DECK LOG Mystic Seaport Museum-Collections and Human Resources in Maritime Heritage Preservation and Education
I
n D ece mbe r, Sea H istory's editor, D eirdre O 'R ega n , a nd I spent a d ay tourin g the exte nsive fac iliti es of Mystic Seaport to continue to nurture a cooperative relation ship be tween
Mystic Seaport Museum
o ur two orga ni za tions in our mission to study, prese rve, and promote our m a ritim e heritage. Our host, Dana C. H ew son, Mystic's C lark Senior C ura tor for W a tercraft a nd th e Vice Presid e nt for W a te rcraft Preservation & Programs, led us on a tour of c urre nt ex hibits and projects and, best yet , sh owed us so m e of the be hind - th e-sce nes d epartmems and co llection s. W e were particula rly imeres ted in the new Black H ands, Blue Seas exhibit on the contributions a nd stories of African America n mariners a nd m a ritim e a rti sa ns. Exhibit develop e r E lysa E nge lman is workin g with us on a four-pan se ri es for Sea History, w hich wi ll examin e individuals highli ghted in th e exhibit. Look fo r th e firs t installment in this summ e r's iss ue. In upcoming iss ues, we wi ll also cover the res tora ti o n of th e Easrern-Rig dragge r Roann. H er s tory and the decisio ns involved in acquiring a nd pla nnin g thi s major proj ect a re important to study for th ose involved in ship prese rva ti o n. Na turally, w h e n the w halin g ship Charles W Morgan goes up on the ways in the co min g yea r for mainte n a nce a nd res toration of h e r hull , we w ill cover that story and h e r prog ress as we ll. W e often think of museum s in te rms of their visitor exhibits, but beyo nd those di spl ays, M ysr ic Sea pon h as a d e pth o f ri c h co ll ection s a nd e mploys specialists active in
from Black Hands, Blue Seas
th e hum an elem e nt, he r tra in ed a nd knowl ed gea ble staff, and yo u' ll di scover sh e is a na tion al treas ure. Ihe Collection s R esea rch Ce nter is a sta re-of-the-arr storage and preservation facili ry w ith hu ge rolling storage cases for th e most efficient use of space. Ope n a drawer, and dozen s upon doze ns of scrimsh aw are safely ho used, awaiting th e researcher or rhe n ext exhibit that mi g ht need them . Likewi se, nea rby cases house hi stori c na uti cal too ls, ship models, fi g urehead s, a nd wardrob es of pe ri od clothing-each docum e nted a nd categorized . In the archi ves a re logbooks, charts, pilot guides, drawings, and more th a n l 00,000 hi stori c ship and boa r plans. Mystic's photog raphy collection holds the la rges t archive of m aritime photog raphs in No rth America, w ith over a million images of Rose nfeld 's photog raphs alone. Th eir watercraft co llection provides a ph ys ical reco rd of ce nturi es of boar building with ove r 500 small boars, plus outboard m otors and sream a nd di esel e ngin es. Finally, in rhe H e nry B. duPont
Prese rva tion Shipyard, where th e sch oo ne r Amistad was built, the fi shin g vessel Roann is bein g pa instakingly res tored. ]lie shipya rd , like most of rh eir faci lities, is d es ig n ed for visitors to safely view th e wo rk as it h a ppe ns. Ihere, expert staff train vo luntee rs and teach rhe ski lls in restorin g watercraft- efforts as worthwhil e as th e res toration itself.
2
Aron,
OFF ICERS & TRUSTEES: Chairman, Wa lter R. Brown; Vice Chairman, Richar<l o R. Lopes; Executive Vice President, Burchenal G ree n; Treasurer, Ronald L. O swald ; Secretary, Thom as F. D aly; Trustees, Paul F. Balse r, D o nald M . Birney, David S. Fowler, Virgini a Steele Grubb, Rodney N. H o ughton , Steve n W Jo nes, Ri chard M. Larrabee, Warren Leback, Guy E. C. M aitland, Karen Markoe, Mi chael M cKay, James J. McNa mara, H oward Slom ick, Bradford D . Smith , Philip J . Webster, Wi lliam H. White; Chairmen Emeriti, Alan G . C hoate, G uy E. C. Maitland , raig A. C. Reynolds, Howard Slotnick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUNDER: Ka rl Kortum (191 7-1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM D avid
resea rch faci lities alone, the muse um is a n invalu a ble resource. Co mbine the things with
- -B u RCHENAL GREEN,
PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE: Peter Donald McG raw, W illiam H. White
C. Brown; Wa lter C ronkite, C li ve C uss ler,
resto ra tion a nd research . For the value of its irreplaceable a rchives and sta re-o f-the arr-
Eastern-Rig dragger Roa nn being hauled out for restoration at Mystic's duPont Preservation Shipyard.
NATIONAL MARITIME HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Executive Vice President
Alan D. Hutchi son , Jakob Isbrandtsen, Jo hn Lehm an, Warren M arr, II, Brian A. M cAllister, John Sro bart, W illiam G . Winterer N MHS ADVISORS: Co-Chairmen, Frank 0. Braynard, Melbourne Sm ith; D. K. Abbass, Geo rge F. Bass, Francis E. Bowker, O swald L. Bren, RADM Jose ph F. Call o, Francis J . Duffy, Joh n W. Ewald , T imothy Foote, Wi ll iam G il kerso n, Thomas G illmer, Wa lter J . H and elman, Steven A. Hyman, H ajo Knuttel , G unn ar Lund eberg, Joseph A. Maggio, Co nrad Mi lster, Wi lli am G. Mu ll er, Dav id E. Perkins, Na ncy Hughes Ri chardson , Shan non]. Wa ll
SEA HISTORY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J. Runyan; No rm an J. Bro uwer, Robe rt Brownin g, Willi am S. Dudl ey, D aniel Finamore, Kev in Foster, John 0. Jense n, Jose ph F. Mea ny, Lisa No rlin g, Ca rl a Rahn Phillips, Walter Rybka, Quimen Snediker, W illiam H. W hi te N MHS STAFF: Executive Director, Burchenal G ree n; M embership Director, Na ncy Schnaars; Director of Marketing, Steve LovassNagy; Marketing & Executive Assistant, Janet Mi ll er; Accounting, Jill Romeo; Membership Assistant, Jane Maur ice
SEA HISTORY: Editor, Deirdre E. O 'Rega n; Advertising Representative, Wendy Paggiotta; Sea History far Kids Editor, Myka-Ly nn e Soko loff; Editor-at-large, Peter Sta nford
SEA HISTORY 114, SPRING 2006