NMHS:
A CAUSE IN MOTION NMHS Events in 2022 — Save the Dates! You won’t want to miss the wonderful events that NMHS is planning. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year! courtesy national press club
National Maritime Awards Dinner, 27 April, in Washington, DC We are thrilled to announce that the Society will hold its National Maritime Awards Dinner at the National Press Club. Dinner chairs Amy Lent and Samuel Byers and founding dinner chair Philip J. Webster look forward to announcing next year’s extraordinary honorees later this month. For a sneak preview, sponsorship opportunities, and to register, please visit www.seahistory.org/ Washington2022 or contact Wendy Paggiotta at vicepresident@seahistory.org or 914 737-7878, ext. 557. Sponsorship opportunities from $1,000 to $25,000 are available; individual dinner registrations are $300. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Washington from 26–28 April 2022 at the rate of $269/night, plus applicable taxes. To make your hotel reservation, call 888 728-3027 and use the group code “NMS.”
courtesy steven kalil
noble maritime collection
cc by 3.0, p.d.
NMHS Annual Meeting, 3–5 June, on Staten Island, New York We have exciting plans to share for the National Maritime Historical Society’s 59th Annual Meeting planned for next June. Imagine—you are transported back in time, standing in the Great Hall of Sailors’ Snug Harbor, surrounded by knowledgeable and interesting maritime enthusiasts in a building so rich in history that its ghosts reach out to you. We will be hosted by our friends at the Noble Maritime Collection, an extraordinary museum interpreting the life and art of marine painter John Noble (1913–1983). Alexander Hamilton himself drafted the will of Robert Richard Randall in 1801, in which he bequeathed his New York property to create a retirement home for “aged, decrepit, and worn out seamen,” to be known as “Sailors’ Snug Harbor,” one of the first retire- Sailors’ Snug Harbor on Staten Island is ment homes established in the United States. Today the site is the home of the Snug now the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Gardens, which includes the Staten Island Museum and the Noble Maritime Collection on its campus. John Noble was passionate about saving the ruins of this once great institution that had served some 10,000 mariners over the years. Sailors’ Snug Harbor was a self-contained community with a farm that produced its own food and tobacco and included a 400-bed hospital and a sanatorium. The late NMHS president emeritus Peter Stanford, a friend and admirer of John Noble, worked for decades with Noble Maritime Collection founder Erin Urban to repurpose one of the buildings on the Snug Harbor campus into a museum honoring the artist. It was a herculean task that Erin undertook, and she credits Peter with much of its success, including saving Noble’s houseboat studio; it has been restored to its 1954 appearance and today serves Interior of John Noble’s houseboat as the centerpiece of the museum. The NMHS Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, 4 June, at the Noble Maritime Collection. and includes behind-the scenes tours of the Noble Maritime Collection, the Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Gardens, and the Staten Island Museum. For those who join us a day early, on Friday we will take a three-hour boat tour of the lighthouses around New York Harbor with the National Lighthouse Museum, viewing Sandy Hook Light, the Twin Lights in New Jersey, Battery Weed Light, Coney Island, West Bank, and Romer Shoals lights. On Sunday we will tour Caddell Dry Dock with its president, Steve Kalil. While you are on Staten Island, we recommend a visit to the Alice Austin House, historic Fort Wadsworth, and the ca. 1680 Conference House of the Revolutionary War. And, of course, the Staten Island Ferry is always worth the trip across New York Caddell Dry Dock president Harbor to Manhattan, even if you just plan on taking it both ways for a scenic boat ride. Mark your Steve Kalil will lead us on a tour calendar and visit us online at www.seahistory.org/AnnualMeeting2022 for details, prices, and the code to reserve a room in the NMHS block. We look forward to a great gathering of members. of the shipyard.
NMHS Annual Awards Dinner, 27 October, New York City Although we are all disappointed at having to postpone our 2021 Annual Awards Dinner due to COVID-19 concerns this past October, we are excited to announce next year’s Annual Awards Dinner at the New York Yacht Club. We look forward to recognizing our award recipients—David K. Elwell Jr.; Steven Kalil; RADM Joseph Callo, USN (Ret.); and CAPT Sally McElwreath Callo, USN (Ret.)—and honoring their outstanding contributions to our maritime heritage. For more information, sponsorship opportunities, and to register, please visit www.seahistory.org/AAD2022 or contact Wendy Paggiotta at vicepresident@seahistory.org or 914-7377878, ext. 557. Sponsorship opportunities from $1,000 to $25,000 are available; individual dinner registrations are $400. 10
SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22