National President’s Project
The National President’s Project for 2015-2018 will be in St. Mary’s City, the first city in
Maryland. Honorary National President Ellan Thorson also had a project in St. Mary’s City
during her administration and she has agreed to chair this project. Director of Research Dr.
Henry Miller has provided a proposal for the project, below is a partial description. We wanted
to provide a project that would be educational for children and we believe the project will be
that.
A vital part of the story of colonial America is the transatlantic crossings that moved people and
goods around the Atlantic World. Historic St. Mary’s City (HSMC) tells this with its
reconstructed 17th-century tall ship named the Maryland Dove. Significant aspects of the story
are not currently taught due to the lack of exhibits or the knowledge being unavailable. The
museum is requesting funding to build a permanent exhibit station that will focus upon the
ships, routes and underwater archaeology of the vessels.
We propose to design and install two large vertical exhibit panels on the Maryland Dove dock,
so placed to provide a direct line of sight to the underwater archaeology site. One sign will
discuss the nature of the vessels, an Atlantic voyage, and the routes taken, using the new
evidence. The Ark and Dove route will be compared to that taken by Edward Rhodes with
graphics. It will also show the different sizes of the Ark and Dove compared to the typical
Tobacco Fleet ship.
The second panel will talk about the underwater archaeology, discovery of the ship and the
major findings. This will also address ballast and be accompanied by a graphic or perhaps a
scale model of the cross-section of a tobacco ship that shows how the ballast was positioned
along with the cargo. Adjacent to these signs will be a lockable box that contains a sample of
the original ballast stones recovered by the excavations. Having this in association with the
signage will allow children or adults to be handed a real 17th-century piece of ship’s ballast to
hold as the topic is being addressed. And the general location of the actual ship’s remains can
be indicated.
A third sign panel will be created that is on the shore, facing the anchored Maryland Dove. It
will focus on the types of vessels that came to Maryland, with scale-accurate silhouettes of the
Ark and Dove and a tobacco ship, providing a strong graphic sense of the range of vessels
This will create two new learning stations for the education program. By placing one on the land
overlooking the ship, it can help with the overflow of school groups that sometimes occurs on
the dock by giving a new place to help interpret the maritime history.
For a donation of at least $25 to the project you can receive a spinning wheel pin, which are
available from the Supplies Chairman Martina Caputy and will be available during the October
Board Meeting in Detroit. Please contact her for more information.