commended for making people awa re of the situation and for fighting to preserve such an important part of our maritime history. I have been a long-rime supporter of the National Maritime Historical Society and an avid reader of Sea History. I was introduced to Peter Stanford many yea rs ago by my uncle, Frank Braynard. At the time (!are 1960s and early 70s), I was starting my career as a young trainee at W R. Grace & Co. I recall the efforts char wem into getting the Seaport starred and even more Frank's tireless work to make his dream of O pSail '76 a reality. OpSai l '76 was the highlight of rhe nation's bicentennial, while So uth Street Seaport became a continuing and wonderful reminder of our country's maritime heritage. If Frank were living today, he would be grateful to yo u, to his fri end Peter Stanford, and to all those who worked with the Save our Seaport gro up to help keep chis heritage alive. As I recall the extrao rdinary effort over many years that Frank put in to make both th e Seaport and OpSail a reality, I appreciate what yo u have done as well. ART PEABODY
Houston, Texas OWN ER'S STATEM ENT Srare menr fi led 9/28/ I l required by rhe Act of Aug. 12, 1970 , Sec. 3685, Ti tl e 39, US Code: Sea History is published quarterl y a t 5 John Wa lsh Blvd ., Pee kskill NY 10566; minimum subscrip t io n price is $ 17.50. Pub lisher an d ed itor- in-c hi ef: No ne; Ediro r is De irdre E. O ' Regan; ow ner is Na tion al Maritime Hisrori cal Socie(y, a non -profir corpo rarion ; all are located at 5 John Wa lsh Blvd. , Pee kskill NY 10566. During th e 12 months p reced in g Ocrober 20 11 th e ave rage num ber of (A) co pies printed each iss ue was 25,576 ; (B) pa id an d/or requ es ted circul atio n was: (1 ) o utside co unty mai l subscri ptio ns 7, 879 ; (2) in -co unty subscription s O; (3) sales th ro ugh deale rs, ca rri ers, co unter sales, o the r no n- USPS paid disrriburi o n 150 ; (4) oth er classes mailed through USPS 330 ; (C) total paid and/ or requested circu lat io n was 8,359; (D) free d ist ri butio n by ma il, sa mp les, co mplimen tary a nd o ther 15,935; (E) free distribution o uts ide t he mails 423; (F) total free distr ib ut ion was 16,858; (G) to ta l d isr riburio n 25,2 17; (H ) cop ies not distr ib uted 359; (I) to tal [of 15G a nd HJ 2 5,576 ; (]) Perce ntage pa id a nd/or requ esred circula ti o n 34% . The accual numbers fo r the sin gle iss ue p recedi ng O ctober 20 .11 are: (A) tota l number p rinted 25,532; (B) paid and/or requ es ted circu lat io n was : (I ) outside-county ma il subscri ptio ns 8, 11 9 ; (2) in -co unty subscription s 0 ; (3) sales throu gh dealers, ca rri ers, co unrer sales, other non - USPS paid d istr ibution 188; (4) ot her classes ma il ed throu gh USPS 384; (C) tota l paid and/ or reques ted circulatio n was 8,69 1; (0 ) free d iscriburion by mail, sampl es, co mp limentary and o ther 15, 116; (E) free d istrib ut io n ou rs ide rh e mails 503; (F) tota l free distr ibu t io n was 16 ,424; (G) to ta l distribution 25,5 11 5; (H) cop ies nor disrr ibu red 4 18; (I ) to tal [of I 5G and HJ 25, 532; (]) Perce ntage paid and /o r requ esred circu lat ion 35% . I ce rti fy char th e above sracemenrs a re correct and complete. (s igned) Burchena l G reen, Executi ve Di recto r, N ation al Ma rit ime Hisro ri cal Society.
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Around the Cabin Lamp Arr Peabody's letter (left) vividly reminds us how many people, including great leaders like Frank Braynard, did wonderful things in fo unding the South Street Seaport Museum as the active, people-involving institution it was in its early years. In the last issue's "Around the Cabin Lamp," I recalled how things were then , and how yo ung volunteers supported by som e old codgers like myself, mindful of the leading role the Seaport had played in the life of New York, had rallied to form Save Our Seaport to get our beloved museum off the rocks. As early as April, Mayo r Bloomberg let it be known that he intended to see the museum reconstituted and set on a new course. In October the replacement of the existing board and management, which we had called for, was announced. The wellrun and popular Museum of the C ity of New York was named to rake charge for a trial period of 18 months, and on 2 November the MCNY director Susan Henshaw Jo nes invited Save Our Seaport to hold its next meeting at the museum . Art, and others who care for a revival of the city's great Seaport Museum of yo re, it is a pleasure to report the wild cheering that broke our, shakin g the venerable timbers of the museum's headquarters in Schermerhorn Row, when M s. Jones announced that the museum had resolved to revive its former name of South Street Seaport Museum . This recognition of South Street, the city waterfront street o nce lined with the tall ships that co nnected the city to the wider wo rld, went to the heart of the story that Save Our Seaport m embers felt the museum was here to tell. Jerry Gallagher, the museum's new general manager, had already held working meetings with members of Save Our Seaport to re-enlist the volunteer energies and ski lls that had helped no t only to maintain the museum ships but to put the smaller vessels to wo rk in active sailing programs-a sure first step towards realizing the aim so clearly articulated by rhe museum's founding chai rman Jakob Isbrantsen when he said: "We're not just go ing back to the past here, we're getting down to fund amentals." Neglect of those fundamentals of the seafaring experience led the museum to be trivialized in city planning circles, as "an amenity"-a bone to a dog. As a result, the new managem ent faces towering problems as the future of its wa terfront is decided. No provision has yet been made, we learn, by the Economic D evelopment Corporation-which is calling the shots-for docking the Wavertree in South Street. The museum's principal square rigger, Wavertree helped shape the museum's mission even before we brought her to M anhattan in from a distant backwater in Buenos Aires. Such sh ips are viral to the Seaport story, which is not about the virtual reality too often fobbed off on the public instead of the real thing. The M arine Society of New York has offered to host a m eeting of interested parties to consider forming a consortium to rake over Pier 15, immediately south of the sole pier now left to the museum. The consortium would set up a changing exhibit on city waterfront developments- past, present and future-in the pier building, which will provide a clear locus for learning about what the city's Planning Commission has called the city's sixth borough. This unofficial designation indicates the priority the Planning Commission believes should be given to the city's waterfronts and wa terways as the priceless assets these are, educationally and culturally, but now being sold off fo r short-term real estate income. Making this pier a center of city waterfront development wo uld add a special public experience to rhe greenway now planned along the Seaport waterfront. And nothing could better occupy rhe water spaces, surely, than rhe tall ships that built a city from the sea. PETER STANFORD
Sea History Editor-at-Large NMHS President Emeritus Co-founder So uth Street Seaport Museum
SEA HISTORY 137, WINTER 2011-12