NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
16 FULTON STREET, NEW YORJC, N. t'. 10038 • PHONE.· JJ2.J< ...JIO
Chairman: REAR ADMIRAL WALTER F. SCHLECH. JR .. USN tHI::'l' . 1 Honorary co.Chairman: HELEN DELICH BENTLEY
President: PETER STANFORD Vice Presidents: KARL KORTUM JOHN THURMAN Secretary: JOHN LYMAN Treasurer: NORAL\N BROUWER T·r ustees: FRANK BRAYNARD NORMAN BROUWER KARL KORTUM JOHN LYMAN WALTER F. SCHLECH PETER STANFORD JOHN N. THURMAN SHANNON WALL CHARLES WITTHOLZ Co-Chairmen, .-ldvisory Connnittee: FRANK BRA YNARD RICK MILLER Patrons' Cmnmittr<':
JOSEPH CANTALUPO J. FERRELL COLTON REYNOLDS DuPONT J. J . HENRY TOWNSEND HORNOR ALAN HUTCHISON R. C. JEFFERSON BARBARA JOHNSON J .\MES W. KELLOGG Ill .-\TWATER KENT, JR. J. NOEL MACY CLIFFORD D. AIA I.LORY, JR. MARINE RESEARCH SOCIETY . BATH. MAINE R. W. McCULLOUGH EMIL MOSRACHER. JR. NATION .\!. MARITIME UNION NATION,\L TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION LEONARD RENNIE ELLIOT RICHARDSON ERIC RIDDER. SR . WILLIAM M. ROTH PETE SEEGER AVICE M. SEWALL JAMES SHARP HOWARD SLOTNI C K JOSE SORIANO ED;\flJND A. STANLEY . JR. UNITED SEA~! EN'S SERVICE BARCLAY \V,\ RB URTON Ill (partial listino)
As we go to press with this issue of Sea History, two •naj or events are developing on the ship pL·eservation front: First, the remains of KAIULANI, object of an eleven year preservation effort, will ae landed in numbered sections at the Todd Shipyard in Seattle. Second, a bill for a National Trust for the preservation of historic ships, under the a11spices of the National Trust for Historic P•eservation, will be introduced.
If proposed funding for KAIUL.l\N'I ma':erial i.zes, she will be rebuilt to sail a0ain - a J:2construction that, to be done prJperly, must summon the best scholarship and craftsmanship we have in America.
If such a funding is not forthcoming, we must see that the remains a i:e properly set up and preserved, 50 t"hat people may come to learn the shape an-:l. co11st<7 •1ction of this last heir of packet and clipper ship, and come to know the story of this fast and comely Down Easter - a story embracing much of our American experience at sea. Her birthplace at Bath, Maine; her home port of San Francisco; and New York as a port of refuge on a famous occasion (when her captain wrote: "New York seemed the best place to go") are possible sites for a KAIULANI monument. We welcome your views on this. The Ship Trust opens wide horizons, on what has been a darkling scene of opportunities closing out. Think of the Gold Rush veteran VICAR OF BRAY returned to San Francisco, the 1850's packet ship CHARLES COOPER returned to New York, the 1840's lake schooner ALVIN CLARK preserved at Menominee, Michigan, New York's Pier A clock tower saved to welcome future generations of arriving ships, and San Francisco's Haslett Warehouse! A scattered, but dedicated constituency can now be summoned to these and other efforts that may take an expression of national purpose to achieve. Iri our next issue we'll present a first survey of such opportunities, and publish letters presenting your views on the work that lies ahead. Peter Stanford