a publication of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
The Chesapeake Fall Log2013 contents Fall 2013
Mission Statement The mission of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is to inspire an understanding of and appreciation for the rich maritime heritage of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal reaches, together with the artifacts, cultures and connections between this place and its people. Vision Statement be a part of the membership The vision of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is to be the premier maritime museum for studying, exhibiting, preserving chesapeake As a CBMM member, you receive and celebrating the important history and tangible bene ts, including free culture of the largest estuary in the United legacy or reduced admission, discounts, States, the Chesapeake Bay. and boating privileges at our Sign up for our e-Newsletter and members-only marina. Member- stay up-to-date on all of the news ship dues cover much of the and events at the Museum. Email Museum’s day-to-day operations, [email protected] to be added to our mailing list. so you are helping to keep our nd out how [email protected] lights on and the exhibits open. CONNECT WITH US: 14 17 facebook.com/mymaritimemuseum twitter.com/CBMMorg chairman’s message research youtube.com/CBMMorg1965 4 12 beautifulswimmers.tumblr.com by Tom D. Seip Profiles: Chesapeake People chesapeakeboats.blogspot.com in the War of 1812 instagram.com/chesapeakemaritime president’s letter by Veronica Lathroum 5 Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum by Langley R. Shook 14 features Navy Point, PO Box 636 currents St. Michaels, MD 21663 6 Rosie Parks to Launch 410-745-2916 • cbmm.org CBMM welcomes new board at OysterFest members and officers; St. Michaels by Dick Cooper Hours: Rotary donates bench; CBMM April to May, 9am–5pm A Rising of An Early Moon: welcomes new shipwrights and bids 17 June to August, 9am–6pm The Burning of the planned giving farewell to summer interns Sept. to Oct., 9am–5pm annual fund City of Baltimore Nov. to March, 10am–4pm by Kate Livie Including the Museum in your Your donations to the Annual Fund 9 Curator’s corner On the cover: estate plans, or making a major support the Museum’s education, Eating Local, Steamboat Style 22 on the rail The skipjack Rosie Parks under sail, circa 1980s. gift today, leaves a legacy for outreach, exhibits, and boat by Libby Meier An update on all the mainte- Editors: Tracey Munson & Marie Thomas future generations to explore and restoration programs, allowing us nance and restoration work of Creative Director: Marie Thomas lifelines Copy Editors: Mariana Lesher appreciate the Bay. Planned giving to expand our impact on the lives the Museum’s floating fleet. & Emilie Knud-Hansen 10 Volunteer Profile: Nick Green can range from a simple bequest, of those touched by this special Contributing Writers: by Lauren Murray calendar to other estate planning devices place. Your gifts can also target 24 Esty Collet, Dick Cooper, Veronica Lathroum, that provide you with current speci c projects or programs, such Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival, Kate Livie, Libby Meier, Lauren Murray, EDUCATION income and tax savings. as the Rosie Parks restoration. 11 OysterFest, the War of 1812 Tracey Munson, Tom Seip, Langley Shook, ALL Semester to begin Speaker Series, Hunter Safety, Marie Thomas. Coast Guard Boating Safety & mid September The Chesapeake Log is a publication of Skills, Boatyard Programs, by Esty Collet the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Member Nights, and more! 2 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 3 Chairman’s Message Board of Museum Staff President’s Letter Governors President by Tom D. Seip, Chair of the Board 2013-2014 Langley R. Shook, President, 4951 by Langley R. Shook, President Cheryl Miller, Administrative Assistant, 4943 Breene M. Kerr Center I’ve always greatly enjoyed coming to the Tom D. Seip, Chair for Chesapeake Studies It’s hard to believe summer is over, but Museum, first as a newcomer to the area, Richard C. Tilghman, Jr., Vice Chair Pete Lesher, Chief Curator, 4971 what an amazing summer it was! Visitors James P. Harris, Treasurer then as a member of the Board of Governors Richard Scofield, Assistant Curator of Watercraft, 4966 and members from all over the United Richard J. Bodorff, Secretary Rob Forloney, Director of the Kerr Center, 4959 for the last five years, and now, as the new States ran their fingers over the smooth Schuyler Benson Kate Livie, Director of Education, 4947 Chair of the Board. Whether chatting with Paul Berry Eric Applegarth, Exhibits Specialist, 4945 mahogany finishes on the runabouts at the another visitor, hearing a volunteer docent Harry W. Burton Lynne Phillips, Collections Manager, 4972 Antique and Classic Boat Festival; they recount the Oyster Wars, or watching a William B. Carter Helen Van Fleet, Education & Reservations Assistant, 4941 picnicked, danced, and watched fireworks shipwright demonstrating his craft, I learn William S. Dudley Michelle Zacks, Museum Folklorist, 4961 explode into colorful displays of national David E. Dunn Boatyard more about the Chesapeake, its people and Dagmar D. P. Gipe pride at Big Band Night; and they came in Mike Gorman, Vessel Maintenance Manager, 4967 their way of life each time I visit. E. Brooke Harwood, Jr. pick-up trucks to enjoy a watermen’s rodeo Mark Donohue, Rosie Parks Project Manager, 4967 My introduction to the Chesapeake region Christopher A. Havener, Jr. along our Fogg’s Cove at Watermen’s Jennifer Kuhn, Boatyard Program Manager, 4980 Francis Hopkinson, Jr. began over a decade ago with a one week Joe Connor, Vessel Maintenance Assistant Appreciation Day. cruise around the Eastern Shore with a very Fred Israel Kids and adults of all ages ventured out Richard J. Johnson Bill Bronaugh, Shipwright Apprentice knowledgeable captain. My wife Alexa and Peter M. Kreindler Shane Elliott, Shipwright Apprentice on the Miles River in several new on-the- Tom D. Seip, Chair of the Board of Governors. Langley Shook, CBMM President. I were captivated by the intertwining of land Frank C. Marshall, Jr. Chris Kretch, Shipwright Apprentice water programs and youngsters chicken- and water on the Chester, Corsica, Wye, Miles, Patrice Miller Communications & Special Events necked off our docks, to experience Tred Avon, and Choptank rivers. Geoffrey F. Oxnam Tracey Munson, Vice President of Communications, 4960 catching crabs for the first time. Coming up this fall, we have our annual Bruce A. Ragsdale We returned by land the following year and departed only after buying a lot Marie Thomas, Communications Manager, 4953 OysterFest on Saturday, November 2, a family-friendly day of local oysters, Mitchell B. Reiss Melissa Spielman, Director of Events & Volunteer Program, 4956 on which to build a home. We moved from San Francisco to St. Michaels in S. Stevens Sands live music, and a big line-up of many different activities. While OysterFest Ida Heelan, Events Coordinator, 4944 June of 2005 and were introduced to the Museum by a neighbor, Sumner Parker, Lelde Schmitz is always an event not to be missed, this year is special. who once chaired the Board of Governors, and is today a very active Emeritus Diane J. Staley Development & Constituent Services After a three-year restoration process, the legendary skipjack Rosie Parks René Stevenson, Vice President of Constituent Services, 4950 Governor. A life-long love for the water and boats—particularly wooden ones— Henry H. Stansbury will relaunch at OysterFest on the high tide at 4pm. The project has been Benjamin C. Tilghman, Jr. Debbie Collison, Membership Manager, 4991 drew me to boats like the Rosie Parks, as well as the Museum’s entire floating Alfred Tyler, 2nd Emilie Knud-Hansen, Mem/Develop. Assistant, 4955 undertaken by master shipwrights and their apprentices, as well as volunteers fleet and the small boat collection. Megan Fisher, Visitor Services Manager, 4945 and members of the Parks family. This historic vessel, built by the boat- President Growing up in Erie, PA, which shares a considerable amount of War of 1812 Langley R. Shook Hunter Ingersoll, Dockmaster, 4946 builder Bronza Parks for his brother Captain Orville Parks, and named for heritage with the Chesapeake, I always loved military and naval history. As you J.T. Thomas, Leslie Price, Ceres Bainbridge, their mother, is an iconic symbol of the Chesapeake and a representation of a Emeriti Max Reedy, Museum Hosts can imagine, I find our newest exhibit, Navigating Freedom: The War of 1812 on Richard T. Allen family legacy, uniting four generations of Parks family members. Finance the Chesapeake, especially engaging and encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it, to Howard S. Freedlander I invite you to join us at the Museum to celebrate this important moment Jean Brooks, Vice President of Finance, 4958 come visit and learn about the ordinary men and women of the Chesapeake— Alan R. Griffith of history, and to experience an event that really epitomizes our mission—to Craig Atwood, Director of Finance, 4958 the shipbuilders, the freed slaves that settled in Nova Scotia as British citizens, Margaret D. Keller preserve and explore the rich maritime heritage of the Chesapeake Bay. Breene M. Kerr Digie McGuirk, Staff Accountant, 4957 the captured Quaker mother and her small children. People of the Chesapeake, Charles L. Lea, Jr. Devon Duvall, Museum Store Manager, 4962 All of these experiences—learning about and eating local seafood, Charlstine Foreman, Tara Mores, Museum Store Clerks like you and me, only with their own lessons learned over a rich history. D. Ted Lewers, MD chicken-necking for crabs, watching the relaunch of the Rosie Parks—are Patti Meschino, Store Business Development Manager, 4954 On behalf of all the Governors, volunteers, donors, members, staff, and Fred C. Meendsen possible because of your generous donations and continued support. As we visitors of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, thank you for making this John C. North II Operations gear up for our Annual Fund drive this fall, I thank you in advance for special place a part of your own story—through your membership, our events Sumner Parker Bill Gilmore, Vice President of Operations, 4949 keeping CBMM an important part of your personal philanthropy. Robert A. Perkins John Ford, Facilities Manager, 4970 and yours, and in all the day-to-day things that make the Chesapeake your own. I hope to see you soon at one of our educational programs, a special Joseph E. Peters Lad Mills, Boat Donations Program Manager, 4942 I hope you’ll join us for a visit soon. Take a look at all of our upcoming events James K. Peterson Andrew Walter, Boat Donations Program event, or just enjoying the day on our beautiful campus. Until then, enjoy on page 24 or make a point to make the Museum one of your next, most Norman H. Plummer Assistant Manager, 4942 this special combined issue of The Chesapeake Log and the 2012-2013 memorable destinations. John J. Roberts Sam Fairbank, Facilities Maintenance Assistant, 4969 Annual Report. Henry H. Spire Joseph Redman, Facilities Maintenance Assistant, 4969 James E. Thomas To contact, dial 410-745, and the number listed. Joan Darby West Donald G. Whitcomb To email, use the first initial, full last name @cbmm.org.
