DECK LOG
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NATIONAL MARITIME
The Maritime Museum Community Interprets the Past for a 2J5f-Century Public
'V' HISTORICAL SOCIETY
useum professionals from across the country gathered in April at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in historic Beaufort for the Council ofAmerican Maritime Museums (CAMM) annual meeting. Whether they came from large institutions covering a broad range of our maritime heritage or the smallest of museums interpreting a regional history, these leaders in the maritime heritage community understand that the challenges we face and our missions are often the same. Once a year, we come together to share our experiences, lessons acquired, and goals for the future in hopes that we can learn from each other. Session topics included preserving historic ships large and small, developing traveling exhibits to get stories out to a broader audience, making archives accessible online, and developing maritime heritage trails that engage the public out in the very places where historic events occurred. The shift towards extending a museum's reach beyond the confines of buildings and grounds was clear, and with new technology so much more is possible than ever before.
PUBLISHER'S CIRCLE: Peter Aron , G uy E. C. Maitland
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Shadboat, built by the North Carolina Maritime Museum, under sail on Taylors Creek in Beaufort. The museum hosted this year's CAMM meeting and shared with colleagues thefull range ofthe coastal North Carolina maritime history they interpret, from their active community boatbuilding program to underwater archaeology (the famous Beaufort Inlet Wreck, a.k.a. Queen Anne's Revenge, lies just outside the channel), to research projects studying North Carolina boatbuilders and their craft from colonial periaugers to shadboats to modern fishing vessels and yachts. It was invigorating to witness the excitement as museum directors, curators, ship- and boatbuilders, and others presented their current projects and new programs, many of them innovative in their approach to both preserving the artifacts in their care and interpreting them to the public. Even in the face of a difficult economic climate, today's maritime museums are actively preserving historic vessels great and small, adding more exhibit space, and developing shared programs with other institutions. Maritime history is being made more accessible and engaging to the general public, while the level of scholarly work remains high behind the scenes. One of the big stories of the meeting, of course, is the upcoming launch of Mystic Seaport's famous whaler, the Charles W Morgan , and Mystic's president Steve White extended an invitation to all to witness the historic event on 21 July (see page 25 for details) . The Morgan will be reBoated on the date that she was first launched from a New Bedford, Massachusetts, shipyard back in 1841. The public is invited, and we encourage our members to attend and also to seek out their local maritime museums this summer to enjoy, participate, and support what they have to offer. -Burchenal Green, President 4
OFFICERS &TRUSTEES: Chairman, Ronald L. Oswald; Vice Chairman, Ri chardo R. Lopes; President, Burchenal Green; Vice Presidents, D eirdre O 'Regan, N ancy Schnaa rs; Treasurer, Howard Slornick; Secretary , Jean Wort; Trustees: Charles B. Anderson; Walter R. Brown; RADM Joseph F. Callo, USNR (Ret.); Jam es Carter; Thomas Daly; W illiam S. Dudley; David S. Fowler; William Jackson Gree n; Karen Helm erson; Robert Kamm ; Ri chard M. Larrabee; G uy E. C. Maitland; Capt. Brian McAllister; CAPT Sally C hin McElwreath , U SNR (Rer.); Jam es J. McNa mara; Mi chael W Morrow; Timothy J. Runyan; Richard Scarano; Philip ). Shapiro; Bradford D . Smith; Cesare Sorio; Philip J. Webster; Daniel W Whalen; Trustees Elect: Ri chard Patrick O 'Leary; Roberta Weisbrod; Chairmen Emeriti: Walter R. Brown, Alan G. Choate, G uy E. C. Maitland, Howard Slornick; President Emeritus, Peter Stanford FOUN D ER: Karl Kortum (1917- 1996) OVERSEERS: Chairman, RADM David C. Brown, USMS (Ret.); C live C uss ler; Richard du Moulin ; Al an D. Hutch ison ; Jakob Isbrandtse n; Gary Jobson; Sir Robin KnoxJohnsto n; John Lehm an; H. C. Bowen Smith; John Srobart; Willi am H. White; William Winterer N MHS ADVISORS: Chairman, Melbourne Smith; D. K. Abbass , George Bass, O swald Brett, Francis J. Duffy, John Ewald, Timothy Foote, Willi am G ilkerson , Steven A. Hyman, J . Russell Jini shi an, G unn ar Lundeberg, Conrad Milster, W illiam G . Muller, Stuart Parnes, Lo ri Dillard Rech, Nancy Hughes Richardson, Bert Rogers, Joyce Huber Smith SEA HISTORY EDIT ORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chairman, Timothy J . Run yan; Norman). Brouwer, Robert Browning, William S. Dudley, Daniel Finamore, Kevin Foster, John Odin Jense n, Joseph F. M eany, Lisa Norling, Ca rl a Rahn Phi ll ips, Walter Rybka, Quentin Snediker, William H. White
N MHS STAFF: Executive D irector, Burchenal G reen; Mem bership D irector, Nancy Schnaars; M arketing D irector, Steve Lovass-Nagy; Accounting, Peter Yozzo; Vo lunteer Coordinator, Jane M auri ce; Exec. Administrative Assistant, Kell ey H oward SEA HISTORY. Editor, D eirdre O 'Regan ; A dvertising, Wendy Paggiotta; Copy Editor, Shell ey Reid; Editor-at-Large, Peter Stanford
SEA HISTORY 143, SUMMER 2013