Category: Press Releases

The fun doesn’t stop after the sun sets at Mystic Seaport this summer. For 2012, the Museum is offering a selection of evening programs and performances for families looking for activities at the end of a busy summer day.

Barefoot Truth Concert

Close out Independence Day this year with a concert on the Mystic Seaport Village Green by the local rock band Barefoot Truth. Mixing the sounds of folk, rock, jazz, and reggae, this up-and-coming band has crafted a distinct sound that should appeal to the whole family. Bring a blanket or chair. Picnicking is welcome and the Galley Restaurant will be open late to provide dinner. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 4. Tickets are $15 ($10 for Mystic Seaport members). Ages 12 and under are free.

Plays on the Green

Soak up summer’s twilight hours on the Green and enjoy a theatrical performance from the Mystic Seaport TaleMakers, the Museum’s talented group of professional performers. Bring a blanket, chairs, and a picnic and be entertained by a classic tale. All performances last approximately one hour and are appropriate for all ages.

July 6 and 7: “The Magic Fishbone,” by Charles Dickens. This is the story of Princess Alicia, who is given a magic fishbone by her fairy godmother and then uses the fishbone to improve the fortune of her parents, the King and Queen, and her 18 brothers and sisters.

July 20 and 21: “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” by Mark Twain. Hear the legendary story of braggart Jim Smiley, who makes his fortune betting on anything and everything, including his remarkable jumping frog.

August 10 and 11: “The Reluctant Dragon,” by Kenneth Grahame. This is the story of a young boy, a brave knight, and a peaceful dragon.

Shows begin at 7 p.m. Tickets for each performance are $12 per person ($10 for Mystic Seaport members) and are available for purchase at the gate or online. Children ages 4 and under will be admitted for free.

Summer Music Sundays

Mystic Seaport is extending the summer weekend experience and will offer free after-hours Museum admission to all Sunday evening visitors from July 8 through August 26.

Stroll through the Museum’s historic grounds and 19th-century village, walk along the picturesque waterfront, and listen to live music performed by local musicians from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. This year will feature Bruce Foulke, Geoff Kaufman, and Bob Levalley.

Outdoor dining will be available at Schaefer’s Spouter Tavern, located in the heart of the Museum’s village and overlooking the Mystic River. A full tavern menu and beverages will be available for purchase.

Please note all exhibits will be closed after 5 p.m.

Planetarium Shows

The Treworgy Planetarium is pleased to announce a new summer program series for 2012. Programs begin with updates on current events in the evening sky followed by an extended presentation of the topic for that evening.  Afterward, if weather permits, the indoor program will be followed by an outdoor observation session using the Planetarium’s telescopes.

July 6, 2012 – ”The Zodiac”
July 20, 2012 – “The Milankovitch Cycle and the Earth’s Climate”
August 3, 2012 – “The Moon and Tides”
August 17, 2012 – “Extrasolar Planets”

All programs begin at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $7.50 per person, $6 for Mystic Seaport members, and $3 for children ages 15 and under. Tickets are purchased at the Planetarium on the evening of the program.

Visitors are asked to use the Museum’s administrative entrance at 75 Greenmanville Ave. For more information, please contact Jeff Dunn, supervisor of the Treworgy Planetarium at 860.572.0711 extension 5150 or Jeff.dunn@https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

“HMS Pinafore”

For two nights only, Friday and Saturday, August 24-25, the troupe Opera Comique will perform Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “HMS Pinafore” onboard the Museum’s full-rigged ship, the Joseph Conrad.

“HMS Pinafore” was the fourth collaboration of librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). The opera tells the tale of Josephine, the daughter of Captain Corcoran of the Royal Navy, who is due to be betrothed to the First Lord of the Admiralty. Josephine, however, is in love with Ralph Rackstraw, an Able Seaman under her father’s command. This opera, with a surprise ending, opened in 1878 and ran for 571 performances. It was Gilbert and Sullivan’s first international smash hit, poking fun of the class system and social order.

Shows begin promptly at 7 p.m. Tickets are $45 per person and can be purchased online. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Charles W. Morgan restoration.

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 American commercial vessel still in existence. The Museum is located one mile south of exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted for free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Mystic Seaport has named Jon Wilson and WoodenBoat as the recipient of the America and the Sea Award for 2012. The award honors and celebrates those who embrace the scholarship, exploration, adventure, aesthetics, competition, and freedom the sea inspires.

Wilson, the founder of WoodenBoat, will accept the award Saturday, October 27, at a gala held in his honor at Mystic Seaport. This black-tie affair is the premier fund-raising event for the Museum and is by invitation only.