4 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 5 currents
CBMM welcomes new board members and officers St. Michaels Rotary donates bench to CBMM
n July 20, 2013, a hand-crafted wooden bench, commissioned by Othe St. Michaels Rotary Club, was installed at the Museum. “The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is one of our treasures,” said Rotary Club president Bernie Grove. “We want to support them any way that we can.” The bench was built by CBMM volunteer John “Doc” Hawkinson The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum welcomed new officers and Governors to its Board during its annual June meeting. Board officers for the 2013-2014 year are from left: using iroko, an African tropical wood. Vice Chair Richard Tilghman, Chair Tom Seip, Secretary Dick Bodorff, and Treasurer Jim Harris. (Middle) From left, elected CBMM Emeritus Governor Howard Freedlander with new Governors Rick Johnson, Steve Sands, Patrice Miller, and Emeritus Governor Joe Peters. Not pictured are new Governors Lelde Schmitz and Bill Carter, and Emeritus “These benches are made to last 20-30 Governor Alan Griffith. (Right) From left, retiring CBMM board members CG Appleby, Pam Jana, and Richard Kimberly. Not pictured: Anna Fichtner. years through weather and everything,” commented Hawkinson. This bench was one of two built by Hawkinson The St. Michaels Rotary Club commissioned a hand-crafted wooden bench for the Museum. Pictured from left, back for CBMM. The second was donated row: CBMM President Langley Shook, St. Michaels Rotary President Bernie Grove, Rotary Newsletter Chairman and as a memorial for former CBMM CBMM Events Coordinator Ida Heelan, and Rotary Director Don Challoner. Sitting, from left: St. Michaels Rotary Past t its June 24 annual meeting, The Board also recognized retir- on the Museum’s Board of Governors employee Julie Cox. President Aida Leisure and Rotary Social Chairman Carol Armstrong. the Chesapeake Bay Maritime ing members CG Appleby, Richard are Bill Carter, Rick Johnson, Patrice AMuseum elected five new governors, Kimberly, Pam Jana, and Anna Fichtner Miller, Steve Sands, and Lelde Schmitz. three emeriti governors, and four board for their service. Each was presented New board member Bill Carter officers for the coming year. with a memento made from the original served as a leader in the telecom New board members and officers continued Board officers for the 2013-2014 wood of the skipjack Rosie Parks and industry for 40 years. He served as year are Chair Tom Seip, Vice Chair the bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, both President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Tilghman, Secretary Dick under restoration at the Museum. for Submarine Systems Inc. (SSI), Financial Officer and Managing Director for the New York University Executive Management Program. He has served Bodorff, and Treasurer Jim Harris. “I know the Museum remains in Director of International Network office, and the European Chief Financial Officer and as Treasurer and Chairman of the Investment Committee Elected emeriti governors include capable, strong hands,” commented Operations for AT&T, President Managing Director in London. Since retiring, Johnson and for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and as a trustee for Howard Freedlander, Alan Griffith, retiring Chair of the Board CG of Global Crossing Development his wife, Laurie, plan to spend more time at their home in numerous non-profit organizations. Sands and his wife, Rosa, and Joe Peters. Appleby. “The Board of Governors Company, and Vice Chairman of St. Michaels. live in Glyndon, MD. “As we approach the 50th anniver- has recruited a deep pool of talented, Global Marine. Carter also served Eastern Shore native Patrice Miller is the granddaughter Lelde Schmitz has spent 27 years in international finance sary of the Museum in 2015, our best resourceful members with a terrific as an advisor to the U.S. government of one of the Hooper Strait Lighthouse’s lighthouse keepers. with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), specializ- days are very much ahead of us, due in slate of officers. After nearly a decade on communications and economic Miller manages properties and enjoys renovating homes. She ing in designing economic policy and helping governments no small part to the work that we do of serving the museum, first as a board development. He received his bachelor and her husband, Herb, have five children and plan to spend implement economic adjustment programs in emerging and here, as a board,” said newly-elected member for seven years, then as Vice of electrical engineering degree from more time at Myrtle Grove—their historic home on the Miles low income countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Chair of the Board Tom Seip. Chair, and finally, as Chair for the last Georgia Institute of Technology and has River. Miller received her bachelor of science degree from the Africa. Since 2007, Schmitz has counseled internationally “There’s a lot of hard work to come, two years, I am especially proud of completed the advanced program for University of Maryland. on political strategy, economic policy, development issues including our strategic plan which is the museum’s efforts to reach out to so senior managers at MIT’s Sloan School. Steve Sands is Managing Director of Wilmington Trust’s and foreign direct investment. She has a master’s and Ph.D. currently in development, as well as many different audiences, and of course, Rick Johnson recently retired as Wealth Advisory Services in Baltimore. Prior to joining in economics from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, fundraising plans which will allow us the restoration of the Rosie Parks is Executive Vice President and Chief Wilmington Trust in 2011, Sands spent nearly 35 years with with special studies at Harvard University’s JFK School. to better serve our communities—our another highlight of my time at the Financial Officer of PNC Financial the First National Bank of Maryland in Baltimore where he Schmitz has served as a committee member of the IMF’s members, donors, and volunteers, the museum. I saw the deterioration of the Services Group in Pittsburgh, PA. established the firm’s Private Banking Division, Financial Art Society; as Founder and President of the Artist Guild of local community, kids, vacationers, Rosie firsthand and now I am privileged Johnson’s 30-year career in banking Management Group, and Specialty Banking Group. Sands Oxford; and on the Board of Easton Main Street. She and watermen, who are all a part of this to witness her rebirth.” began at J.P. Morgan Chase, where is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, the Greater her husband, Heinrich, have two adult children and live in great institution.” Newly elected to three-year terms he served as Global Business Chief Baltimore Committee’s Leadership Program, and the Rice Oxford, MD.
