Category: Press Releases

The employees of Mystic Seaport today voted down an attempt to form a union.

The vote was 145 to 90.

The election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board in reaction to a petition filed on July 6, 2012 by AFT Connecticut to organize all non-management employees of the Museum.

“We are very pleased by the outcome of the election. By rejecting the union, our employees indicate they want to continue to have a direct, individual relationship with management and we believe that is the best way for us to work together,” said Mystic Seaport President Steve White. “This has been a very divisive process for the entire staff and the next step is to immediately begin the healing process and address the issues and concerns the organizing process brought forward.”

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, it is the home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest American commercial vessel still in existence. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

New York Artists Interpret the Legacy of Whaling in an Innovative Exhibit

Mystic Seaport, in conjunction with the artists of the New York-based Dalvero Academy, will open a new exhibit, “Restoring a Past, Charting a Future: An Artistic Discovery of America’s Whaling Legacy by Dalvero Academy,” Saturday, April 28, 2012.

The exhibit is an artistic interpretation of the restoration of the last wooden whaleship in the world, the Charles W. Morgan. Utilizing numerous mediums, including ink, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, sculpture, photography, and embroidery, twenty-four of the Academy’s artists have created a remarkable exhibit that reflects the inspiration found within the Morgan and Mystic Seaport.

During the winter of 2009, Veronica Lawlor and Margaret Hurst, the founders of the Dalvero Academy, a private, New York-based art school, traveled to Mystic Seaport and instantly were inspired by the Museum. Always on the lookout for new locations for the Academy, they believed the romance and history of Mystic Seaport would create an ideal environment for artistic pursuits.

During their many subsequent visits, the Academy’s artists and two of its two instructors created a wide range of art inspired by the Morgan. Varying aspects of the ship will be displayed in this exhibition, including reflections on her whaling past, careful illustrations of her current restoration, and symbolic representations of her future: a 38th Voyage to make peace with those she once hunted.

Drawings large in scope depicting the 113-foot whaleship and the vast Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard where she is being restored will be exhibited alongside fine, detailed illustrations—one of which depicts the intricate whaling knot used to secure a line to a harpoon. Different perspectives of the vessel’s past, present, and future journey will be shown to Museum visitors.

Visitors will also notice a reoccurring model throughout the exhibition: the Cinderella stamp. The minute scale of a postage stamp forces the artist to pare his or her ideas down to the essentials. A “Cinderella” stamp is so named because it is a fantasy stamp that serves the artist’s ideas. It is the artists’ hope that, just like Cinderella, one day their stamps may “go to the ball” and become official U.S. Postal Service stamps. Lawlor and Hurst asked the Academy’s artists to design their own Cinderella stamps depicting any aspect of the Morgan. The resulting stamps led the artists to a world of illustration and art that will be proudly exhibited to the public.

The exhibit is a departure from normal practice for Mystic Seaport in that it is truly a joint effort. Mystic Seaport provided access to its collections, grounds, and the Morgan, and let the artists express their vision individually and then be integral in the design process for the exhibit. The result is a unique and different museum experience.

“What makes ‘Restoring a Past, Charting a Future’ special is that it is a contemporary look at an historic artifact, the Charles W. Morgan, and the Dalvero artists help us see what she represents from a fresh perspective,” said Mystic Seaport president Stephen C. White. “Hopefully this is the beginning of more such projects with outside groups who wish to take advantage of our collections to help tell the story of America’s maritime heritage with different voices and views.”

Dalvero Academy was founded by Veronica Lawlor and Margaret Hurst in 2005. It is a private academy of drawing, illustration, digital photography and design. The name Dalvero comes from the Italian “dal vero,” from the truth; from life. Ms. Hurst and Ms. Lawlor are freelance illustrators and designers who also teach at Pratt Art Institute and Parsons the New School for Design in New York. The Dalvero studio is located in Brooklyn, New York. For more information regarding the Dalvero Academy, as well as bios and statements from each participating artist, please visit http://dalveromystic.com.