The America and the Sea Award recognizes an individual or organization whose contributions to the history, arts, business, or sciences of the sea best exemplify the American character. Past recipients include former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman; oceanographer and explorer Sylvia Earle; historian David McCullough; legendary yacht designer Olin Stephens; president and CEO of Crowley Maritime Corporation, Thomas Crowley; and noted maritime collector and yachtsman William Koch.

“By recognizing and unifying a passion for the allure of the design and beauty of wooden boats, Wilson helped transform a nascent renaissance in the early 1970s into a 21st century industry, in the process ushering in a new golden age for wooden boats in America,” said Mystic Seaport President Stephen C. White. “Those who know Jon Wilson best speak to his passion for humanity and his desire to foster a meaningful connection to the greater community.”

Wilson founded WoodenBoat Publications in September of 1974 with the first issue of WoodenBoat magazine. Jon assembled the magazine in his cabin in North Brooksville, Maine. This was accomplished without electricity or plumbing, and with his telephone nailed to a tree—half a mile down the road. Taking the inaugural issue to the Newport Boat Show, he sold 400 individual copies and signed up 200 subscribers.

From that inauspicious start, the publication has become a touchstone for enthusiasts and professional practitioners from every far flung bay and harbor in the world. WoodenBoat is published six times each year, and now has a circulation of approximately 100,000.  With 37 volumes and more than 200 issues in print, the magazine’s backlist comprises one of the most complete and important archives of wooden boat construction, use, and maintenance in existence today.

WoodenBoat has expanded into a book publishing arm; a school on the art of seamanship and wooden boat building; another magazine Professional BoatBuilder; and event management, holding the WoodenBoat Show annually for 21 years, most recently at Mystic Seaport where it typically draws an audience of 13,000 boating enthusiasts.

Currently, Wilson divides his time between WoodenBoat and his national nonprofit, JUST Alternatives, an organization that fosters face-to-face dialogue between victims of violent crimes and their still-incarcerated offenders. The goal is to help the victims finally be heard by their attackers while at the same time assisting the offenders to become ready to listen and respond in sensitive and authentic ways.

In 1988, he was elected to the Mystic Seaport Board of Trustees and currently serves as Trustee Emeritus.

With its commitment to the celebration and preservation of the skills, treasures, and traditions of the sea and shore, Wilson considers WoodenBoat’s missions to be in total consonance with the missions of Mystic Seaport. He credits the inspiration for WoodenBoat’s somewhat “rigorous” approach to the subject to the late John Gardner. Gardner, the Museum’s small craft curator from 1969 to 1995, was a seminal figure in the documentation, preservation, and renewed appreciation of American small watercraft through his research, writing, speaking, teaching, and building. Much as Gardner was responsible for regenerating interest in an important part of America’s maritime heritage, Wilson has achieved a similar feat for wooden boats in modern times.

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 Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the world. The state-of-the-art Collections Research Center provides scholars from around the world with access to the Museum’s archives via the Internet and integrated databases.

For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

More than 60 Catboats, Old and New, Expected to Attend

Mystic Seaport will host a rendezvous for the Catboat Association Friday to Sunday, July 6-8.  More than 60 catboats have registered for the event with more expected to attend.

The rendezvous is to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Catboat Association at Mystic Seaport. In addition to many modern vessels, there will be a number of historic wooden catboats, including Kathleen, Silent Maid, Sea Rose, Genevieve, Molly Rose, Old Sculpin,  Tigress, and Trim Again, which was one of the original boats from the founding group 50 years ago.

The catboat Kathleen, a recent build to a 1917 C.C. Hanley design, won the Opera House Cup in 2009. Silent Maid, another recent build, was constructed at Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum to a classic 1920s design by Francis Sweisguth. She recently won her class at the New York Yacht Club’s 158^th Annual Regatta.

“We are very excited to host the Catboat Association’s anniversary rendezvous  at Mystic Seaport. It is great to see how the Association has fostered a resurgence in the popularity of a classic American watercraft over the last 50 years, and we are ready to help them celebrate that achievement,” said Mystic Seaport president Steve White.

The boats will be welcomed to the Museum’s waterfront beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and will be on display until 10 a.m. Sunday, when they will depart down the Mystic River.

More information can be found at www.catboats.org.

Everyone to Pay Youth Price on July 4th

It is all about the kids this Independence Day at Mystic Seaport. To help celebrate the holiday, the Museum will discount its admission ticket for the entire day of July 4th and offer everyone the youth price of $15 (children ages 5 and under are free). The regular adult rate is $24.