6 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 7 currents curator’s corner CBMM welcomes shipwrights, bids farewell to summer interns
hris Kretch of Ringoes, NJ, are given the opportunity to learn from seasoned experts who Eating Local – Steamboat Style has joined the Museum as a monitor, observe, and guide their professional development. Cshipwright apprentice. Kretch’s Regular seminars introduce interns to other departments by Libby Meier apprenticeship begins with as well as best practices at other museums and educational restoration work on the historic organizations. For more information, contact CCS Director skipjack, Rosie Parks. He is Robert Forloney at 410-745-4959. A fried oyster dinner living in St. Michaels during his one-year apprenticeship. Kretch used to cost $1.50, cheaper recently completed a one-year program at the Great Lakes Boat Shipwright Apprentice Chris Kretch. than eating ham, fried Building School in Cedarville, chicken, or roast beef. MI and earned his bachelors of arts degree in graphic arts from But then, it used to be The College of New Jersey. Prior to attending boatbuilding school, that the best way from Kretch worked as a graphic designer and IT administrator. Norfolk to the Eastern Kretch was introduced to Shore was by steamer. CBMM by Great Lakes Boat Building School’s Director of Development and Student From left, CCS intern Veronica Lathroum, education intern Allison Speight, That was in 1952, the last year Services and former CBMM Shipwright Apprentice Bill Bronaugh. communications intern Lauren Murray, and curatorial intern Martina Soares Knize. Norfolk, Old Point Comfort, and shipwright apprentice Bud Cape Charles were linked by a ferry Steamboat menu from the Elisha Lee. Robert H. Burgess Collection, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. McIntire. Kretch is new to the Chesapeake Bay area but has line. Before the construction of bridges always had an interest in boating and fishing in the region. across the Chesapeake Bay, the ferry Bill Bronaugh, of Charleston, WV, also joins the provided a fast route across the mouth The pricing reflects the nature of molting; nor could one get oysters when Museum as a shipwright apprentice from the Great Lakes of the Bay for commuters taking the getting food along the Chesapeake Bay the oystermen weren’t dredging. Like Boat Building School. Bronaugh is working on the Rosie train to Philadelphia, vacationers on day in the 1950s. Seafood was plentiful and everything else, dining aboard the with Host Joanne Clendining Parks restoration as his first task at CBMM. Both Bronaugh trips to Cape Charles, and any passengers easily obtained both in watermen’s Norfolk-Cape Charles ferries was tied and Kretch worked on a whaleboat for Mystic Seaport’s or freight bound to the Eastern Shore. communities and in the cities. This was to the patterns of biology and culture on Charles W. Morgan, while at Great Lakes. Bronaugh began Tuesdays at 7 pm, The three-hour trip also provided a time when prospects were still look- the Bay. his career in woodworking by building kayaks and furniture, premiering November 19 on ample time to eat, and so the Elisha Lee, ing good for the fisheries and water- It is rare for menus to survive long and watching his father make wooden instruments. He is the last steamer on that route, served men alike: the Museum’s skipjack Rosie after the food they advertise is no longer currently living in Easton during his one-year apprenticeship. Maryland Public Television three meals while she completed her Parks was one of several oystering boats served. These menus were salvaged We bid a fond farewell to our summer interns, Veronica two round-trips of the day. According launched three years after these menus from a trash bin after the Elisha Lee’s Tune in to watch stories about to the menus in the Museum’s collec- were published. last passage across the mouth of the Bay. Lathroum, of Lanham, MD, a recent McDaniel College the Marylanders who grow graduate with a degree in history; Martina Soares Knize, tion, breakfast involved juice, fresh fruit, The downside of relying on local They were saved by Robert H. Burgess, our food and fi ber. Virginia corn cakes, rolls, and coffee in an avid collector of anything related to of Houston, TX, a senior at Texas A&M University at seafood was dependence on the seasons. addition to eggs and meats; lunch and the Chesapeake’s maritime history, who Galveston majoring in maritime studies with a concentration The Museum has two separate menus dinner entrees came with juice, Virginia from the Norfolk-Cape Charles ferries, had made a point of being present on in nautical archaeology; Allison Speight, of St. Michaels, www.mpt.org/farm Produced in cooperation with the corn cakes, bread, potato, vegetable, one offering oysters, fish, and crab cakes, the ferry’s last voyage in order to record MD, a senior at Washington College majoring in envi- Maryland Department of Agriculture. pie, and coffee. the other with fish, crab cakes, and soft and preserve the passing of an era. ronmental studies with a double minor in biology and Major funding provided by Maryland Grain Producers. Half of the entrees offered for lunch shell crabs. The first is a winter menu, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime anthropology; and Lauren Murray, of Centreville, MD, a Additional funding provided by: Maryland Agricultural and Resource- Based Industry Development Corporation, Maryland Agricultural and dinner were seafood—oysters, fish the second a summer one. By the 1950s, Museum purchased Burgess’s entire senior at McDaniel College, majoring in English and new Education Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit, Maryland Soybean Board, and crab—from the Bay. With the watermen were able to provide crab collection in 2006, making these menus, media writing. Maryland’s Best, Maryland Farm Bureau, USDA NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service). exception of soft shell crabs, which, at year-round by dredging up crabs winter- along with thousands of other objects, Administered by CCS, the ten-week internship program And by Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, Maryland Nursery & Landscape Association, Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, Delmarva Poultry $1.85, cost ten cents more than ham ing near the mouth of the Bay, but the accessible to the public through the offers research and hands-on museum experience. Students Industry, Inc., Maryland Grape Growers Association, Harford County, Maryland, Mar-Del Watermelon Association. with raisin sauce, these were also the fishery was seasonal. One could not Museum’s Library. cheapest meals on the menu. get soft crabs when the crabs weren’t 8 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 9 lifelines education
Volunteer Profile: ALL fall semester Nick Green to begin mid September by Lauren Murray by Esty Collet
ick Green began volunteering he Academy for Lifelong at the Museum in 2005 after he Learning‘s (ALL) fall semes- Nand his wife, Susan, retired to Easton terT begins in mid September and runs from Bucks County, PA. Nick’s new through November, offering something neighbors, regular volunteers at the for everyone including such courses Museum, suggested he join them in as Greek Tragedy, Hot and Cold Wars, donating service hours as a way to Dickens, Exotic Species, Sacred Spaces, become acquainted with the area. The Artist Way, Fun with Philosophy, Nick thought this would be the perfect Sports and Religion, and Furniture of our opportunity because before retiring, he Pilgrim Fathers to name a few. and Susan spent the summer months Returning this year are many of on their houseboat, About Time, and Volunteer Nick Green in front of Spat. ALL’s favorite course leaders such as he was interested in sharing his love ALL members participated in “Digital Photography for Beginners” over the summer. This three-day course, led by George Merrill, Sam Barnett, Dick Wilson Wyatt Jr., Robert Lippson, and Kate Mann, was designed to take advantage of the latest in digital photogra- of the Chesapeake with others. Nick Upcoming Volunteer Programs Mattingly, Bob Lonergan, Don Berlin, phy, from cameras to iPhones. volunteers as a greeter in the Welcome Nick was then invited back to teach Center and talks to guests as they enter Bob Springer, Phil Hesser, and the at his alma mater, and spent 13 years as Help CBMM tell the story of the Chesapeake’s the Museum. After eight years at the “two Johns” now joined by the Museum’s a biology professor at Lycoming College. people, history, and environment! For docents Museum, he says welcoming visitors Director of Education Kate Livie. Diane Thomas Mitchell, Ed Delaney, Ed Bednarz, and Bruce Jones. These After teaching at a handful of different who have completed the annual General Tour ALL welcomes new and returning individuals, along with many other talented volunteer course leaders, are the from all over is something he really colleges, he became involved in admin- Training, other trainings for our guided school course leaders including the Museum’s life blood of ALL, dedicating hours to the preparation and facilitation of their enjoys doing. istrative work and served as Director of tours and educational hands-on programs are Director of the Center for Chesapeake programs. For a course catalog, call Helen Van Fleet at 410-745-4941 or download “The Museum is an undiscovered Admissions at West Virginia Wesleyan available. The two-part trainings offer back- gem for most people,” says Nick. “I love College, Vice President of University ground and content information needed to lead Studies Robert Forloney, Ben Weems, one at cbmm.org/all, where you can also sign up to receive our e-newsletters. introducing it to them and sharing my of Maine, and a dean at the State an engaging and educational program, as well knowledge of the Chesapeake. The University of New York at Binghamton. as practical applied instruction in CBMM’s exhibits Museum is a window for people to Now retired, Nick and Susan, who and campus. Both sessions are mandatory Upcoming Volunteer Programs, continued. see into the past and learn about how worked for the public school system, for each program training to be successfully the Bay affected the development of are able to spend their free time visit- completed. To register, contact Director of Volunteer Exhibit Explorations: (For current CBMM Volunteers & Docents) a community. In the Welcome Center, ing family and giving back to the Education Kate Livie at 410-745-4947 or email Volunteer Field Trip with Kate Livie: Eastern Neck Island and Tolchester Beach Revisited I get visitors started and direct them community. The couple has two kids, a [email protected]. Thursday, October 10. 