92 years ago, Harold Johansen went to sea while in his teens. After serving several years as ablebodied seaman and cook in sailing ships of half a dozen nationalities, he settled in Portland, moving eventually to Astoria. In 1923 he opened a small lunch counter. As his specialty, he offered a 25c meal built around the same hearty Swedish pea soup that was staple fare in the fo'c'sles of sailing vessels throughout the world .. The venture wa.c a success, and Harold soon had a sizeable clientele. Every day the regular customers came in one after another, sat down at the counter and called out, "Pea soup, Harold!" Noting this ( and motivated only in part by the prospect of a commission), an out-of-work sign painter suggested that the name of the establishment be changed to reflect the name of its proprietor: Pea Soup Harold! Pea Soup Harold's Quick Lunch became an institution locally, and Harold won renown from coast to coast, both for his nickname and for his famous Swedish pea soup. Retired since 1937, he still lives in Astoria. Mr. Johansen told us his story last month, when he was visiting the Museum for the first time. Before leaving, he wrote out a check for membership. "Because it's a good thing," he said. We can't think of a better reason.
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE
PAID Astoria, Oregon Permit No. 209