Admission includes all special Independence Day activities as the Museum transports visitors back to 1876. Highlights include the 27th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry re-enacting Civil War military exercises, an old-fashioned spelling bee, patriotic hat-making for children, an Independence Day parade at 1 p.m. with a special section for kids to participate, and a rousing 1876 Independence Day ceremony followed by a period concert featuring the Mystic Silver Coronet Band on the Museum’s village green.

In the afternoon, visitors can play croquet and other 19th-century lawn games with costumed residents of 1876 Mystic and watch live theatrical performances by the Mystic Seaport TaleMakers troupe.

Museum exhibits will be open and for an additional fee visitors are invited to take in a planetarium show, go for a cruise on the Mystic River, or rent a boat from the Museum’s fleet of rowboats and small sailboats.

To close the day, the local Mystic rock band Barefoot Truth will perform an evening concert on the green. Mixing the sounds of folk, rock, jazz, and reggae, with lyrics full of “unbridled optimism,” the band has crafted a distinctive sound and has a loyal following in the area. Barefoot Truth will play from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $15 per person ($10 for Mystic Seaport members) and are available online or at the gate. Youth 12 and under are free. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring a blanket or chairs for seating.  Picnic dinners are welcome. However, bringing alcoholic beverages onto the grounds of Mystic Seaport is not permitted. Food and drink, including beer and wine, will be available for purchase and the Galley Restaurant will have extended hours.

Please note the July 4th discount admission cannot be combined with other discounts or offers.

For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org/independenceday.

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, America’s oldest commercial vessel still in existence. For more information please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Event Hosted in Partnership with WoodenBoat Publications

The largest gathering of wooden boats and enthusiasts in New England will converge at Mystic Seaport for the 21st annual WoodenBoat Show Friday through Sunday, June 29 to July 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The three-day WoodenBoat Show, hosted in a partnership with WoodenBoat Publications, has been described by Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide as “one of Connecticut’s top 20 events for the summer.” The Show offers something for all wooden boat enthusiasts and maritime history buffs. More than 100 traditional and classic wooden boats of every type will be on display, from hand-crafted kayaks, to mahogany runabouts, to classic daysailers and schooners.

A special focus this year will be on the traditional skills used in the ongoing restoration of the Museum’s 1841 whaleship, Charles W. Morgan. Mystic Seaport shipwrights and staff will demonstrate steaming and fitting planks, fastening wood with wooden pegs called “trunnels,” hand tool techniques for shaping wood with broadaxes and adzes, and many other boat building skills. There will be special guided tours of the Morgan, a multimedia presentation on her history, and a lecture on the complex challenge of rigging her for her 38th Voyage in 2014.

In addition to viewing historic ships and beautiful boats, visitors can find everything they need to outfit their boat and learn new skills at demonstrations and workshops throughout the Museum. More than 140 vendors will offer items for sale including maritime art, antiques, tools, books, nautical gear, innovative items, and much more.

Those interested in the construction of smaller boats can stop by the Family BoatBuilding tent, where more than 20 families and teams will work to build their own canoe or skiff during the weekend. Purchased kits are opened at 9 a.m. Friday morning and tools are put down around 3 p.m. Sunday, leaving, in most cases, a boat awaiting only final finish work. Some boats will be launched at the Show.

For the third year, the popular Skua class of racing motorboats will compete on the Mystic River beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The Skua is an eight-foot outboard motorboat based on a classic 1939 design.

Other events include the return of “I Built it Myself,” a display of home-built boats; a Concours d’Elegance, including Judges’ Choice, Innovation, and People’s Choice awards; children’s toy boatbuilding; and all of the Mystic Seaport exhibits.

A tribute dinner to honor the Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway of Vineyard Haven, Mass., will be hosted by WoodenBoat magazine in the Museum’s Boat Shed Saturday, June 30, at 6 p.m. Tickets for the dinner must be purchased in advance by June 22 by calling the WoodenBoat Store at 800.273.7447 or by visiting www.woodenboatstore.com. Dinner tickets are $35 and seating is limited for the event.

Museum admission gains access to both the WoodenBoat Show and Mystic Seaport. Admission is good for two days upon ticket validation

The WoodenBoat Show is produced by WoodenBoat Publications, Inc., which includes WoodenBoat magazine, Professional BoatBuilder magazine, the WoodenBoat Store, the WoodenBoat School, and the WoodenBoat Show. The WoodenBoat Show is an annual festival celebrating the design and craftsmanship of wooden craft.

