Author: Mystic Seaport Museum

What is the role of a museum in these times of turmoil? As an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums, we subscribe to their statement:

“The museum field not only has a responsibility to ask the hard questions and learn from each other, we have a unique duty to listen, to chronicle the lessons and histories of our communities, and to educate future generations so that we might stop this senseless violence.”

We are a maritime museum that strives to tell the national story of America and the sea, to uncover and present that history–everyone’s history–for our country, so that we can learn the lessons that will help us create a just future for all. As such, Mystic Seaport Museum stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the black community to support their call for an end to racism and the violence it engenders.

—Steve White, President, Mystic Seaport Museum

Mystic Seaport Museum and Discovering Amistad announce they are collaborating to develop new programs to combat racism and promote diversity. The schooner Amistad, docked for the summer at the museum, will be a platform for education, discussion, and outreach. The two organizations will combine staff and resources to nurture engagement and meaningful interaction on the subject.

“We are saddened and dismayed by the death of George Floyd and other recent abhorrent acts of racism. Mystic Seaport Museum condemns all forms of racism and discrimination. As a maritime institution, we acknowledge the painful maritime roots in African American history, and we are compelled to act — and that begins with listening. Our two organizations can pull together people of all ages and races to increase awareness of social injustices and take positive, proactive steps that will benefit the broader community,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport Museum.

“Discovering Amistad teaches students and adults about the history of racism in this country. In teaching this history our organization also cites examples of the harm racism brings to all of us, and what steps we all need to take to reduce and eliminate it. The recent hateful and horrific events make it imperative that we work together with Mystic Seaport Museum and others to begin an intensive effort to end racism in this country once and for all,” said Len Miller, chairman of Discovering Amistad.

The two organizations agree that endemic racism is a cancer eroding the values of inclusivity and equality that this country holds dear, and that this moment calls for action at all levels to fight this persistent, toxic presence. They further agree that by combining their assets and capabilities, they can effect a greater impact on the issue than they could alone.

The schooner Amistad is a replica of the ship involved in the 1839 Amistad Uprising, in which a group of captives from Sierra Leone being transported across the Atlantic for the purposes of slavery overpowered the crew and took control of the vessel, eventually ending up in New London, Conn. In a landmark 1841 decision, the US Supreme Court set the captives free.

Discovering Amistad developed an interactive, proprietary curriculum that addresses equity and adheres to the most up-to-date national C3 (College, Career and Civic Life) social studies framework. The lessons begin with the 1839 uprising and the subsequent Supreme Court decision and move through the arc of more than 175 years of history — from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Era and up to the present day. The program is the only one of its kind. With lessons conducted by specially trained educators in classrooms and aboard the ship, history comes to life as the past becomes a framework for addressing present challenges related to diverse social issues.

Details of the joint programming will be released in the coming weeks.

About Discovering Amistad

Discovering Amistad is an educational organization that provides full year programming on its tall ship, The Amistad, in classrooms, and at historic sites of partner organizations. It enables children and adults in Connecticut and the region to discover the story of The Amistad and its impact on the state and the nation. Importantly the Organization provides learning opportunities for children and adults to discover the relevance of The Amistad story to social and racial justice in today’s world. Visit discoveringamistad.org for more information.

Mystic Seaport Museum is one of four museums in the country to be recognized with a 2020 Sustainability Excellence Award, presented by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

First presented in 2014, the awards recognize sustainability efforts in facilities, programming, and exhibits in both large and small institutions. In the last five years, the award program has recognized 20 different museums for their efforts.

Mystic Seaport Museum received a Special Award of Merit for its accomplishments in eliminating single-use plastic on its entire 19-acre site. The awards jury “was impressed by the institution’s comprehensive approach: the attention paid to inculcating behavior change; addressing cost challenges; data collection and analysis; and the detailed documentation of its process,” the award announcement stated.

