OFF TO FIDDLER'S GREEN ("Ship Notes" continued from page 40)
Ulane Bonnel (1918-2006)
The web site findmypast.com, licen sed by Britain's National Archives, is now posting p assen ger m anifests from the country's ports between 1890 and 1960 (including Titanic's). The reco rds also show the passages of crans-European migrants. Between 1890 and 19 14 approximately 125,000 Britons emigrated every year to the US, with an additional 50,000 going to Canada and 25,000 to Australia. Trips to all co ntinents are covered . Initially only the records from 1890- 1900 will be available, but subse-q uent decades will be put online over the next few mo nths. . .• Just recently, the G. W. Blunt White Library at Mystic Seaport ceased operating from the granite building on the museum's grounds- that h as b een its home since 1965 . In January, the C ollections Access and Research Room (CARR) open ed in the Collections Research Center across the street. The new facility will provide better access to all the museum's collections and is open daily, Monday - Friday. E-mail: collections@my sticseapo rt. org fo r details. Also, while you are in Mys tic, check out the 28th Annual Modern M arine M asters Exhibition, which will open in April 2007 at the Seaport's M aritime Gallery. Mo re than 100 works will be on display. (MSM , 75 Greenmanville Rd. PO Box 6000, Mys tic, CT 06355; Ph. 860 572-53 15; www. mysticseaporr.o rg) . . . The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History closed to the public last September fo r major architectural renovations and is scheduled to reopen by summer 2008. U ntil it does, look for exhib its coming to a museum near yo u. Schedules for to uring exhibits can be fo und at http://americanhis tory.si.edu/ exhibitio ns / category. cfm ?category= traveling . . • Fi nally, if yo u can get to southern New England in M ay, be sure to catch the Cap e Cod Maritime Festival, which includes a on e-d ay Cap e Cod M aritime History Symposium, sponso red by the Cap e & Islands Maritime Research Association. The festival fea tu res nearly 75 events th ro ugho ut the entire m o nth , and highlights include the Annual Cape Cod M aritime History Symposium on 12 May and the Annual Cape Cod M aritime Festival o n 20 M ay. (www.ecapecham ber. com /MaritimeD ays)
In late September 2006, naval historians in Euro pe and the United States were saddened to learn of the death ofUlane Bonnel, a leading m aritime historia n in both France and the US . Born in Texas of French descent, Ms. Bonnel graduated fro m Wes t Texas State College in 1940 . At the outbreak of WW II, she enlisted in the Naval Reserve and atrended the WAVE officer candidate school ar Smith College. O n completion of this course, she served as a recrui ting offi cer, instructor, and personnel officer. By the end of the war, rhe Navy had assigned her to the congressional liaison unit at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Afte r leaving active d uty, she worked as a specialis t in military affairs for the C ongressional Research Service in the Library of Congress. In 1947, she married Lr. Paul Henry Bonnel, Medical C orps, French Navy. From then on , she and her husband lived mos tly in France. During these years, Mme. Bonnel commenced study of French naval history at the U nive rsity of Paris and wro te her dissertation o n French privateering and the US d uring the Napoleoni c Wars. She earned the docto r o f letters degree and published her dissertarion in 196 1, fo r which she received a prize fro m the Academ ie de Marine. O ver her career, she published three books, more than 70 articles, and received the honors reserved fo r those at the to p of their professions in Fran ce. H er decorations include Chevalier of the National Order of Merit and of the Order of Arts and Letters, and Officer of the Order of Maritim e Merit. Dr. Bo nnel achieved great distinction as a scholar and o rgan izer in academic conclaves. She fou nded the French Commission fo r M aritime Histo ry in 1978 and served as its secretary-general, journal editor, and president. She co-autho red the constitutio n of the Internatio nal Commission of Mari time Histo ry and served several years on its board of directors. She w ill always be remembered as a benefacto r of the Naval H istorical Center in Washington, D C, for her ass istance in obtaining copies of documentation held in French naval archives for the Center's publication Naval D ocuments of the American Revolution. She proved an invaluable link between the American and French academ ic communities . After the French Navy m ine hunter Circe discovered CSS Alabama's shipw reck off C herborg in 1984, Dr. Bonnel for med the Association CSS Alabama in Paris to wo rk with the French M inistry of Cul ture and the Naval Historical Center to recover artifac ts fro m this impo rtant historic sh ip. She also assisted in the establishment of the CSS Alabama Associatio n in Mobile, Alabam a, that continues to preserve, protect, and display the A labama's arti facts in cooperation with the Naval Historical Center. Ulane Bonfl el will be long remembered for her high standards of scholarship, her great energy, her dedicatio n to French and American naval history, and her many collegial relatio nships on bo th sides of the Atlantic. -Bill Dudley
J, J, J, 42
David E. Perkins (1925-2006) D avid Eaton Perkins, 80, di ed on 14 September in Florida. During his lo ng career in the US Coast G uard, Captain Perkins served in the Ko rean War and the V ietnam War. A graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy at New London, CT, in 1946, he was first stationed in Seattle, WA, and in Alaska, serving on the USCG C utter Clover between 1946 and 1948 . After his sea service at home and abroad , he served as C hief of Staff of the USCG 3rd D istrict in New York with the rank of Captain. In this position, Captain Perkins was the USCG liaiso n fo r O pSail 76, and people involved with the extensive planning and o peratio ns fo r that event knew him as the "go to" guy. O n the day of the 1976 parade, during a lull in activity, the O pSail 76 Director of O perati ons complained he was bo red . "If we're bored we did our job," Perkins retorted. Perkins was a member of the USCG Alumni Association, M aritime Institution and Sea Service M useum. In 1978, Capt. Perki ns and his wife, Lo uise, generously donated his papers to Joyner Library at East Carolin a Uni versity in G reenville, NC, to assist graduate students' research in mari time histo ry. The D avid E. Perkins Papers include corres po ndence, newspaper cl ippings, reports, pam phlets, program s, commissio ns, regulatio ns, m ovie fi lm , and m iscellaneo us items relating to his Coast G uard service (19401977). As an N MHS Advisor, Cap t. Perkins has lo ng been an involved, suppo rtive, and helpful member of rhe Society; he will be greatly missed. - Burchenal Green
SEA HISTORY 11 8, SPRING 2007