More information and ticket sales can be found at www.thewoodenboatshow.com.

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 American commercial vessel still afloat. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Public Invited to Watch Artists at Work from June 12-16

Visitors are invited to watch Maritime Gallery artists painting en plein air on Mystic Seaport grounds Tuesday through Saturday, June 12-16.

More than 25 of today’s leading maritime artists will be at French easels painting in the tradition of the plein air painters of the 19th and 20th centuries. Featured artists include David Bareford, Cindy Baron, Neal Hughes, Russ Kramer, and David Monteiro. The event is a rare opportunity to observe and interact with artists at work along the Mystic River as they capture the beauty of Mystic Seaport and its environs.

The artists’ works will then be available for viewing and purchase in the 16th annual Plein Air Painters of the Maritime Gallery Exhibition and Sale from June 16 through September 16.

An opening reception will be held Saturday, June 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, attendees will have the opportunity to meet the participating artists, as well as purchase paintings fresh off the easels.

The Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit mysticseaport.org/gallery or call 860.572.5388.

About the Maritime Gallery

The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport is the nation’s foremost gallery specializing in contemporary marine art and ship models. Through its parent organization, Mystic Seaport, the gallery is proud to offer access to the world’s leading experts in the marine field, and the highest standards of scholarship, integrity and connoisseurship that the nation’s finest maritime museum represents.

Musicians from Around the Globe Gather to Celebrate Maritime Traditions

Musicians from around the world will come to Mystic Seaport to celebrate the musical traditions of the Golden Age of Sail at the 33rd annual Sea Music Festival, Thursday through Sunday, June 7-10.

The weekend’s festivities include concerts, a storytelling stage, instructional workshops, folk dancing, and a scholar’s symposium. The Festival is the premier sea music event in North America.

In addition to the Mystic Seaport Chantey Staff, scheduled performers include Maryland’s Calico Jack, the groups FUNI from Reykjavik, Iceland and Finest Kind from Ottawa, Canada, Tom Lewis, Lee Murdock, Rick Spencer, The Morgans, the S.S. Chanteens, and Yankee Frolics. Overall, 20 individuals and groups will perform at the Festival.

New for 2012 are a storytelling stage co-sponsored by the Connecticut Storytelling Center and an evening sea music “contra dance,” a style of partnered folk dancing traditional to New England. The storytelling stage will feature gifted storytellers from throughout the region, who will entertain the audience with original stories and folktales from a wide range of sources. The Museum’s Wendell Building will host the stage on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The contra dance will be held Saturday evening from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Mystic German Club’s Frohsinn Hall, located directly across the street from the Museum’s main entrance on Route 27. There is an $8 admission fee for the dance.

In addition, the annual Music of the Sea Symposium, hosted in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 8-9. The Symposium, which features presentations of themed papers by some of the country’s leading maritime music scholars, explores the interaction between sea, music and song. The Friday session will be held from 9 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. on the Avery Point campus and is free to the public. The Symposium continues Saturday from 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Greenmanville Church on the grounds of Mystic Seaport. Museum admission is required (free for members).

All workshops and daytime concerts in the Festival are included in regular Mystic Seaport admission. Museum admission is good for two days upon ticket validation (visit must be made within one week of purchase date). Special tickets are required for evening concerts and can be purchased by calling 860.572.0711, or at the Museum’s main entrance. Weekend passes are also available. College students will be admitted into the Festival for the youth rate upon presentation of a current student ID.

For more information, including ticket packages, musicians’ bios, and a schedule of performances, visit mysticseaport.org/seamusicfestival.

This event is made possible by the Friends of the Sea Music Festival, who raise funds each year to generously support sea music at Mystic Seaport.

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 Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world.  The Museum is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

First Responders Receive Free Admission and Family Discount

All active police, fire, EMT and ambulance personnel will receive free Museum admission during Safety on Sea & Shore Weekend at Mystic Seaport Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Free admission will be extended to all first responder personnel with proper identification as a way of saying “thank you” for their dedicated community service. Family members of personnel will receive the Museum’s discounted group admission rate: adult $19; youth (ages 6-17) $10.50; and free for children ages 5 and under.

First Responders Weekend recognizes the work of present day emergency personnel, and celebrates the people, methods, and vehicles involved in maritime rescues in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Plans for the weekend include: hands-on activities such as a bucket brigade, a fire hose competition, a breeches buoy rescue demonstration; historic apparatus on display including antique fire engines and a horse-drawn ambulance; and dog rescue demonstrations by K9 police dogs and the New England Newfoundland Dog Club.

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 American commercial vessel 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/.