10am-3pm. Bring a bagged lunch to the exhibits they want to see. For daughter in Pennsylvania and a son in some people, it could be a boat built Visit Rock Hall, MD for a tour of Eastern Neck Island’s trails and oyster middens in the morning, and Tolchester Beach revisited in the afternoon. Colorado. When Green isn’t meeting Bay Bounty Tour Training by grandpa or even a boat that they visitors in the Welcome Center, he and Tues & Thurs, Sept. 3 & 5, 10am-12:30pm Hurricane Agnes, Impact & Legacy with Kate Livie themselves had a personal experience his wife, who volunteers at the Historical Wednesday, October 23 at 10am in the VLA with,” he adds. Society of Talbot County, volunteer with Bay Discovery Tour Training Tues & Thurs, Sept. 10 & 12, 10am-12:30pm Sharing information is something their church in Easton. From watermen to scientists to landowners, Hurricane Agnes represented a sea change in the Chesapeake’s environment, forecasting a grim Nick has a lot of experience doing. You can find volunteer Nick Green Crab Cakes Program Training future for the Bay’s water quality and animal life, and spurring the current “Save the Bay” efforts. Originally from Altoona, PA, he on Tuesdays and Fridays in the Welcome Tues & Thurs, Sept. 17 & 19, 10am-12:30pm Curator’s Corner with Pete Lesher attended Lycoming College in Center, where he will be happy to chat Oystering Legacy Tour Training Thursday, November 14 at 10am in the CBMM Library Williamsport and continued to pursue and answer any questions you may have Wed & Fri, Sept. 25 & 27, 10am-12:30pm Take a tour of Pete’s favorite things hidden away in the Museum’s collections. Pete will choose five objects, connected by a theme, and will tell his graduate degree in biology from about the Museum. Location: Van Lennep Auditorium (VLA) Pennsylvania State University. the story of their prevalence and their significance to the people, environment, and history of the Bay. 10 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 11 research Profiles: Chesapeake People in the War of 1812 The last documented boat that Kemp constructed was built in 1822; it was a by Veronica Lathroum schooner by the name of K&R. Thomas Kemp died in 1824. Typically, when people think of ship- building around the Chesapeake, they think of large port cities like Baltimore, but at one time, shipwrights were situ- ated in towns and cities surrounding Thomas Kemp the Bay. They were especially prevalent in St. Michaels, near the present day site of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime uman life in Maryland has Museum. Kemp’s return to St. Michaels revolved around the Chesapeake and his continued involvement in HBay for centuries. Serving as a source shipbuilding support this association, of food, a mode of transportation, a and the importance of shipwrights to provider of priceless resources, and in the Chesapeake Bay region, especially more modern times, a place for recre- during times of war. ation and relaxation, the Bay offers an abundance of opportunities. Hundreds of years ago, shipbuilding was prevalent Minty Gurry (Caden) along both the Eastern and Western Shores of the Bay, an occupation that “Philanthropie moderne.” The British facilitated the escape of thousands of slaves from Maryland and Virginia during has diminished considerably today. Thomas Kemp’s 1807 schooner Rossie, sailed from Baltimore as a privateer in 1812 by Captain Thomas Boyle. inty Gurry made a successful From George Coggeshall, History of the American Privateers. quest for freedom with the aid of the War of 1812, as illustrated by this New York cartoonist, where officers are luring away African Americans while In the early nineteenth century, the setting Washington afire. Courtesy of American Antiquarian Society. War of 1812 threatened shoreside towns Mthe British during the War of 1812. Her on the Chesapeake Bay. The British story has been documented through sought to gain access to the waterways as careful research by the Maryland State a means to disrupt American commerce to profit from wartime shipbuilding record as a privateer that she was Archives. Born around 1787 and living knowledge of the local landscape many on to join Minty in Nova Scotia. Slaves and undermine support for the war; demand. He was a native of Talbot nicknamed the “Pride of Baltimore” in Calvert County, an area where of these escaping slaves possessed. played a crucial role in the War of 1812, this made the Chesapeake Bay and its County, where he most likely appren- on her return. As a result of the war enslaved African Americans were In 1813, the British offered sanctu- particularly along the Chesapeake Bay. tributaries important military targets. ticed under Impey Dawson, a St. against the British, Kemp was finan- heavily engaged on tobacco plantations, ary to escaping slaves in return for Their yearning to escape from the Thus, the towns and ports lining the Michaels shipwright and fellow cially successful. By 1813 he was paying Minty came to marry a fellow slave their assistance as guides, and by confines of slavery drove them to aid shores needed to be prepared in the Quaker. From Talbot County, Kemp his workforce roughly $1,000 per week, by the name of Joe Gurry. Eventually, 1814, they broadly offered freedom the British, in return for their freedom. event of a British attack. moved to Fells Point, Baltimore in and by 1817 he had employed two their marriage disintegrated and Minty to any who escaped to their troops or Minty Gurry is just one of many During this time, the United States 1803. There he built his first ship with dozen carpenters and ship caulkers. formed an intimate relationship, a ships. Thousands of slaves from the who found her circumstances in the Navy was a weak and an ineffective his brother a year later. His shipyard both repaired exist- sisterhood by her definition, with Chesapeake region took advantage of United States intolerable and took military power. As a result, ship owners Kemp is best known for his schooners, ing vessels and constructed new another woman, Phillis Caden. this offer and gained their freedom. advantage of the opportunity to gain were licensed to attack enemy ships though he also built schooner-brigs, ones, providing him with two lines Together, the two women joined the In July of 1814, Minty escaped from her freedom. whenever possible. These freelance brigs, naval gunboats, sloops, and pilot of business. Kemp moved back to Methodist Church, and Minty Gurry her owner, Susannah Rawlings, with Read about more stories such as defenders were called privateers. boat schooners. He is responsible for Talbot County, where he built a house became Minty Caden. Like other slaves two other slaves. Through the testi- these in our new exhibit Navigating Between the privateers and the the construction of at least fifty boats, at Wades Point. There he was still an prior to the Civil War, Minty sought monies of other community members, Freedom: The War of 1812 on the American effort to improve their some built in collaboration with Impey active shipwright for at least a little to gain freedom on her own terms. Minty is known to have been friendly Chesapeake, open every day during organized military, shipbuilding on Dawson, his mentor. Among his best while, building a few more boats During the War of 1812, the British with the British troops, most likely regular Museum hours. the Chesapeake became a lucrative remembered were the 1807 schooner while based in Talbot County, and blockaded the navigable channels of as a washerwoman. Minty moved to occupation. Shipwrights profited greatly Rossie, commanded by Thomas Boyle entering a partnership with George the Chesapeake Bay, and their presence Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the company from the war as a result of the constant as a privateer in 1812, and the 1812 Gardner, a shipbuilder stationed in provided a particular good opportunity of many other former slaves, where she demand for boats and their repair. schooner Chasseur, Boyle’s next Fells Point. Gardner eventually became for slave escapes. and others were settled and offered land. Thomas Kemp was well-positioned command, which had such a successful entirely responsible for their business. British officers saw value in the It is unknown if Phillis Caden went
12 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 13 feature
Rosie Parks to Launch at OysterFest
