QUARTERLY Winter 2006-2007 Burgess Collection • Annual Report Happy New Year from all of us at the CBMM At this time of year, most of us find ourselves looking both back and for- QUARTERLY ward in time, so it seems appropriate that this issue of the CBMM Quarterly Winter 2006-2007 combines the final report for the year 2005-2006 with stories about new begin- nings here at the Museum. Volume 4 Number 4 Last year was one of dramatic transition for your Museum. John Val- liant announced his retirement after 19 years at the helm. His watch was marked by growth and achievement in almost every area of the Museum’s Editor operations, and he left an institution that is well respected and much loved. Dick Cooper Change can be traumatic (especially for history museum people, who spend [email protected] their professional lives trying to keep things from changing) but it can also be energizing and refreshing. Graphic Design/Photography Change is in the air, and it is welcomed Rob Brownlee-Tomasso by staff and Board alike. After extensive renovations inside and out, the Steamboat Contributors Building is opening at last as the Muse- Julie Gibbons-Neff Cox um’s new center for changing exhibitions. Rachel Dolhanczyk Museums have long recognized that tem- porary special exhibits and programs are Robert Forloney keys to attracting more members and visi- Pete Lesher tors, broadening the sponsorship base and Melissa McLoud enjoying more media attention. The up- John H. Miller coming new exhibitions (described later Stuart L. Parnes in this issue) are just what CBMM has Kathleen Rattie been planning for. Lindsley E. H. Rice This issue also highlights some impor- Michael Valliant tant new arrivals to CBMM. Several key staff positions have been filled in the past few months, bringing significant new energy and experience to our ranks. Kathleen Rattie is our new Direc- Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum tor of Development. She works closely with veteran John Miller to oversee Annual Fund and grant opportunities, and also manages our membership ac- Navy Point, P.O. Box 636 tivities. Robert Forloney has joined us as Director of Education. He will be St. Michaels, MD 21663-0636 reviewing and renewing our entire menu of educational programs for both 410-745-2916 Fax 410-745-6088 adults and schools, and will be working closely with our corps of docents to www.cbmm.org [email protected] expand their training and activity here at the Museum. Both Kate and Robert will be important factors in CBMM’s future success. I am delighted to have them here as colleagues. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a private As you will also read, the Museum has finalized the purchase of the Robert not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational institution. A Burgess Collection. This most extraordinary private collection of Chesapeake copy of the current financial statement is available Bay artifacts will provide new content for years of research, programs, and ex- on request by writing the Vice President of Finance, P.O. Box 636, St. Michaels, MD 21663 or by calling hibitions. I am grateful to the donors who generously made this significant ac- 410-745-2916 ext. 238. Documents and information quisition possible, and I urge you to come to our Members Opening in March submitted under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations to get a first look at some of the fascinating items included in the collection. Act are also available, for the cost of postage and From my vantage point, 2007 promises to be a very exciting year. I hope copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401, 410-974-5534. you will visit often, take advantage of what we offer, and let us know how we are doing. On the Cover Trailboards, from the collection of Robert H. Burgess, that have been acquired by CBMM. (See story, page 4.) Stuart L. Parnes, President Photograph by Bill Kepner. [email protected] Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Winter 2006-2007 Contents (Above) Captain Mark Adams takes CBMM visitors for a boat ride on St. Michaels Harbor during the fall OysterFest. The Volunteer was built for the Museum by volunteers. Features The Collection of Robert H. Burgess 4 Departments During his life, Robert H. Burgess, the former curator of the Mariners’ Museum, collected all things Chesapeake. By Pete Lesher To the Point 17 Waters of Despair, Waters of Hope 10 Annual Report 25 A new exhibit opening explores the history and influence of African Americans on the region. By Lindsley E. H. Rice Events Calendar* C 1-4 Explore & Restore 14 * Events Calendar is a special pull-out section that can be found between The Horn Point Laboratory is the center for extensive research on pages 18 and 19. oysters, blue crabs, and