NMHS:
A CAUSE IN MOTION ach year the National Maritime Historical Society awards galas bring together under one roof a diverse group of those who love, value, and serve the sea. On April 27th, we were especially pleased to be able to gather in person at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, with the always-delightful Gary Jobson at the podium as MC, for the much-anticipated return of the National Maritime Awards Dinner. This year we honored three extraordinary individuals: Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Kristen L. Greenaway, CEO & President of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum; and Naval Historical Foundation historian Dr. David F. Winkler. Lonnie Bunch was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the study and interpretation of the passage of enslaved Africans to America, in particular his work with the Slave Wrecks Project and the Center for the Study of Global Slavery, and as Members of the NMAD committee represent leaders throughout the maritime heritage the driving force behind the creation of the community, and their leadership helps make the event engaging, important, and successful. National Museum of African American History and Culture. Regarding his inspiration for the museum, he explained that he sought to build “an institution that could transform a nation, that could help people get their arms around what has always divided us, the challenge of race.… We had to create a museum that would tell a people’s story—but it’s a nation’s journey.” In closing, Bunch remarked: “Americans are brave and amazing people who can look at their history, the totality of their history, can shine a light on all the dark corners, not to affix blame, but to say look how a nation has changed. Look how a nation continues to try to live up to the stated ideals of our founding fathers and mothers.… This award recognizes that there are opportunities to expand our understanding of maritime history. There are opportunities to help people find inspiration. Our job, using history, is to find reality, but still give hope.” One of Kristen Greenaway’s first initiatives when she took over the helm of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in 2014 was to work on ways to partner with local communities to become a better resource in the region. “The Chesapeake Bay has a unique social and cultural heritage, and the museum is a folklife center that works to preserve these stories. From the Indigenous history to the last 400 years of European influence, here is the perfect microcosm to explore the relationship between the local environment and its culture.” Under her leadership, the museum expanded its shipyard program to maintain its own fleet of historic vessels and those of other museums,
photos by tony raymond photography & shelton photo
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A Long-Awaited Celebratory Gala
(above) Dr. Paul Gardullo, historian and curator for the NMAAHC and director of the Center for the Study of Global Slavery, presented the NMHS Distinguished Service Award to Lonnie Bunch. He remarked: “Throughout Lonnie Bunch’s career as a historian, as a curator, as a museum director, and as the 14th secretary of the Smithsonian —the world’s largest museum and research complex—he has always seen museums as sites of extraordinary power and possibility, as both engines of groundbreaking research and as educational places for people of all backgrounds…as sites of change…just as much about today and tomorrow as yesterday.” Laura Lott (left), president of the American Alliance of Museums, presented Kristen Greenaway with the NMHS Distinguished Service Award stating, “Museums don’t just look back, but they are leading us into a brighter future… as president of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and through her work with the Council of American Maritime Museums and the International Congress of Maritime Museums, Kristen Greenaway has influenced museums around the nation and across the world to play a leading role in working with their communities to become better stewards of their environment.” 8
SEA HISTORY 179, SUMMER 2022
