News Release
Annapolis Maritime Museum / 723 Second St / Annapolis, MD 21403
Contact: Jeff Holland / 410-295-0104 / director@amaritime.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Dec. 18, 2007
Annapolis Maritime Museum presents 2008 Maritime Seminar Series at Maryland Hall
The Annapolis Maritime Museum has announced that the 2008 Maritime Seminar Series will take place at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. There will be ten seminars on Thursdays between January 17 and March 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., covering a range of fascinating topics to commemorate our unique maritime heritage.
“Last year’s seminars at the Museum’s Barge House were completely sold out,” reports seminar coordinator Charles Worrell. “We’ll have more room at Maryland Hall and there will be plenty of opportunity for interaction with the speakers. We’ll have one hour of presentation, followed by a discussion period. And you’ll get a considerable discount if you reserve seats in advance. Museum members can save more than 30 percent if they subscribe to the whole series. Non-members might as well join to get the discount.”
Enrollment 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.
January 17 — Chesapeake Sailing Craft
by William Fox
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, Virginia, 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.
Kevin Webb high res photo |
John Smith shallop |
January 24 — Marine Railways of Anne Arundel County
by Kevin Webb
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.
January 31 — The Capt. John Smith 400 Project
by Drew McMullen
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.
February 7 — Four Women of Annapolis
by Scotti Preston & Janice Hayes-Williams
This one-woman presentation, starring veteran actor Scotti Preston, in collaboration with historian and writer Janice Hayes-Williams of Our Local Legacy, celebrates Maryland Emancipation in November, 1864, and three centuries of Annapolis history as seen through the eyes of four women of color. Based on a presentation at St. Johns College in November, 2007.
(February 14: Valentine’s Day – no seminar.)
February 21 — Over the Bridge: A history of Eastport at Annapolis, 1868-1968
by Ginger Doyel
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.
February 28: The Key to Annapolis History
by Jeff Holland
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.
March 6: Oyster Recovery on the Chesapeake Bay
by Stephan Abel, Executive Director, Oyster Recovery Partnership
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.
March 13: Shuckin’ and Tongin’: a Day’s Work at McNasby’s
by Shari Valerio
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 Old 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.
March 20: Voices of the Bay
by Michael Buckley, with photographs by David Harp
More info to follow.
March 27: Carr’s Beach Legacy
By Vince Leggett, Executive Director, Blacks on the Chesapeake Foundation
More info to follow.
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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. She is currently writing two books Over the Bridge: A history of Eastport at Annapolis, 1868-1968 and a history of the Washington Brick & Terra Cotta Company, both forthcoming in 2008. Ginger serves on the City of Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission (appointed November 2007, term starts January 2008), and on the Hammond-Harwood House Board of Trustees, and lives in the city’s Historic District near her family.
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.
Jeff Holland has served as the Executive Director of the Annapolis Maritime Museum since 2001. His key accomplishment has been working with the 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.
Sharie Lacey Valerio was the 2003 recipient of the Annie Award for Performing Arts for her work in area theatre. While raising a family, Sharie acted and directed at Colonial Players and area theatres. In 1982 she received an MFA in Acting from Catholic University. Since then her focus has become storytelling. Initially as Director of Story Theatre and a performance group, Voices, whose Pioneer Women performed in the Ti-State area. In 1989 Sharie partnered with Mame Warren and Beth Whaley in an oral history of Annapolis. From that Remember Inc. was created and produced the The Annapolis I Remember and Annapolis Celebrations among other oral history productions. Ms. Valerio was Living History Director at the Charles Carroll House where she produced the stories of 18th c. Annapolis by candlelight. Currently Sharie is Theatre Director at Severn School and Artistic Director for Remember Inc.
Kevin Webb is a local historian and recent graduate from the Historical Studies program at UBS. 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.
Annapolis Maritime Museum |
PO Box 3088 |
Annapolis, MD 21403
410 295-0104
office@amaritime.org
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