NMHS:
A CAUSE IN MOTION
The Value of Mentors and Leaders
W
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton
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courtesy uiversity of massachusetts amherst
nmhs photo by allison lucas
courtesy michael dodge
e owe much to the critical role that individuals play as mentors, leaders, and advisors in preserving our country’s maritime heritage through saving both physical structures and maintaining the culture that sustains our maritime roots. We seek to acknowledge them at our annual awards dinners. We were proud to present NMHS awards to people like Captain Arthur Kimberly and his late wife, Gloria, in 2008, for their role in teaching the next generation of tall ship mariners, people like Bert Rogers, now executive director of Tall Ships America, and Dan Moreland, captain of the world-voyaging barque Picton Castle. That generation taught people like our own Sea History editor, Deirdre O’Regan; Stefan Edick, executive director and senior captain of the historic Gloucester schooner Adventure; and Tom Ward, master rigger, of Traditional Rigging Co. in Maine. In this issue we remember the late John Mecray (see pages 22–26), the incomparable marine artist whose vision and leadership led to the founding of the International Yacht Restoration School of Technology & Trades (IYRS) and the Museum of Yachting, both in Newport, Rhode Island. Then there are people like Richard J. King, who in his many years teaching undergraduates enrolled in the Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport has mentored students, going above and beyond the typical student-teacher experience. On numerous occasions over the last several years, he has guided and encouraged students to convert their research papers into articles, suitable for publishing in Sea History. On pages 38–42 in this issue, for example, you can read “Sailing the Sharkish Seas” by Rich’s recent student Emma McCauley. Rich also writes and illustrates Sea History’s “Animals in Sea History” feature in each issue. Those with means and vision, people like Gerry Lenfest and Alix Thorne, and the late Jakob Isbrandtsen, who not only mentor but contribute generous funds as well, are of course critical to the mission, but there are many whose dedication to the cause, through volunteer hours, exper- Captain Arthur Kimberly, aboard the Brigantine Romance tise, and participation are extremely valuable in their own right. We asked our 2018 NMHS Annual Awards Dinner awardees who their mentors were, to show the range of those who have made a difference. Dr. Timothy J. Runyan acknowledges Professor Archibald R. Lewis (1914–1990), who was a US Army officer in WWII and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Professor Lewis chaired the history departments at both the University of Texas and the University of MassachusettsAmherst, and served as co-director of the Munson Institute at Mystic Seaport. Dr. Lewis was a prolific author on maritime topics; Dr. Runyan co-authored European Naval and Maritime History, 300–1500 (Indiana University Press, 1985) with him and succeeded him as editor of the American Neptune. Captain Peg Brandon, president Alix Thorne congratulates Captain Bert Rogers, of the Sea Education Association, is winner of the 2017 NMHS Distinguished Service indebted to her mentor, Dr. Susan Award. Professor Archibald R. Lewis (1914–1990) SEA HISTORY 164, AUTUMN 2018