Taking the Initiative Six Years of Gains in the Cause of Maritime Preservation by Jim Delgado
The past six years have seen tremendous gains in the cause of maritime preservation. Several hi storic ships in risk of being lost were saved for posterity , a federal shipwreck law was passed to encourage the preservation of endangered archaeological resources, and millions of dollars were allocated for the restoration and preservation of hi storic lighthouses. We also saw the establishment of a national inventory of historic ships, shipwrecks and lighthouses; the publication of National Trust guides to the lights and ships; the reestablishment of a federa l program to document hi storic vessels through photographs and measured drawings; and a substantial increase in the number of maritime-related properties either listed in the National Register of Historic Places or designated as National Historic landmarks. Between late 1986 and April 1991 , I was privileged to work with the maritime preservation commun ity to achieve many of
these goals in my former posi tion as the head of the National Maritime Initiative. The Initi ative was created by the National Park Service from within its own ranks in 1986 in response to a Congressional request to address the obvious need for bureaucratic remedies to some of the pressing problems faced by maritime preservationists. The strength of the initiative lay with the number of people that pulled together to tackle the problems. It was a cooperative effort that brought together not only the various programs and professionals in the Park Service, but people in the various state historic preservation programs, maritime museums and elsewhere who shared a common goal. On a personal note, it was a wonderfully fast, intense and educational period of my life. Although based in Washington DC, I was fortunate to escape the beltway and frequently work in the field. That meant constant interaction with people and the resource, be it diving on shipwrecks in Lake Michigan , climbing lighthouse towers, sailing or steam ing on a ship, or crawling the bilges of some laid-up vessel. It was an intensive education in the essence of maritime America, from coast to coast, to the lakes and inland rivers, and to the small communities whose very nature is inexorably linked to waterborne transportation, commerce
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Drive and determination typify restoration efforts throughout the country. Above, old meets new, a carpenter crafts a knee during the rebuilding of the 1882 Maine windjammer Grace Bailey, a 1991 National Historic Landmark nominee. At left, Pilot, one of two remaining historic pilot boats associated with the Port of Boston, under restoration at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1989. On the right, USS Texas, the sole surviving American dreadnought, built in 1914, under restoration at Todd Shipyard in Galveston, Texas.
SEA HISTORY 60, WINTER 1991-92