“The Mystic Seaport [Museum] is a powerful example that illustrates a deep dive in one sustainability topic that was consistently tackled with rigor,” said Joyce S. Lee, the Jury Chair for the Facility Award.

The Sustainability Excellence Awards, which strongly encourage museum energy benchmarking to address climate action, are sponsored by the Environment and Climate Network, a professional network of AAM members committed to establishing museums as leaders in environmental sustainability. The other museums receiving 2020 awards are the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures in Urbana, IL, the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, WA, and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA.

Reducing Single-Use Plastics

In February 2019, Mystic Seaport Museum announced an initiative to work toward eliminating single-use plastics on its 19-acre site on the Mystic River. In collaboration with its reatail and food service partners, Event Network and Coastal Gourmet, the Museum implemented a long list of single-use plastic reductions in the bake shop, Museum Store, restaurants, event catering, the Sailing Center, and across the grounds, which includes elimination of plastic straws, cups, lids, takeaway containers, and bags; the addition of reusable bags, water bottles, coffee mugs, and many other eco-friendly products in the Museum store; installation of three water bottle refill stations; promotion of noted days throughout the year such as Earth Day, Plastic Free July, World Oceans Day, and America Recycles Day, and many other efforts.

We recently had to make the difficult and upsetting decision to reduce our workforce. This move was taken only as a last resort to preserve our ability to reopen to the public when this crisis has passed.

Some have understood the move to mean that the Museum is permanently closing.  Contrary to media reports, that conclusion is absolutely not the case. Be assured the business of the Museum continues. There is a corps of dedicated staff members who are making sure the institution’s collections – ashore and afloat – the campus, and its intellectual assets are preserved and maintained. They will ensure we will be in a position to reopen to the public as soon as the State of Connecticut issues us permission to do so and we are certain we can do so safely.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect us all in broad and unpredictable ways. Normally, at this time of year we would be putting the final touches on planning for Pirate Days, holding classes and workshops and hosting school programs all over the campus, preparing the Maritime Gallery for its spring show, opening up the Boathouse, and getting ready for our annual Members meeting. Obviously, that is not the situation we find ourselves in today and we are in the process of rescheduling exhibitions and programs to a later date.

On March 12, we made the difficult, but proactive, choice to close the Museum to the public through the end of the month. Staff were asked to work while observing social distancing and other recommended practices. Then, our Governor issued Executive Order 7H requiring that non-essential businesses close and that public stay home, now through at least the month of April. Faced with these facts and an even more uncertain future, we had to make the difficult decision to significantly reduce our level of staffing. As we are unable to open our doors to the public to generate revenue, we had to take action to preserve and maintain financial sustainability during this unprecedented period of economic turmoil. We have responded in the same manner as many other businesses in our region, and indeed our country.

In the meantime, we are leveraging our digital capabilities to bring the Museum to you via online classes for children and adults via Zoom, YouTube, and our social media channels. We just launched a new digital content hub where all of these pieces, new and old, will be gathered for you to find in one convenient place. You can find it at stories.mysticseaport.org/. It is free and open to anyone who wants to explore maritime history.

This is not the first time Mystic Seaport Museum has overcome adversity. We were founded 90 years ago at the onset of the Great Depression, and we have survived all of the trials and travails of American society since that time, such as World War II, the September 11 attacks, and the Great Recession.  We are a resilient organization and we will emerge as strong as ever.

We need your help while we wait for the day we can open our gates and welcome visitors again. Please consider making an unrestricted gift to the Museum–the timing has never been more urgent! We are deeply appreciative of our community. Now we need your generous support so we can weather the COVID-19 Pandemic and reopen again. Together we can come through this challenge.

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Steve White
President

 

You can make your gift to support the mission of Mystic Seaport Museum online:

Donate

 

[embedit snippet=”watercraft-hall-tour-part-ii”]

Join our vice president for Watercraft Preservation and Programs, Chris Gasiorek, as he tours the back room of our watercraft hall, the “Broom Closet.”