Winter - Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

To the Point
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Winter 2010
Skipjack
Rosie Parks
to Sail
Again
by Dick Cooper
recent visitor to the Chesapeake Bay
A Maritime Museum’s St. Michaels campus
stops in front of the rotting hulk of a onceproud
skipjack and asks, “What in the
world is that?”
“It’s the Rosie Parks, one of the fastest
skipjacks to sail the Bay,” she is told.
“It’s a mess,” she says.
She is right. The old oyster dredger seems
to be melting. Other visitors quietly mount the
steps to the viewing platform alongside the
Rosie and pause to take in the long decks that
are caving in. They have a somber look as if
peering into an open coffin.
But thanks to a gift made years ago to the
Museum by a generous donor who once sailed aboard the Rosie
Parks and a new fund-raising campaign, she’ll be back in the
water, good as new.
“It will take about three years, but we want to get her sailing
again,” says Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Boat Yard
Manager Rich Scofield. “She will be historically accurate and
that will make her one of the last remaining skipjacks with
traditional construction.”
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum President Langley Shook
says almost $200,000 to start the rebuilding came
from the estate of Richard H. Grant Jr., a Dayton,
Ohio business executive who had a home in the
Easton area and was a friend of the Museum.
“This will jump-start the project,” Shook says.
“It’s the Boat Yard’s job to rebuild the Rosie. It is
my job to find the rest of the money.”
Rosie Parks circa mid 1980s, sailing around the Miles River.
Scofield says it will take about $500,000 to complete the rebuild
and another $500,000 to fund long-term maintenance. He says
the Museum plans to hire a project manager and two apprentices
to work full time on the job that will start in the spring.
Her original owner, veteran waterman Orville Parks, sold the
Rosie Parks to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in 1975.
Parks had worked the water since he was 12 and at age 78, his
doctor told him to go ashore. When he signed the Rosie over to
the Museum, she was valued at $25,000. Parks passed away from
a heart attack within 18 months of parting with
his prized vessel.
Until then, he had been her only owner. She
was always well maintained in an oystering fleet
that was known for showing as much rust as
paint. And she was fast, frequently taking honors
in skipjack races around the Bay.
continued on page 14

President’s Message
by Langley R. Shook, President
“Dad, a bugeye has two masts, not
one,” explained the seven-year old to
his father, as they stood on the dock
next to the 1889 Edna E. Lockwood.
The boy pointed to Edna’s two masts and then he pointed
to the skipjack, Lady Katie, in the next slip over. “See the
difference?” the little boy said.
“Yes, I do,” the dad replied and then nodded at me as
the two ambled off in the direction of our Hooper Strait
Lighthouse.
I smiled to myself as I continued my walk around
campus. It’s these interactions, overheard or observed
almost every day that inspire each and every one of us to
do our best work on behalf of the Museum.
After all, where else can you immerse yourself in such a
sense of place, so full of learning and wonder?
Imagine a world without the stories of the Chesapeake
Bay and its skipjacks, and bugeyes, and watermen, and
oysters, and crabs––imagine this and you begin to realize
the value and the vibrancy this institution provides.
One year into my tenure as just the fourth president in
the Museum’s 45-year history, I know that your support
now is more important than ever. Whether in the form of
donations, membership, or volunteering, you are the critical
force that keeps us moving forward and on course for
historical relevance into the future.
It’s because of support from people like you that we
can announce the restoration of the legendary skipjack
Rosie Parks; enroll all of Talbot County’s public elementary
school students in our “Crab Cakes” program, unveil
a newly designed and easier to navigate website, and install
new exhibits in our Steamboat building for you and your
guests to come back to enjoy time and again.
So at a time when holiday expenses and everyday bills
may beg of you to cut things out of your budget, we
thank you for understanding that your support of the
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is a gift that helps to
inspire and educate everyone we serve.
On behalf of the Museum’s Board of Governors, staff
and volunteers, we hope this edition of To the Point finds
you surrounded by the warmth of the holiday season.
And we thank you for the warmth of your support as we
eye new horizons, while keeping this Jewel of the Chesapeake
such a treasured place for that little boy on campus, and for
each of us to enjoy.
Board of
Governors
2010-2011
Joseph E. Peters, Chair
C G Appleby, Vice Chair
Alan R. Griffith, Vice Chair
Tom D. Seip, Treasurer
Mark S. Nestlehutt, Secretary
Bruce P. Bedford
Paul Berry
Harry W. Burton
Stuart A. Clarke
Frederic N. Cross
David E. Dunn
Jocelyn W. Eysymontt
Anna W. Fichtner
Howard S. Freedlander
E. Brooke Harwood, Jr.
Pamela Jana
R. Douglas Jurrius
Richard H. Kimberly
Peter M. Kreindler
William C. Millar
Geoffrey E. Oxnam
Joanne W. Prager
Bruce A. Ragsdale
Henry H. Stansbury
Benjamin C. Tilghman, Jr.
