Around the Cabin Lamp How John Hightower Won a Restoration of Spirit for South Street "You really should make time to see me-I'm trying to give y ou some money. "
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t was John Hightower on the The New York Times ran a phone, pursuing his strikingly afstory that yeartided ''A Restorafirmative style of bringing support to tion of Spirit," celebrating the new ventures from the New York State work of dedicated volunteers led Council on the Ans. 1he ensuing by Jakob Isbrandtsen, one of the grant resulted in a new exhibit, "The museum's founders and former Destruction of Lower Manhattan," g chairman, who had come out for the newly-fledged South Street ~ of retirement to take personal Seaport Museum. The photographs ~ charge of the work. Volunteers of the demolition of old New York ~ are still coming to work on the sent shivers down the spines of those ~ shipsatSouthStreetandsharein of us who were working to save the E crewing the ones that go to sea, historic waterfront from which the ~=~~ ยง so it seems things are indeed set modern city grew. As museum presi"'-..!.--"'-"--- - - - ' ยง for a genuine working revival. dent, I was hardly enthusiastic about John Hightower (center) discusses ship preservation with Prince It's sad to record that displaying these harrowing scenes, Philip ofEngland's Maritime Trust and the author (left) at the John was fired from the mubut this was early in 1968 when the faunch ofthe Wavenree restoration in 1980. seum in 1984 after four yea rs museum was confined to a former of progress on the Seaport's fish stall in Schermerhorn Row. Eager to expand, we accepted the fl ags hip, and our efforts in NMHS were rewarded by getgram because it included rem to double our exhibit space. I was ting the boot too. But, surely, what's more important is to stunned to see the public's reaction to these scenes of destruction remember and perhaps- just perhaps- be inspired by, John juxtaposed with our exhibit and project model of the proposed Hightower's generous and welcoming spirit, which evoked a South Street Seaport. I still believe the dra ma of those photos splendidly effective response from volunteers and indeed from the provided much of the steam that drove our winning the first people of New York, without whose support our ships and the contested Landmarks case in New York later that year-saving message they carry have no future in this city born of the sea. Schermerhorn Row from imminent destruction. I learned both Today, the future of the museum still hangs in the balance, the value of current top ical exhibits and the value of John's ideas, with Captain Jonathan Boulware, rhe museum's former ship which were often pursued in an urbane and almost offhand way. manager, now serving as its acting president. He is the first presiJohn died at age 80 in July this yea r, having gone on to dent since mysel f to have any real experience in deep-water sail, achieve a notable renovation of The Mariners' Museum in New- and he faces a stern challenge to re-esrablish the seafaring culture port News, Virginia, capped by the design of a dramatic exhibit of in South Street. Alan Villiers once said, as he was standing on the the recovered remains of USS Monitor. There was appreciative Wavertree's quarterdeck in South Street, that saving these ships is talk at his memorial reception in New York this past September at least as hard as it was to sail them round the Horn. over this and his earlier achievements at the State Council, the Working with volunteers, Captain Boulware h as the schooMuseum of Modern Art, and the Norwalk Aquarium-bur little ners Lettie G. Ho ward and Pioneer actively sa iling, along with the was said about his great achievemem-saving the tall ship Waver- harbor rug W 0. Decker. He's also re-opened the Cape Horner tree for the museum at South Street. Peking to visitors, who have been flocking aboard in droves. The This defining moment in the ship preservation movem ent city's Cultural Affairs Deparrment has appropriated some $6 miloccurred soon after John took over as president of the museum in lion to refurbish the Wavertree. Bur the museum has urgent need 1977, when, in another epochal phone call, he asked the National of a funding stream, because the Economic Development Corp., Maritime Historical Society for help in saving the museum's Aagsh ip, the city agency under whose control it fun ctions, has cozened excluded from Seaport blueprints drawn up by the developers the successive museum administrations into yielding control over museum trustees had invited to take over that role. We succeeded Pier 15 and other valuable properties for quick cash. This was an improvident sacrifice of capital assets originally donated to the in raising $1.5 mi llion for the ship, half in cash and the rest from in-kind donations and the hard work of volunteers recruited by city by the museum's founders, then leased back ro the museum NMHS under the slogan: "Dirty Work. Long Hours. No Pay." on 99-year leases, which Mayor Lindsay and I signed-for public This succeeded in attracting the right people-people who learned purposes. how to handle red-hot rive ts to bui ld a deck house out of steel The volunteer gro up Save Our Seaport has record s of donated by Bethlehem Steel for less than a quarter of the price these public policy arrangements, and NMHS has developed quoted by the shipyard for a deck house w ith imitation rivers. The plans of the kind we worked on during John Highrower's spirrestoration saved the Wavertree by rransform ing her from an em pry ited regime. We now ask you to comribure your views, which hu lk to a sailing ship with traditionally rigged lower masts await- we sh all convey to the incoming city administration for acing completion of her rig. (A fuff account of this effort is given in tion in 2014. -Peter Stanford, NMHS President Emeritus Sea History 34, pp. 7-11.) pstanford@optonline.net
SEA HISTORY 145, WINTER 2013- 14
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