News Release
Annapolis Maritime Museum / 723 Second St / Annapolis, MD 21403
Contacts: Jeff Holland / 410 295-0104 / director@amaritime.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Jan. 7, 2008
Chesapeake Sailing Craft to lead off Annapolis Maritime Museum’s
2008 Maritime Seminar Series, January 17 at Maryland Hall
Author and Naval Architect William Fox will discuss Chesapeake Sailing Craft at the Annapolis Maritime Museum’s 2008 Maritime Seminar Series on Thursday, January 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. This is the first of ten weekly seminars covering a range of fascinating topics to commemorate our unique maritime heritage.
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.
There will be one hour of presentation, followed by a discussion period. 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.
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.
Upcoming seminars:
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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Annapolis Maritime Museum |
PO Box 3088 |
Annapolis, MD 21403
410 295-0104
office@amaritime.org
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