by Dick Cooper “We have spent a lot of time paying attention to the original builder’s style, his technique, and his intentions. I think the Museum can hold its head high because of osie Parks looks ready. She exudes energy. Her freshly-painted white the standards we have adhered to.” Rhull is crisp, sharply angled and poised - Chief Curator Pete Lesher to plunge. Her expertly carved trail- boards proudly state her name. She’s been perched on land too long, only well-known oysterman brother, feet from her home in the waters of the Captain Orville, and named for their Chesapeake Bay. But land is not where mother—Rosie has helped to galvanize she belongs. The fastest, most produc- the reputation of the Museum and tive and prettiest member of the Bay’s energize its staff. Oyster Fleet wants to spread her white “Approaching the end of the three- wings and fly. year project, unquestionably it was the And she will on the 4pm high tide right decision,” Shook says. November 2 during OysterFest at the “Not only because we end up with a Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. rare, faithfully-restored skipjack, one The Rosie, as she is affectionately of a very few still around, but it also known, has touched the lives of raised our visibility and drew a lot of hundreds who have helped bring her attention and visitors to the Museum back from a rotten hulk to her right- and it was a key in revitalizing activi- ful place as the pride of the Bay. Not ties in our Boat Shop.” extended families of both Bronza and only is she an icon of the Chesapeake, The Rosie has been an important Orville Parks. When she was finally she has become a rallying point for the part of the Museum’s floating fleet hauled out of the water over five years resurgence of the Museum and its Boat since she was purchased from Orville ago, it was discovered that her bottom Shop, which were hit hard during the Parks in 1975 when he retired after planks had been held in place by water economic recession. almost seven decades of working the pressure. They quickly began falling off. Museum President Langley Shook water. The late Captain Parks, who was “We bought Rosie in 1975 because says the restoration of the skipjack— named “Admiral of the Chesapeake” she was the most reputable skipjack built 58 years ago in southern by then Gov. J. Millard Tawes, was on the Bay,” Lesher says. “She was a Dorchester County by legendary boat- known around the Bay for keeping profitable boat and she won skipjack builder Bronza Parks for his equally a well-maintained vessel that always races. And she was only a 20-year-old Opposite page: made money for her dedicated crew. boat. By the time we started this project (top) The Rosie Parks under full sail circa 1980s. But years of deferred maintenance she was almost a 50-year-old boat. Any and depleted Museum resources led other skipjack of that age survives only (bottom) An overhead view of the Rosie Parks to her decline. Staffers kept regular with substantial work. Rosie had really Restoration Project over the last three years. watch on her pumps to make sure she never gotten that. We did bits and pieces (top row, from left) Fall, 2010. Spring, 2011. Fall, 2011. did not sink at the dock. At one point, and frankly, we put it off too long.” (bottom row, from left) Spring, 2012. Fall, 2012. loblolly seedlings began sprouting from Shook says Museum Board Summer, 2013. her decaying decks. Museum Curator members debated whether to rebuild Facing page: Pete Lesher remembers that the Rosie her or cut her up and ship her off to a The Rosie as she was hauled out of the Miles River had become an embarrassment to the landfill. The preservationists won out, in early 2000. Museum and a sore point with the but it was a close call. 14 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 15 feature
In November, 2010, Museum making the Rosie one of the few unal- “But the truth of the matter is that Chair of the Board Joe Peters stood tered skipjacks still in operation. we would have never gotten all this on the balcony of the Hooper Strait Even the wood used came from information without the physical proj- Lighthouse surrounded by members local forests and was cut either at the ect. You couldn’t justify the restoration of Bronza and Orville Parks’ families Paul M. Jones Lumber Company in without all of this rich context, but you and announced that generous dona- Snow Hill or at the Tuckahoe Saw Mill would never have this rich context with- tions from Museum supporters made it outside of Ridgely on a saw that dates out the restoration. It is all of a package.” possible to rebuild the Rosie. to the late 1800s. Shook says the success of the Rosie The assembled crowd cheered, but Project Manager Mark Donohue Parks project has invigorated Museum when they surveyed the old skipjack in says his crew is working on the final staffers to the point where they are the boatyard with her sagging decks stages by readying the spars, install- beginning to look to the future and talk and brittle planking held together with ing hardware and getting the bottom about what the next major project will rusted nails, more than a few were planks fitted. The project is on time and be in the Boat Shop. skeptical about the future. under budget. “We will always proudly maintain But since then, Richard Scofield, “We have spent a lot of time paying and display Rosie as one of the most Assistant Curator for Watercraft, says attention to the original builder’s style, important, most recognized and best 10,602 board-feet (more than two miles) his technique and his intentions,” Lesher remembered vessels in our fleet,” he of fir, pine, and white oak have been says. “I think the Museum can hold its says. Everyone involved in rebuild- fastened to Rosie’s ribs. Nine Boat Shop head high because of the standards we ing the Rosie marvels at the success of apprentices, numerous members of have adhered to.” the biggest unintended consequence the Parks family and everyday visitors “We started this when the Museum of the project, the reconnection of to the Museum have worked to bring was in a slump,” he says. “The institu- the scattered Parks family members new life to Rosie. By the end of May, tion was at a low point. We had reduced who have found long-lost relatives Museum volunteers put in 2,364 staff, cut back on programs and here and used OysterFest as a grand family hours and 35 minutes of their time was this boat that was in terrible condi- reunion. Several have volunteered their City of Baltimore leaving from Norfolk harbor, circa 1930. Courtesy of on the project. tion sitting up on the hard. The deci- time, made financial donations, and The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Va., Robert T. Little Collection. Children from around the region, sion to tackle this project allowed it to presented the Museum with artifacts from preschoolers to high school become emblematic of the revival of the and historic family photos. students, have learned about the Museum. It was an inspirational deci- “When CBMM announced that the history of skipjacks with Rosie as the sion for the staff. We could raise this Rosie Parks would be restored, there was centerpiece. They have caulked seams, money and we could take on a project an immediate spark in Parks family used hand tools and experienced the of this magnitude.” interest,” Bronza’s daughter, Mary feel of shaping wood. “We had every “As a Museum about Chesapeake Parks Harding says. A Rising of an Early Moon: seventh-grader in Talbot County come history and culture, we preserve things, “One of Dad’s grandchildren said through the Oyster Legacy program but in the end, this is not just about that she felt the legacy of her grand- that has a segment on Rosie,” Scofield boats, it is about all the stories about father had been brought to life again The Burning of the City of Baltimore says. “We’ve had summer camp groups people that go along with it. Both and that she was so thankful for all come through the same program.” the stories of the past and those we the Museum is doing to retell his story. by Kate Livie He says local teens are putting in their are making as we go along. There are Another grandchild said the Museum community service time working on serendipitous things we learn as we taught her about a legacy she never the restoration. go through a major project like this. realized was so great. This event is n the summer evening of July 29, Baltimore was in good company, with dining room with its fine china and The Museum Board discussed People come out of the woodwork no longer just a boat restoration. It’s a 1937 at 6:30pm, a fresh breeze the Patapsco River creased by the wide vistas of blue sky. All was well in rebuilding Rosie to meet Coast Guard and say, ‘I remember when,’ and ‘This family restoration.” Ocut through the oppressive heat as the wake from pleasure craft under sail these last golden hours of that summer regulations for passenger vessels that reminds me of.’” City of Baltimore steamed out of port at and motor, steamboats fore and aft, day. But by 8:30pm, all that would would have allowed her to be used to Lesher says the Museum could have Light Street. Carrying 40 passengers and fishing excursions. It was a fine, if remain of the City of Baltimore was take more visitors out on the water. pursued the history of the Rosie Parks and 55 crew members eager to enjoy close, day and the passengers on the her flaming hulk of superheated metal But they decided in the end to stick as and the life stories of the famous Parks the cooling respite of open water on ship began to dress for dinner in their creating a spreading red stain like a close to Bronza Parks’ original design, brothers just as a folklore story. their trip south to Norfolk, the City of staterooms and head for the elegant sunset in the West.
