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10th Maritime Heritage Conference Save the Date! The 10th Maritime Heritage Co nference is scheduled for 17-2 1 September 20 14 in Norfo lk, VA. Nauticus, the science and technology center and home to the Battleship Wisconsin and the H ampton Roads Naval Museum, is th e principal host; sessions wi ll be held in the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Naval Historical Foundation program director Dr. David Winkler will serve as program chairm an . The Maritime Heritage Conference is hosted by multi pie organizations and institutions associated with maritim e heritage and covers a wide range of topics. Museum s, universities, government \l age ncies, and non-profit histo ri cal and heritage societies large and small send their leaders and staff to share with-and learn from-one another. Nerworking opporrunities abou nd . The
last time the conference was held in Norfo lk, more than 500 peo ple atte nded. Sessions will cover the following: international trade, immigration, maritime law, shipbui lding, small craft preservation, lighthouses and lifesaving stations, whaling, underwater archaeology, hisroric ships, sai lors' lives, African-American maritime history, maritime museums and organizations, seaports, naval history, literature, native maritim e cultures, marine art and sea music, educarion, sai l training and tall ships, and other topics related to global maritime r heritage. , The conference theme, key~ note speake rs, and other details will be forthcoming. Please save the date and keep yo ur eye out for ways yo u can participate. Check the NMHS website at www.seahistory.org for derails in the comi ng months . .1
The Navy League of the United States-New York Co uncil has announced that the inaugural Commodore John Barry Book Award will go to Tim McGrath for John Barry: An America n Hero in the Age of Sa il (Westholme Publishing, Ya rdley, PA 2010) . This book is the first major scholarly work on Commodore Barry since William Bell Clark 's 1938 book, Gallant John Barry (The Macmillan Company, NY). . ,.-, ·'t 1he National Maritime Historical Society a nd the Naval Historical Foundation will sponsor the awards reception on 10 June at the histo ric Fraunces Tavern on Pea rl Street in Manhattan , where Gen. George Washington bade farewe ll ,\ . , .\. .' \ti ; Ult ·'-' flt : JHI 'l ... //.. ~> to h is officers in 1783 . NMHS members are in...../ '-~vited; call the Society for deta ils or check the NMHS website later this spring. The new award is being established to recognize significant contributions to American maritime literature and encourage excellence in research and authorship. Topics for consideration for the award should pertain to the US Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine. (New York Council, Navy League, www.nynavyleague.org; NMHS, Ph. 914 737-7878, ext. O; www.seahistory.org)
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ing the renowned ann ual C learwater Festival. The organization was found ed by the late music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger in 1966. (For more information about the Sloop Clearwater Restoration Project, contact Heidi Kitlas, C learwater Development Director, at Heidi@Clearwater.org; Ph. 845 265-8080, x71l8; www.clearwater.org.) The Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) in Searsport, Maine, has made the Captain James E. Perkins photography collection available online. In the 1890s, Kennebec River steamboat captain James Perkins often set up his tripod and large wooden camera with its squeeze-bulb-activated shutter on the deck of hi s steamboat. The museum's photography curator, Kevin Johnson, explained, "He sailed up and down the Kennebec River and photographed crowds waiting at rhe dock for a steamboat, harbors full of boats, houses filled with Victorian furniture, the sho reline, musicians, people swimming, cats sleeping, dogs barking, men plowing with
SS Kennebec
horses and his friends and fami ly. He wanted to create a record of the way life was ." Among the many steam-powered vessels that Perkins skippered was the Sabina, now restored and operating out of Mystic Seapon Museum in Connecticut. The PMM acquired the collection of over 500 images, mostly glass plate negatives, in 2012 and recently made this important historic record of the people and places of Popham Beach and the Kennebec River avai lable on line. (PMM, 5 Church Street, Searspon, ME 049 74; Ph. 207 548-2529; www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org)
!, !, !, SEA HISTORY 146, SPRING 2014