2008 Winter Seminar Series
Speakers' Bios
Update: William Fox's January 17 seminar on Chesapeake Sailing Craft has been rescheduled to April 3. See details below.
The Winter Maritime Seminar Series features ten seminars on Thursdays through April 3, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., covering a range of fascinating topics to commemorate our unique maritime heritage.
Seminars will be held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts and at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Seminar fees for Museum members are $75 per person for the full series or $12 per seminar. For non-members, fees are $135 for the series or $15 per seminar. To enroll, call the Museum at 410 295-0104.
Thursday, January 24 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Kevin Webb
Marine Railways of Anne Arundel County
During the 20th century, many local working boatyards had a marine railway, but only a few still exist. Historian Kevin Webb will discuss the history of these primitive but effective devices, and what factors have caused them to disappear from the Chesapeake watershed. Held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.
Kevin Webb is a local historian and recent graduate from the Historical Studies program at UMBC. A native of Maryland, Kevin completed his bachelor's degree at Towson University in 1995, majoring in both History and Art, with a concentration in jewelry design and metal work. Following graduation, Kevin was offered a full-time position at Towson University, where he continues to work as Associate Director of Admissions. He is currently working on a book about the history of marine railways on the Chesapeake Bay.
Thursday, January 31 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Drew McMullen
The Capt. John Smith 400 Project
Last summer, a dozen modern adventurers embarked on a difficult and daring recreation of Capt. John Smith’s 1608 exploration of the Chesapeake Bay. The crew rowed and sailed 1,500 miles in a small open boat called a “shallop.” The boat was built and the expedition organized by the non-profit Sultana Projects of Chestertown, whose president, Drew McMullen, takes us step-by-step through this remarkable adventure. Held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.
A graduate of St. Paul's School and Amherst College, Drew McMullen was one of the founders of Sultana Projects and has served as the organization's President since 2001. McMullen oversees the business operations of the organization and coordinates strategic planning with the Board of Directors. He also periodically serves as relief captain on the schooner Sultana.
Thursday, February 7 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Janice Hayes-Williams
Our African-American Maritime Heritage
Historian, author, playwright and columnist Janice Hayes-Williams shares the intriguing life story of her great-grandfather, William Henry Hebron, who was born into slavery and grew up to become one of Annapolis’ most successful businessmen. Like many local African-Americans after the Civil War, he earned a living in the oyster industry as a tonger and shucker, later owning and operating a stall in the Fish Market near the Market House at City Dock. Among his many protéges was Cap’n Herbie Sadler. Janice Hayes-Williams shares her family heritage and, with the aid of photographs and illustrations, makes it our own. Held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.
Historian, author, playwright and columnist Janice Hayes-Williams shares the intriguing life story of her great-grandfather, William Henry Hebron, who was born into slavery and grew up to become one of Annapolis’ most successful businessmen. Like many local African-Americans after the Civil War, he earned a living in the oyster industry as a tonger and shucker, later owning and operating a stall in the Fish Market near the Market House at City Dock. Among his many protéges was Cap’n Herbie Sadler.
Thursday, February 21 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Ginger Doyel
Over the Bridge: A history of Eastport at Annapolis, 1868-1968
Since January 2007 Ginger Doyel has interviewed more than 400 community elders and gathered more than 1,700 photographs — mostly from private family collections — for the book slated for publication later this year by the Annapolis Maritime Museum. Ginger will share the highlights of her research, including two remarkable finds: a set of journals kept by Annie Christensen, an Eastport midwife, from 1898-1908; and a bound ledger containing 291 previously unpublished photographs of Eastport and Annapolis, taken by Howard Hayman, in the mid-1930s. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Ginger Doyel is a fourth generation Annapolitan. She received a B.A. in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond in 2001 and returned to Annapolis in 2002. Since then, she has authored over 120 articles about local history for The Capital newspaper and several magazines. She is the author of Annapolis Vignettes; Gone to Market: The Annapolis Market House, 1698 --2005; and The Annapolitan Club: A Tradition of Hospitality Since 1897. Ginger serves on the City of Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission, and on the Hammond-Harwood House Board of Trustees, and lives in the city’s Historic District near her family.
Thursday, February 28 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Jeff Holland
The Key to Annapolis History
This slightly irreverent view of 400 years of Annapolis history from the waterside perspective by the director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum ties Annapolis in its “Golden Age” as a major tobacco-trading port to Annapolis as “America’s Sailing Capital.” And it’s all because the harbor’s only 12 feet deep. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Jeff Holland has served as the Executive Director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum since 2001. His key accomplishment has been working with the volunteers and board of directors to transform the Museum from an all-volunteer neighborhood historical committee to a regional educational institution with a professional staff of three. The current goal is to complete the renovation of the historic McNasby Oyster Company building and the “Oysters on the Half Shell” exhibit. He is also a member of the Chesapeake Bay musical group Them Eastport Oyster Boys, and was designated “Poet Laureate of Eastport” by Annapolis Mayor Al Hopkins in 1994.
Thursday, March 6 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Stephan Abel
Oyster Recovery in the Chesapeake Bay
Since 2000 the Oyster Recovery Partnership has planted over 950 million disease-free spat oyster spat on shell oysters at over 60 locations. ORP Executive Director Stephan Abel reviews the non-profit organization’s strategies to work with local, state and national organizations to restore the native oyster population so vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Stephan Abel has been the Executive Director of the Oyster Recovery Partnership since 2007. Prior to joining the Partnership, he was the Executive Director in the Office of Communications and Marketing at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, has held management positions at Sallie Mae and Careerbuilder, and earned a B.S. from Villanova University and a M.B.A. from George Washington University. A lifelong sailor on the Chesapeake Bay, he is married, has two children and resides in Annapolis.