16 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 17 (opposite page) The City of Baltimore was one of vacation, which was a key component lighthouse, James Johnson, a 21-year- The remains of the City of Baltimore, 1937. This photo the steamships in the Chesapeake to their longtime strategy of success. old messboy from Norfolk let out a appeared in The Baltimore Sun. Steamship Company, a steamboat line The steel-hulled City of Baltimore, scream of panic, exclaiming “Fire!” that rivalled the better-remembered constructed in 1911 alongside her Flames were erupting from the ship’s (facing page, above and left) The Chesapeake Steamship Company featured a sister Old Bay Line. Primarily connecting sister ship, City of Norfolk, was one of hold, and a thick roil of black smoke of the steamboat City of Baltimore on the cover of their Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, the largest and most luxurious vessels rose and smudged the air, snaking brochure advertising overnight service between Baltimore Virginia, with a regular fixed schedule in the Chesapeake Line’s fleet. Costing through the galleries and salons. and Norfolk, circa 1935. Gift of Robert G. Manette. for freight, passengers, and vehicles, the $375,000 to construct and offering A steward sounded the alarm bell, Chesapeake Line built its reputation on even more deck space than other ships and passengers began to emerge in efficiency paired with top-notch service in the Chesapeake Line stable, the confusion from their staterooms, half- and fine dining aboard what their City of Baltimore was also notable for dressed for dinner, and diners rushed advertisements proclaimed to be “float- her dining rooms, which were located from their tables with napkins still ing hotels of the most modern type.” in the forward part of the gallery deck tucked into their collars. The crew ran On overnight trips to Norfolk or (instead of the standard location in the to fire hose stations to quell the blaze, Baltimore, passengers on a Chesapeake hold at the stern) and took advantage while officers marshaled frightened Line vessel could enjoy amenities like of fresh air and panoramic views. men, women, and children to forward smoking rooms, music rooms, brass This relocation of the dining rooms and aft decks, away from the intense beds, running hot and cold fresh and proved to provide not just an aesthetic heat and smoke of the rapidly spread- salt water in adjoining private bathrooms, advantage. On this summer evening in ing fire. But when the crew members dancing salons, and girth-encouraging July, it represented a chance at survival turned the valves to flow water to the menus that boasted Long Island duck, for many of the passengers who were hoses, they found themselves holding pin money pickles, York River oysters, enjoying a fine repast of panned white limp lengths of line, the business ends boiled hominy, and peach ice cream. perch, hot corn cakes, and applesauce. sputtering dryly. The water controls The goal of the Chesapeake Line was At 7:30pm, as the City of Baltimore were inoperative. to provide a trip as diverting as a steamed past the Seven Foot Knoll (continued on page 20) 18 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 19 feature
It was now 7:35pm and the fire “I saw what seemed to me to be the rising of an early raged unabated, spurred by the fresh- ening Bay breeze that had seemed so moon.” Her neighbor, Mrs. Sands, later remarked pleasant only moments before. The captain of the ship, Charles O. Brooks, the time was about 7:30pm when she saw the Knoll would later state, “The boat was in flames in three minutes. I don’t see light seeming to linger amidships. “But it got bigger how it could spread that fast.” The temperature onboard was rising and bigger, and I said, ‘That seems to be a big light on quickly as the wind sent torrents of flame rushing through the wooden that vessel.’ Then the ship burst into flames.” stairways and galleries of the City of Baltimore. -Mrs. August H. Klecka On the shoreline, families gathered on porches to enjoy the sunset and the cooling temperatures of early evening. It was a local custom of many to watch A following ship, the Arkansan, clung to a steel cable for at least twenty the promenade of steamboats that attempted to pull alongside the City minutes, and my hands were blistered departed from Baltimore at 6:30pm as of Baltimore to rescue the passengers from the heat of that cable.” Miss People on the shore watch in horror as the City of Baltimore burns. 1937, The Baltimore Sun. regular as the tide, rounding the Knoll crowding the decks, but slammed into Ramsay and Judy were later picked up lighthouse and pushing down the the side of the burning vessel when she by a passing boat and made it to safety. channel. Mrs. August H. Klecka was was unable to slow her forward momen- It was a stroke of luck for the chatting to her neighbors, also on their tum. Passengers had to be restrained passengers that it was a fine day and porch, when she noticed something from jumping onto the Arkansan by the mouth of the Patapsco was crowded water painted in shades of red by the witnessed by thousands on the shore strange. “I saw what seemed to me to crew who knew they would be crushed with boaters looking for relief from the flames. In the end, most were saved. and in the water, proved to be the be the rising of an early moon.” Her to death between the grinding steel heat of the afternoon. As the flames Of the 40 passengers and 55 crew, only catalyst needed to galvanize legislators neighbor, Mrs. Sands, later remarked hulls of the steamboats’ collision. and smoke reached into the sky, the four were lost, and the source of the fire into preventing another on-the-water the time was about 7:30pm when she On the decks, the temperature William D. Sanner, a pilot boat carry- was never determined. But the signifi- tragedy. On August 14, 1937, 15 days saw the Knoll light seeming to linger was rising precipitously as the City of ing Masons on a fishing excursion, cance of the City of Baltimore’s burning after the City of Baltimore burned to amidships. “But it got bigger and bigger, Baltimore was engulfed in ravenous approached the scene and, weaving and her lack of fire suppression equip- the waterline, the senate passed the and I said, ‘That seems to be a big light flame. As the heat intensified and flesh through charred debris, deployed ment had a wide-reaching effect that Copeland Safety-at-Sea bill, designed on that vessel.’ Then the ship burst into began to blister, passengers climbed her yawl and lifeboats to pull flail- would help to change safety on passen- to make merchant and passenger flames.” Horrified onlookers began to over the side of the ship and hung from ing passengers from the water as they ger vessels forever. vessels “fireproof and so far as possible gather at the water’s edge, their stricken the metal railings and cables, which plummeted from the decks above. The next day, as her blackened, unsinkable.” For the charred and faces illuminated by the light from the quickly began to warm in the furnace Other speedboats, ferries, and smoking carcass was towed away, ruined City of Baltimore, it was too holocaust that raged offshore. of the conflagration. At the edge of a sailboats followed closely. A Baltimore politicians in Washington, D.C. were little, too late. Back on the City of Baltimore the high deck overlooking the water, Miss garage operator, C. Merritt Twilley, using the public momentum from the Two men, found drowned in the situation was becoming grim. Crew Elizabeth Ramsay with her setter Judy was on an evening cruise in his new fire to push a marine safety bill through wreckage, would never return to their members attempted to launch the stood silhouetted by flame and smoke. speedboat when he noticed the blaze. Congress that would tightly regulate families, and vessels in the Chesapeake lifeboats, placing three in the water, Miss Ramsay shielded Judy from the fire As he approached the distressed vessel, safety features on all ships, including Line fleet were pulled for months as but they were sparsely utilized, with with her body, edging forward until the he saw the captain, standing on the life boats and sprinkler systems. The they were retrofitted with the fire- one lifeboat drifting away carrying dog’s paws curled over the ship’s edge. deck and giving orders to his crew, immolation of the City of Baltimore was fighting equipment that would have only four passengers. Officers rushed Then she pushed. Judy plunged into “unmindful of the roaring flames that the final straw in a series of disastrous saved lives. For a generation, people through the ship, pounding on doors the water below, and emerged, treading, slowly licked toward him, and a steel ship-board fires that cost thousands of along the Chesapeake that witnessed Mr. and Mrs. EC White. Mrs. White was rescued from the to alert any lingerers still unaware of while her owner leaped in after her. deck turning red-hot at the soles of his U.S. passengers their lives. the inferno and its destruction would City of Baltimore. 1937, The Baltimore Sun. the blaze. In the pilot house, Captain A survivor, Helen Bomba, later recalled, feet.” Barking commands, the captain In the Chesapeake alone, five tell the story of the night there seemed Brooks remained on duty, steering the “That gave us the nerve to jump in, corralled the last crew and passengers ships had burned since 1910, and on to be an early, red moon on the horizon, ship out of the channel toward land and too—seeing that dog go in and then to the rail where they jumped off the the East Coast, a devastating fire in as a cautionary bedtime story. rescue, but the vessel churned to a stop seeing the girl follow. The heat was superheated structure, their white 1934 aboard the Morro Castle took the And next to a bed in Norfolk, a against a sand bar with her propellers unbearable, anyhow, and we knew there summer clothes scorched. A straw lives of 137 passengers. But the City setter named Judy dreamed fitfully. still revolving. was nothing to do but jump. I had boater bobbed on the waves nearby, the of Baltimore, whose destruction was
20 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 21 on-the-rail
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(1) Shipwright apprentice Chris Kretch cleans the rabbet, the groove where the bottom planks join into the keel on the Rosie Parks. (2) Volunteer Brooke Ricketts, Project (7) Boatyard Program Manager Jenn Kuhn, Vessel Maintenance Manager Michael Gorman, and Shephard Manager Mark Donohue, and Kretch mill bottom planks. (3) Kretch and Ricketts are installing the first bottom plank on the Rosie. (4) Shipwright Apprentice Bill Bronaugh is University Professor Christian Benefiel pour hot bronze into a mold at a recent metal casting demonstration. cleaning and preparing hardware for installation. (5) Ricketts, Donohue, Kretch, and Bronaugh installing bottom planks. (8) Curatorial Intern Martina Soares Knize holds up the bronze oyster culler and the pattern she used to make it with. (9) Jen Wagner, noted mosaic and stained glass artist (in red) and Boatyard Program Manager Jenn Kuhn (in blue) led a Introduction to Stained Glass Mosaic workshop. The finished piece, a colorful compass rose, was auctioned September 7, with proceeds benefitting the Museum.