The participating artists include Michele Bedigian, Susan Buroker, Alexander Charner, Sara Dilliplane, Christine Foltzer, Audrey Hawkins, La Benida Hui, Margaret Hurst, April Kelly, Jennifer Kiamzon, Veronica Lawlor, Rosa Lee, Siyeon Lee, William Martin, Danielle C. McManus, Nathaniel Miller, Kati Nawrocki, Eddie Pena, Laura Vila Rawson, Todd Rawson, Dominick Santise, Jeanette Simmons, Julia Sverchuk, and Evan Turk.

The exhibit is located in the second-floor gallery of the Museum’s Stillman Building. It will be open through September 9, 2013.

Images are available upon request.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest commercial vessel in the United States. The Museum is located in Mystic, Conn. and is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the spring, summer and fall. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy, State Senator Andrew Maynard (D-Stonington), and other Connecticut state legislators today designated the 2013-14 academic year to be the “Year of the Charles W. Morgan” in the State of Connecticut.  The designation will afford students across the state a unique opportunity to learn about Connecticut history, the significance of the whaling industry, and the importance of the state’s maritime heritage.

Mystic Seaport is currently restoring the whaleship in the Museum shipyard in preparation for a voyage to historic ports in New England in 2014. As part of this project, the Museum is developing educational resources and programs to be made available to Connecticut schools to use the Morgan as a tool to teach students about the state’s past.

Built and launched in New Bedford in 1841, the Charles W. Morgan sailed on 37 voyages covering the entire globe over a whaling career that lasted 80 years. The ship came to Mystic Seaport in 1941 and became the centerpiece of what has become the nation’s leading maritime museum. The Morgan is the oldest American commercial vessel still in existence and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967.

A powerful draw for Connecticut’s tourism industry, more than 20 million people have walked her decks since she arrived at the Museum.

“We sincerely appreciate this gesture of support from the Governor, his administration, and state lawmakers. The “Year of the Charles W. Morgan” will help us put together a multi-agency initiative to use the Morgan as a catalyst for increased tourism, economic development, and innovative educational programming,” said Mystic Seaport president Stephen C. White.

A Vessel for Education

The “Year of the Charles W. Morgan” will feature an extensive series of learner-based programs and resources for teachers to leverage to teach a range of subject material, including but not limited to history. The story of whaling and the Morgan touches on themes of globalization, America’s economic and social history, science, and environmental conservation, among others. Mystic Seaport is working with educators, administrators, foundations, and students to craft programs for the year.

Some of the initiatives currently in development:

• With the support of a $500,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Mystic Seaport is building an Online Learning Community that will feature the Morgan as central content for an interactive curriculum.
• On-site programs for school groups to visit the ship.
• Off-site programs where Museum educators travel to Connecticut schools to assist teachers with in-person presentations.
• Partnerships with Institutions of Higher Learning, such as the Museum’s current joint efforts with the Williams-Mystic program and the University of Connecticut-Avery Point.

“We want every child to have the chance to visit the Morgan. Unfortunately, in this day and age that is not feasible. However, through technology and special programs we can take the Morgan to every student in the state,” said White.

An Unprecedented Voyage 

In the late spring of 2014, the Morgan will embark on a historic 38^th Voyage to historic ports in New England. The journey will begin with several weeks in New London, where she will finalize her preparations and conduct sail training. This will also include events celebrating the city’s whaling heritage. At one time, New London was one of the top five whaling ports in the world and much of the economic development of Eastern Connecticut owes its start to the wealth brought home by the city’s whaleships.

The Morgan will then sail to Newport, New Bedford (where she was built and sailed from for much of her career), Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard, through the Cape Cod Canal on the centennial anniversary of its opening, Provincetown, which she will use as a base for day sails among the whales on Stellwagon Bank, and finally to Boston to join the USS Constitution.

Each port stop will have a series of public events and programs focusing on that particular city’s heritage. When she returns to Mystic Seaport in August, the Morgan will return to her berth at Chubb’s Wharf and resume her role as an exhibit and flagship of the Museum.