oxygen levels on the Bay. By Michael Valliant Supertanker Training on the Miles 21 The Calhoon M.E.B.A. Engineering School is a mid-career training facility for Coast Guard-licensed merchant mariners. By Dick Cooper 3 Contents Museum Acquires Collection of Robert H. Burgess By Pete Lesher, Curator of Collections In the 1940s, Robert H. Burgess, the late curator of the prehensive accumulation of Bay objects and ephemera in Mariners’ Museum, looked around the Chesapeake Bay private hands. The Burgess collection has now found a new that he loved so much and saw major changes under way. home with the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. The age of the steamboat was waning with the coming of Burgess, who died in 2003, is remembered as a prolific the Bay Bridge, and the wooden sailing vessels, that had author and editor, museum curator, photographer, and histo- served so well for generations, were being abandoned to rian as well as collector. He was born in Baltimore, Mary- die slow deaths of decay. land, in 1913, the son of a steamship engineer. “Hulks could be found around the Chesapeake region As he recalled, “Ships were everyday talk in my home even up into the 1950s, if you knew where to look for since my father and brother followed the water in merchant them. Earlier, many of the sailing craft, old and worn out, ships. Steamboats conveyed me up and down and across the were abandoned in shallow areas close to where they were Bay. Perhaps these factors, my association with ships, and owned,” Burgess wrote in 1975.1 an innate feeling that the Chesapeake picture was changing Instead of rot and rubble, Burgess saw historic artifacts when I was a youngster, spurred me on to document it.”2 that would serve as links to the Bay’s proud past. He began After graduation from Baltimore City College, he shipped gleaning the wrecks and amassing probably the largest com- out to Bermuda and Haiti on the four-masted schooner Doris 4 continued, page 8 Collection of Robert H. Burgess (Left) Burgess sailed on the four-masted schooner Doris Hamlin on a voyage to Bermuda and Haiti in 1936, when he was 23 years old. Photo by Robert H. Burgess, Robert H. Burgess Collection (Opposite, Left) Robert H. Burgess with vessel carvings from his collection, November 1950. Photo by William T. Radcliffe, Robert H. Burgess Collection (Right) Burgess climbed the spanker mast of the four-masted schooner Doris Hamlin for a view of her poop deck. Photo by Robert H. Burgess, Robert H. Burgess Collection (Left) Skipjacks dredging, viewed from the deck of the E. C. Collier, 1948. Photo by Robert H. Burgess, Robert H. Burgess Collection 5 Mast Truck Ornamental ball attached to the masthead of an unidentified Chesapeake vessel. Quarter Board From the two-masted schooner A. H. Schulz, built 1872 by William E. Woodall in Baltimore. Obtained by exchange with M. V. Brewington, about 1954. Staunchion From the starboard rail near the stern of the three-masted schooner William T. Parker, collected from the vessel abandoned at Curtis Creek, near Baltimore, about 1954. Clew Iron Used to secure the outboard end of a large sail to the boom. From the William L. Godfrey sail loft in Baltimore; obtained by trading for some photographs. 6 Collection of Robert H. Burgess Spectacle Iron What is it? Robert H. Burgess found beauty in sailing vessels and the functional things that held them together. Here are several pieces from his collection, showing how they were used and Used to suspend the lazyjacks for the jib on a large bugeye or schooner, where they came from. which made it easier to contain the sail when lowering. From the William L. Godfrey sail loft; obtained by trading for some Deadeye photographs. Used to keep tension on the port foremast rigging of the schooner Stephen Chase, built 1876 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Salvaged from the abandoned vessel in Curtis Creek, near Baltimore, in 1949. Trailboard Ornamental name carving from the skipjack Klondike, built 1897 in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Obtained by exchange with M. V. Brewington, about 1954. Billet Head Ornamental scroll at the end of the longhead, from the schooner Bohemia, built 1884 by Thomas Kirby in St. Michaels, Maryland. Salvaged from the abandoned vessel at Sarah’s Creek, Virginia, about 1952. 7 (Above) Hulk of the four-masted schooner Purnell T. White lying at Port Covington, Baltimore, September 21, 1951. Photo by Robert H. Burgess, Robert H. Burgess Collection (Right) Burgess climbing aboard the hulk of the Purnell T. White. Robert H. Burgess Collection from page 4 Hamlin, taking some 200 photos and keeping a journal of carving by tackling repairs on damaged trailboards in his col- the voyage. In 1941 he joined the staff of The Mariners’ Mu- lection.