by Lauren Murray 10 (10) Vessel Maintenance Manager Michael t’s been a busy summer in the boat- plates, irons, and stanchions were stained glass workshop, and helped to in the boatyard, Edna’s rudder was yard as everyone tirelessly prepares primed and painted for installation as maintain the skiffs used for the Sailing Gorman gives the dovetail Martha a new coat replaced and she was given a new coat of paint and other yearly maintenance. forI the re-launching of the skip- well. Rosie’s mast, boom, jib club, and Saturday program. of paint. The shipwrights in the boatyard jack Rosie Parks at 4pm on Saturday mainmast gaff were collected from The shipwrights have been hard at rigged her for the season and then took (11) Shipwright Apprentice Shane Elliott and November 2, 2013. Rosie Parks Project storage; her spars were in excellent work maintaining the Museum’s float- her out for a sail on the Miles River. boatyard volunteer Richard Foa install hard- Manager Mark Donohue reports she condition but needed minor restora- ing fleet of Chesapeake Bay boats. The The crab dredger Old Point, built ware on the Edna E. Lockwood’s new rudder. will be ready for launch on time. tions before the mast can be rigged and tug Delaware, built at the beginning of in 1909, was hauled and painted for To prepare for bottom planking on stepped in the fall. the 20th century, was hauled out and her big 10-day trip to her home of Rosie, the shipwrights faired the bottom Boatyard Program Manager Jenn had her garboard planks replaced this Poquoson, VA. Shipwright appren- frames, installed dutchmans and sweet Kuhn has been engaging visitors in summer. The dovetail Martha was also tice Shane Elliot was attentive to nails to the rabbet, and shaped the workshops and hands-on projects in recently up on the hard for her annual detail during the process and proudly bevel of the chine. The bottom planks the boatyard, and thanks to a grant maintenance. Every year the Bronza touched up her name on the bow 11 for Rosie were milled, shaped, and from the Talbot County Arts Council, Parks-built deadrise receives fresh before leaving for the Chesapeake Bay installed in sections while two sister the Museum was able to do a six- paint, zincs, and any cotton caulking Buyboat Association’s annual cruise keelsons were constructed and run week long bronze casting workshop, that needs replacing. down the Chesapeake Bay. from the transom to Rosie’s stem. led by Christian Benefiel of Shepherd The 1889 log-bottomed bugeye To follow the progress of Rosie On deck, Museum volunteers University, for both the public and Edna E. Lockwood, received Parks and other boatyard projects, visit installed stern and forward handrails, the boatyard crew. Participants in the many updates according to Vessel chesapeakeboats.blogspot.com. as well as the steering box, gear, and Apprentice for a Day program took Maintenance Manager Michael wheel. Various pieces of hardware, part in an oar making workshop, a Gorman. After a lot of heavy lifting
22 fall 2013 the chesapeake log the chesapeake log fall 2013 23 calendar sept/oct/nov/dec/jan Member Nights Education Programs GPS for Mariners, October 16 Learn how to use a GPS for practical recreational boating. GPS for Mariners (GPSFM) is an orientation to the GPS equipment typically owned by the recreational boater, from Lighthouse Overnight Adventures basic operating functions to more in-depth ways to get more from your global positioning The War of 1812 Speaker Series Select Fridays & Saturdays in September & October device. Course participants are invited to bring their own hand-held GPS units to the Cost: $40 for per person, 12-person minimum and 18-person class, but GPS units are not required for registration. Textbook provided. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Circumstances maximum, which includes the overnight program fee, two day’s How to Read a Nautical Chart, October 23 admission to CBMM, an official lighthouse patch, and a copy of At sea there are no streets or highway signs. To figure out how to navigate to shore, $10 for CBMM Members or $13 for non-members per session From a Lighthouse Window. For information, contact Kate Livie boaters have to use a nautical chart. This course will provide the navigator with the OR buy a three-session pass for $25 for CBMM members at 410-745-4947 or [email protected]. knowledge to interpret the chart’s contents to navigate safely to their destination and and $34 for non-members. Pre-registration required to Helen Your group can spend the night in our 1879 Hooper Strait return to port, including reading latitude and longitude, depth of water, bottom type, Van Fleet at 410-745-4941. Lighthouse! Travel back in time to experience the rustic life of a and magnetic variations affecting the compass, chart scales, and inter-tidal informa- lighthouse keeper with hands-on, interactive activities, games, tion. Textbook and training chart included. The Internal Enemy with Dr. Alan Taylor and stories. The program, designed for youth groups, children’s Friday, September 20 organizations, and scouts, ages 8-12 (and their chaperones), is Half-Hull Model Workshop 6-7:30pm, Christ Church, St. Michaels (NOTE: off-site location) available Fridays and Saturdays in the spring and fall, beginning at Saturday & Sunday, October 19 & 20 in Bay History Building Samuel Hambleton: 6pm and ending at 9am the following morning. Sat., 9am-5pm, Sun., 9am-5pm Join us as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dr. Alan Taylor, discusses Hometown Hero in the Battle of Lake Erie $80 CBMM members, $95 non-members. All tools and materials the slaves who sought freedom by escaping to the British, offering Thursday, September 19 are supplied. Pre-registration required by October 11. a dramatic instance of the persistent interconnections between Lapstrake SkiffM odel Workshop 5:30pm in the Bay History Building Call 410-745-2916 to register or contact Model Guild Director American slavery and American freedom. The Internal Enemy: Slavery Friday – Sunday, October 4, 5, 6 in the Bay History Building Free for CBMM Members. RSVP by September 17 to Debbie Bob Mason at 410-745-3266 or email [email protected] and War in Virginia, 1772–1832, Dr. Taylor’s newly published book, Fri., 6-9pm, Sat., 9am-5pm, Sun., 9am-5pm Collison at 410-745-4991. re-creates the events that inspired black Virginians, haunted slave- $80 CBMM members, $95 non-members. All tools and materi- Participants will create a half-hull model of the Pride of Baltimore II. holders, and set the nation on a new and dangerous course. Local historian Tom Stevenson explores the history of this Talbot als are supplied. Pre-registration required by Sept. 23. Call Band sawed from a block and carved to the rounded shape of the County naval hero and his part in one of the largest and most 410-745-2916 to register or contact Model Guild Director Bob Pride’s hull, the half-hull model is then mounted on a baseboard to Stories of Everyday People and the War of 1812 significant battles of the War of 1812, the first unqualified defeat Mason at 410-745-3266 or email [email protected] form a fine wall display piece. of a British naval squadron. Learn about Hambleton’s role in the Friday, October 18 Led step-by-step by skilled modelers, participants create a 10-inch Hunter Safety Program creation of one of the most inspiring battle flags in history, “Don’t wooden rowing skiff with lapped side planking and a flat bottom. 10-11:30am in the Van Lennep Auditorium Wednesday, November 20 through Saturday, November 23 Give Up the Ship.” CBMM’s Model Guild welcomes anyone over 12 years of age and When war came to the Chesapeake in 1813, what was it like for Classes are from 6-9pm on Wed., Thurs., & Fri. in the Van Lennep encourages new members of all skill levels to participate. the everyday people in tidewater towns who both feared and Auditorium. Saturday session is from 9am-12noon at an off-site Getting Rosie Ready—The Final Chapter location. Cost is $10 per person. Students under 13 must be anticipated the arrival of the British on their shores? Join University Rosie Parks Skipjack Restoration Project Coast Guard Boating Safety & Skills Program of Delaware adjunct professor Mike Dixon as he explores the accompanied by an adult. Register with Helen Van Fleet at Wednesday, October 16 Wednesday evenings from October 9 through October 23 conflict through the eyes of women, militiamen, slaves, and 410-745-4941. 5pm in the CBMM Boatyard 6-10pm in the Van Lennep Auditorium. $35 per person per other ordinary citizens impacted by the chaos of war. To purchase a hunting license or to hunt in Maryland, state law Free for CBMM Members. RSVP by October 14 to class, or $100 for all three classes for CBMM Members. requires the successful completion of a Hunter’s Safety course. Debbie Collison at 410-745-4991. Non-member rate is $40 per class per person or $115 for all The Music of Conflict: Songs from 1812 three. Register with Helen Van Fleet at 410-745-4941. This course includes instruction in hunter responsibility, firearms Thursday, October 24 Join Mark Donohue, project manager for CBMM’s Rosie Parks and ammunition, firearm handling and safety, marksmanship and Skipjack Restoration Project, for the final chapter of the three-year Suddenly in Command, October 9 2-3:30pm in the Van Lennep Auditorium The captain becomes incapacitated or falls overboard; or, you purchase a new boat and shooting fundamentals, principles of wildlife management, bow project that has brought this revered old skipjack back to life. Built hunting, muzzleloader hunting, tree stand safety, first aid, water The War of 1812 spawned a huge step aboard for the first time. You are “Suddenly in Command.” This four-hour boating by Bronza Parks in 1955, Rosie is one of the least altered historic safety primer is designed for boating beginners and will help you to be prepared with safety, and Maryland legal requirements. Firearms are provided. variety of songs in America. From skipjacks in existence. Take a behind-the-scenes peek as Rosie the basics in case of an emergency. Learn about your vessel, including nautical terms the early stirrings of party politics, prepares for her official re-launching at OysterFest on November 2. and basic operating principles like how to start the engine. Also included are descriptions the traumatic effect of the Embargo, of what causes boating mishaps and how to minimize them, basic boat handling and through the triumph at Fort McHenry MEMBER NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM STORE what equipment should be on board. and the last battle in New Orleans, Americans took pen to paper to tear Shop ’Til You Drop! Tuesday, December 3 at political opponents, to dramatize ChesAdventures Program the great sea battles and to laud 5-7pm in the Museum Store Select Saturdays in January & February (contact for dates) battle heroes like Hull and Perry. This Find unique holiday gifts at our Museum Store, stocked for the Pre-registration is required, call 410-745-4941 to reserve a spot. Visa, Mastercard, program tells the true story of the season with new merchandise priced right. Members receive & Discover accepted. Gift certificates available. $12 for members, $15 non-members. birth of the Star-Spangled Banner, a 25% discount and free gift wrapping. Enjoy a glass of wine A six-session pass is available for $68 CBMM members, and $80 non-members. dispelling several lingering myths and light refreshments while browsing our new collection of along the way. Live musical selec- Scholarships are available for qualifying students. Musician David Hildebrand distinctive merchandise. OPEN to the Public (but only Members tions accompanied by images. performs on October 24. receive a discount!) Children ages 4-9 can fill their Saturdays with two hours of fun-filled and challenging hands-on games, arts and crafts, and storytelling. Each Chesapeake-themed class has two sessions; 10-12noon for 4-6 year olds, and 1-3pm for 7-9 year olds.
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Boatyard Programs Trailboard Carving 31st Annual Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival Saturday, November 23, CBMM Boatyard 8am-12noon, $50 CBMM members, $70 non-members Register with Jenn Kuhn at 410-745-4980 or email comes to CBMM Sat. & Sun., October 5-6 [email protected] Learn the basic foundations and techniques of carving from craftsman Winslow Womack.