More information on the ship, her history, the restoration, and plans for the 38th Voyage are available at mysticseaport.org/charleswmorgan.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, it is the home of four national Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest commercial vessel in the United States. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Mystic Seaport, in partnership with film producer and sailor Gary Jobson, is proud to present the Mystic premiere of the documentary “Unfurling the World: The Voyages of Irving and Electa Johnson.” The screening will be held at the Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas on Saturday, April 7, at 4:30 p.m. Jobson will introduce the film, which is one hour and 17 minutes long, and will briefly discuss the program.

Mystic Seaport and Jobson teamed together to create this new, exciting documentary about the Johnsons. The adventurous couple completed seven round-the-world voyages between 1933 and 1958 aboard a series of vessels named Yankee, and later in life traveled throughout the inland waterways of Europe. The Johnsons often visited remote islands and documented each voyage extensively, frequently as contributors to National Geographic. They were able to capture traditions, ceremonies, and customs of people that lived a lifestyle that in many cases no longer exists today. Mystic Seaport is the repository for much of the Johnson legacy, and the archival footage and most of the photographs of these voyages are from the Museum’s collections.

Tickets are $10 per person ($8 per Museum member) and can be purchased by calling Mystic Seaport Central Reservations at 860.572.5322 or online at https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/. 

The Olde Mistick Village Art Cinemas is located in Olde Mistick Village, 27 Coogan Boulevard Olde Mistick Village, Building 18, in Mystic, Conn.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in1929, it is the home of four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest American merchant ship in existence. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

National Historic Landmark Vessel Enters New Phase of Restoration

Mystic Seaport shipwrights installed the first plank on the exterior of the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan today. The plank marks a significant milestone in the multi-year restoration of the ship.

The Morgan has been undergoing a comprehensive restoration in the Museum’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard since 2008. This is the fourth phase of the project. To date, the vessel has been thoroughly documented, the structure of her lower hull has been restored, and interior planking has been replaced.

The current phase involves planking the external hull below the waterline. Much of the material dates to her original construction.

Installing a plank requires carefully shaping and “dry-fitting” it to its eventual location on the hull. The planks are then steamed for at least 3 hours to make them flexible. At that point they are quickly hauled into position, braced and wedged into place. The plank is subsequently fastened with bronze spikes and large wooden pegs called treenails (pronounced “trunnels”). Time is of the essence as the steam-induced flexibility wears off quickly and planks can crack or split.

The planks are longleaf yellow pine and massive. Today’s plank measured more than 36-feet long, was 4 inches thick, and weighed more than 500 pounds.

With the hiring of additional shipwrights this past winter, the Museum aims to complete this phase by late fall along with some structural restoration work on the bow and the transom area at the stern. This will be the most extensive restoration of the vessel since she arrived at Mystic Seaport in 1941.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to retain a substantial percentage of the original wood,” said Shipyard director Quentin Snediker. “It is great to see the new wood side-by-side with the old and know that we are ensuring her existence for another 170 years.”

“It is very exciting to see the ship come together as we reach these milestones. Each plank puts us that much closer to our goal to take her back to sea, and it is a testament to the remarkable skills and talents of our shipwrights that we are reaching that goal on time and on budget,” said Mystic Seaport president Steve White.

White urged visitors to come and see the ship during the restoration. “This is a unique opportunity to see the skills and technology at work that helped launch America’s global economy. Once the structure is covered up, no one in our lifetime will ever see it again,” he said.

The Morgan sailed on 37 voyages around the globe during an 80-year whaling career. She came to Mystic Seaport in 1941 and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966. The Morgan is the oldest surviving American commercial vessel still afloat.

The $7 million project is on schedule to launch her on July 21, 2013, the 172nd anniversary of her first trip down the ways in 1841. Mystic Seaport will return the Morgan to sea for a ceremonial 38th Voyage to historic ports on the East Coast in the late spring and summer of 2014.

The public is invited to help support the project by visiting mysticseaport.org/morgansupport.

Images available upon request.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is America’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest American commercial vessel still afloat. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.