Thursday, March 13 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Shari Valerio
Shuckin' and Tongin': A Day's Work at McNasby's
As part of an oral history project for the Museum, Remember Inc. is collecting interviews with people who worked at McNasby Oyster Company. Their colorful memories are transformed into theatrical presentations. Two first person narratives debuted in the Grand Ole Osprey presentation in December. Combining some details of gathered history and oral history, Artistic Director Sharie Valerio will bring to life this special time and place. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Thursday, March 20 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Voices of the Bay
Michael Buckley with photographs by David Harp
Over the past seven years, Michael Buckley has documented the lives of more than 250 people of this region through a series of audio interviews. For than 50 of these are now featured in the book Voices of the Chesapeake Bay, recently published by Geared Up Productions of Edgewater, Md. The interviews are illustrated with portraits by renowned Chesapeake photographer David Harp. Michael Buckley will discuss the Voices of the Chesapeake Bay and show slides of David Harp’s photography to introduce the audience to some of the Chesapeake’s most fascinating people. A book signing will follow the discussion. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Michael Buckley is a 14-year veteran of radio and is host and producer of the multi-cultural music program called the Sunday Brunch on 103.1 WRNR Annapolis. He has traveled extensively for decades throughout the United States in search of a better understanding about how the arts and culture affect our lives. In the 1990s, Michael worked in New York City at the holistically-based New York Open Center offering lectures and classes from a broad spectrum of scientists, historians, theologians, doctors and artists. It was there that he dedicated himself to the concept that all things (and people) are inter-connected in a fascinating web of life. To better understand and more fully appreciate our own lives we must be dedicated to the process of life-long learning, to seeking out multiple perspectives and differing points of view culturally, intellectually and environmentally. Relying on the basic lessons of our youth and upbringing is not enough.
Seven years ago Michael set out to document the lives of the people of the Chesapeake Bay region through a series of audio interviews. The Voices of the Chesapeake Bay interview project so far has resulted in an archive of over 250 of these sessions recorded in the field with a broad spectrum of Chesapeake Bay people. On March 1st, the first Voices of the Chesapeake Bay book was published by Geared Up Productions (Edgewater, Md.). The book features portions of over fifty of the Voices of the Chesapeake Bay interviews with portraits by renowned Chesapeake photographer David Harp.
Thursday, March 27 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: Vince Leggett
Carr’s Beach Legacy
What is now the gated community of Chesapeake Harbour was once known as Carr’s Beach, the premier African-American waterfront resort. In a time of segregation, this was a haven for Black families from throughout the region who flocked there to enjoy the Bay, the fishing, the attractions, but most of all, the music by such greats as Ray Charles, James Brown, Lionel Hampton, the Shirelles and Little Richard. Vince Leggett, Founder of the Blacks on the Chesapeake Foundations, shares this legacy through photographs and film. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
As a young boy growing up in east Baltimore, Vince Leggett was introduced to the Chesapeake Bay by weekend fishing trips with his father. For fifteen years, he has roamed the expanses of the Chesapeake waterfront, tirelessly interviewing people, "hanging out and mixing up" with waterside residents, and "suitin' up and showin' up" at Bay functions. For over 25 years, Leggett, an eloquent man with contagious laughter, has held public positions at Anne Arundel Community College, Anne Arundel and Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Anne Arundel County Housing Authority. He is currently special projects coordinator for education in the Chesapeake Bay Policy and Growth Management division of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. In this role, he also coordinates the Patapsco and Back Rivers Tributary Strategy Team. As an amateur historian, he has a tenacious interest in the integral role of African Americans in the Bay's rich maritime past. In 1984, Leggett founded the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation to share the legacy of African American achievement, foster preservation of the environment, and facilitate the economic success of the Chesapeake Bay maritime trade and seafood-related industries. The foundation's initiatives include multimedia exhibits, lectures, publications, curriculum development, and educational programs conducted on the Dorian Lee, a 1957 Baybuilt workboat. Photo by J. Henson
Thursday, April 3 - Winter Maritime Seminar Series: William Fox
Chesapeake Sailing Craft
Naval Architect William Fox presents a rare photographic record of sailing craft from log canoes to four-masted schooners, showing the vessels in all phases of their activities on the Bay, including loading and unloading cargoes; under sail and in port; in shipyards; details of rigging, fittings, and decks; interior views; as powerboats; and abandoned hulks. The photographs were taken between 1925 and 1975 by Robert Burgess, curator of the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., and published by Cornell Maritime Press in 1975. The recently re-released edition, edited by William Fox, brings alive the author's photographs and recollections for a new generation of readers. Held at the Museum's Barge House, Second Street at Back Creek.
Naval architect William A. Fox was born in Newport News, Virginia, at the height of the World War II shipbuilding program. He grew up in Newport News and owes his interest in maritime history to his mother, Katherine Johnson Fox, who worked at the Mariners' Museum library, and to his father, Erwin A. Fox, Jr., who was a merchant mariner, shipbuilder, and boater. William A. Fox graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1965 and received his master's degree in Urban Studies from Old Dominion University in 1979. He has worked for Newport News Shipbuilding; for Esso (Exxon) International in New York, Italy, and Spain; and for Stanwick International in Iran. Since 1979 he has been associated with John J. McMullen Associates in Newport News.
He began his writing career with a book chapter on ship modeling in 1975, and a history of the tug Dorothy (Newport News Hull No. 1) in 1976. In 1986 he researched and wrote Always Good Ships, a comprehensive history of all of the ships built at the Newport News shipyard since its founding in 1886. He has contributed many articles on maritime history to magazines and newspapers, and has edited several books.
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