Apprentice for a Day Public Boatbuilding Program n Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6, from Saturdays & Sundays, CBMM Boatyard 10am-5pm, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum 10am-4pm, $45 CBMM members, $55 non-members. Ohosts one of the nation’s largest gatherings of small boat Journeyman’s Special (January through May) Choose four enthusiasts and unique watercraft at the 31st Annual classes for $150 CBMM members and $200 non-members Register with Jenn Kuhn at 410-745-4980 Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. Museum visitors can marvel at the craftsmanship and Join Boatyard Program Manager Jenn Kuhn in constructing one of Howard Chapelle’s designs, a Smith Island Skiff, from lofting to innovation used in traditional and contemporary small rigging. Learn traditional boatbuilding techniques and be a part of watercraft while enjoying the CBMM’s waterfront campus Women’s Woodworking for Beginners the whole 17-week process or just sign up for those aspects of and hands-on exhibits, including a new War of 1812 exhibit Sunday, October 20 & Sunday, October 27, CBMM Boatyard building a boat that you want to learn. Must be 16 or older unless and the historic restoration of the skipjack Rosie Parks. 9am-4pm. $100 CBMM members and $120 non-members. accompanied by an adult. *Please note, the boat being constructed Sailing skiffs, rowing shells, kayaks, canoes, paddle is subject to change, depending on whether AFAD is commissioned Participants must be 16 or older, unless accompanied by an boats, prams, and one-of-a-kind boats will be on display adult. Register with Jenn Kuhn at 410-745-4980 or email to make a specific vessel. and in the water throughout this family-oriented event. [email protected] Interested in having AFAD build your next boat? Boat owners hailing from all over the country will also be CBMM’s women shipwrights are offering a ladies-only class in the We take commissions! Contact us for more information. available to share their knowledge and boating experiences basics of woodworking with no prior experience necessary. Learn the foundational skills, tools, and techniques of carpentry. with visitors. On Saturday, live music by the Royal Oak Musicians will be performed, with food, and beverages Friday Open Boat Shop available to round out the festival. October 25, November 8 & December 13, CBMM Boatyard Festivals On Saturday, museum boatyard staff and Chesapeake 5:30-8:30pm. $20 CBMM members and $30 non-members. Wooden Boat Builders School instructors will be on hand Participants must be 16 or older, unless accompanied by an 31st Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival to offer boat-building workshops and maritime demonstra- adult. Register with Jenn Kuhn at 410-745-4980 or email Saturday, October 5 & Sunday, October 6 [email protected] 10am-5pm. Free for Museum members or with paid admission tions. Beginning at 1pm, a lively race of small craft out on the Miles River can be watched from the museum’s Members of the public are invited to the boat shop to work on Sailing skiffs, rowing shells, kayaks, canoes, paddle boats, prams, waterfront and docks. Festival-goers can also vote for their small projects of their own, or to bring ideas for a future project, and one-of-a-kind boats will be on display and in the water and receive the advice of an experienced shipwright and wood- throughout this family-oriented event. Boat owners hailing from favorite boat, with the People’s Choice award and others worker. Participants can expect assistance with machinery and all over the country will also be available to share their knowledge announced Saturday evening among participants. On tools, plans, measurements, and the execution of a small-scale and boating experiences with visitors. See page 27 for more info. Sunday, festival-goers are also invited to bring nautical project, which could include a Christmas or birthday present, items to swap or sell at a traditional swap meet. frames, furniture, models, artwork, etc. OysterFest & Relaunch of Rosie Parks The Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival is free for Museum The Sailor’s Ditty Bag Saturday, November 2 members and children under six, otherwise admission is Saturday, November 16, CBMM Boatyard 10am-5pm. Free for Museum members and children under six. $13 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $6 for children ages 6 to 9am-4pm, $65 CBMM members, $85 non-members $15 adults, $12 seniors, $6 children ages 6-17. 17, with all museum exhibits open throughout the two-day Register with Jenn Kuhn at 410-745-4980 or email Celebrate the oyster with a day of live music, oysters and other festival. For more information, visit cbmm.org/mascf or call [email protected] food, children’s activities, boat rides, oystering demonstrations, 410-745-2916. Join the Assistant Curator for Watercraft, Richard Scofield, as he harvesting displays, retriever demonstrations, cooking demonstra- walks participants through making their own Sailor’s Ditty Bag, tions, and an oyster stew competition. See page 28 for more info. which they will take home with them afterward. Traditionally, ditty bags held all the tools one would need for the marlin spike arts, Photos by Erik Hopkins. which is the art of splicing lines, knot-making (decorative and practical), and hand work (sewing canvas).
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CBMM’s OysterFest and relaunch of the skipjack Rosie Parks is Saturday, November 2
rom 10am-5pm on Saturday, November 2, the Chesapeake’s Foyster will be celebrated at the Museum’s OysterFest. The event features live music by Sweet Leda, oysters and other local fare, children’s activities, boat rides, oyster demonstrations, harvest- ing displays, retriever demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, documentary films, and an oyster stew competition among regional chefs. The festival also offers a chance to celebrate the relaunch of the skip- (left) Talbot Watermen shuck oysters at last year’s jack Rosie Parks—a sailing workboat OysterFest. (right) Festival-goers slurp down oysters. that once dredged the Chesapeake for oysters, after a three-year restora- tion at the museum. In addition to There’s never been a beTTer Time to create your own the museum’s floating fleet of historic perform cooking demonstrations of the opportunity to see live sturgeon, legacy to preserve and celebrate the unique history, heritage, traditions, and culture of the vessels, the Talbot County Watermen’s signature oyster dishes throughout the diamondback terrapins, horseshoe crabs, Chesapeake. We invite you to join a handful of others in becoming a founding member of Association (TCWA) will have several day. OysterFest boasts plenty of family- and other Bay creatures. boats dockside to help share the stories friendly, educational, and fun water- The event is sponsored by Maryland CBMM’s new Lighthouse Legacy Society. It’s simple. All you have to do is name the Museum of how oyster dredging, hand tonging, front activities designed to help kids Public Television (MPT) with two to receive a bequest of $25,000 or more. You can name the Museum in your will or trust, or as a beneficiary of patent tonging, and oyster diving learn how important the oyster is to the MPT documentaries screened in the your IRA or life insurance policy. Other deferred, planned gift opportunities also are available. have been longtime traditions of the Chesapeake Bay. Van Lennep Auditorium during the Chesapeake Bay. Families can play “Oyster Jenga,” event. What’s Up? Media Company is TCWA volunteers will be serving explore an oyster nursery, participate also a media sponsor of this event. The Lighthouse Legacy Society was launched in June with a donor’s challenge to match bequests of $25,000 or freshly caught and shucked Chesapeake in a scavenger hunt or face painting, or Festival-goers can explore the more up to $1 million. During the past three months, over $8 million in bequest pledges have been received from Bay oysters. Aquaculture raw oysters watch dip-net making and knot-tying Museum’s exhibit buildings, including founding members. The original challenge match was met, and it’s been extended by another donor for bequest and fried oyster sandwiches will also demonstrations. Build-a-boat activities Oystering on the Chesapeake and be available. For those who prefer to provided by the Model Guild will be Waterman’s Wharf, where visitors can commitments received by December 31, 2013. celebrate oysters rather than eat them, available for a $3 fee. try their hand at tonging or nippering pit beef, hot dogs and hamburgers, Even dogs can have fun, with for oysters. CBMM’s bugeye, Edna E. Besides leaving a legacy for future generations and enjoying the satisfaction and privileges of membership Southern Maryland stuffed ham, along retriever demonstrations taking place Lockwood, an 1889 log-bottomed oyster in the new Lighthouse Legacy Society, you will: with cold beer, caramel apples, warm along the Museum’s waterfront, and dredge boat and National Historic apple cider, and more will be offered. don’t miss the scenic river cruises and Landmark, will be dockside on display. retain full ownership and use of your assets throughout your life Festival-goers can take part in or on-the-water oyster tonging demonstra- Admission to OysterFest is free for just watch an oyster slurping contest, tions with Chesapeake watermen. CBMM members and children five have the flexibility to change your bequest if your circumstances or desires change while others enjoy sampling oyster stew Conservation groups including years and under, otherwise it’s $15 potentially reduce taxes payable by your estate by local restaurants beginning at 11am Tilghmans Islanders Grow Oysters, for adults, $12 for seniors, and $6 for and while the limited tastings last. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Oyster children between the ages of six and 17. have your gift doubled by submitting a simple letter documenting and quantifying your commitment stew competition takes place along the Recovery Partnership, and The Nature Food and boat rides are an additional by December 31, 2013. Museum’s Fogg’s Cove side of campus, Conservancy will be on-hand to discuss cost. Visit cbmm.org/oysterfest or call with bragging rights awarded to the efforts to clean and preserve the Bay. In 410-745-2916 for more information. chef who gets the most votes among addition, Phillips Wharf Environmental All gift amounts will be held confidential. For more information, contact René Stevenson at410-745-4950 participants. Local restaurants will also Center’s Fishmobile will offer visitors or [email protected].
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