Richard C. Tilghman, Jr.
Barbara Viniar
Bruce B. Wiltsie
Langley R. Shook, President
Emeriti
Richard T. Allen
Margaret D. Keller
Breene M. Kerr
Charles L. Lea, Jr.
Fred C. Meendsen
Hon. John C. North II
Sumner Parker
James K. Peterson
Norman H. Plummer
John J. Roberts
Henry H. Spire
James E. Thomas
Joan Darby West
Donald G. Whitcomb
To contact staff dial 410-745
and the number listed next
to their name. For email,
use the person’s first initial,
followed by their full last
name @cbmm.org.
For example, to reach our
President, email him at
lshook@cbmm.org
Museum
Staff
Administration
Langley Shook, President, 4951
René Stevenson, Assistant to the President &
Director of Development, 4950
Jody Andrews, Dockmaster, 4946
Nicole Dull, Membership/Development
Assistant, 4955
Brenda Faulkner, Director of Human
Resources & Acting Store Manager, 4948
George A. Hatcher, Jr., Director of
Advancement & Visitor Services, 4978
Ida Heelan, Events Coordinator, 4944
Taylor Kegan, Membership Director, 4943
Tracey Munson, Director of Marketing &
Media Relations, 4960
Marie Thomas, Marketing Technician, 4953
Breene M. Kerr Center for
Chesapeake Studies
Pete Lesher, Chief Curator, 4971
Melissa Spielman, Director of Education &
Acting Volunteer Coordinator 4956
Eric Applegarth, Exhibits Specialist, 4945
Kate Livie, Assistant Director
of Education, 4947
Lynne Phillips, Collections Manager, 4972
Helen Van Fleet, Education Assistant &
Reservations Assistant, 4941
Boat Yard
Richard Scofield, Boat Yard Manager, 4966
Marc Barto, Vessel Maintenance
Manager, 4967
Dan Sutherland, Boat Yard Program
Manager, 4968
Don MacLeod, Vessel Maintenance
Assistant, 4967
Finance
Heather Moore, Vice President
of Finance, 4958
Digie McGuirk, Accounting/Human
Resources Assistant , 4957
Operations
Bill Gilmore, Vice President of
Operations, 4949
John Ford, Facilities Manager, 4970
Lad Mills, Boat Donations Program
Manager, 4942
Donna Fairbank, Facilities Custodian, 4969
Sam Fairbank, Facilities Maintenance
Assistant, 4969
Joseph Redman, Facilities Maintenance
Assistant, 4969
For general inquiries, email havefun@cbmm.org
In This Issue
President’s Message 2
Chairman’s Message 3
Curator’s Corner 16
Mitchell House Exhibit Opens
Calendar 17
2011 Save the Date Calendar
Event Highlights 8-9
Education 10-11
Frederick Douglass Day Essay Contest Winner
Lifelines 12-13
Highlighting the Museum’s dedicated volunteers
Rosie Parks to Sail Again 1 &14-15
by Dick Cooper
Charting the Course 16
Featuring Richard Tilghman
On the Rail 17
Goings-on at the Boat Yard
Currents 18
What’s new at the Museum?
Happy Holidays 20
Mission Statement
The mission of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum is to inspire an understanding of and
appreciation for the rich maritime heritage of the
Chesapeake Bay and its tidal reaches, together
with the artifacts, cultures and connections
between this place and its people.
Vision Statement
The vision of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum is to be the premier maritime museum for
studying, exhibiting, preserving and celebrating
the important history and culture of the largest
estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay.
SAVE THE DATE
Come to a Members Reception on Saturday,
January 29, 2011, from 4 to 6pm in the Van
Lennep Auditorium. Bring your questions
and ideas. Mingle with friends and staff.
Hear Langley Shook and Pete Lesher talk
about the “state of the Museum.”
Chairman’s Message
by Joe Peters, Chairman of the Board
One of the most exciting events
of the last several years took place
this past November at the annual
OysterFest, when we announced
our plan to restore the famous
skipjack, Rosie Parks.
This project, which will serve as
a living exhibit while restoration is
completed over the next several
years, epitomizes what this
Museum is all about. It speaks
to the history, the work, the culture and the people of the
Chesapeake Bay. This, of course, is a major commitment
on the part of your Museum. We have in hand about half
of the funds necessary to complete this restoration. We will
be designing a variety of ways in which our members and
friends can participate in this exciting endeavor.
Several other special events were held at the Museum
for the first time this year with great success including
Watermen’s Appreciation Day, Frederick Douglass Day,
and the Concours d’Elegance. We are hopeful that these
will become annual events.
As you know, all of the Museum’s wonderful events and
programs depend to a large extent on the support of our
members and benefactors. We are extremely grateful for
your dedication to the Museum in the past and welcome
you to join in continuing to build on the tremendous
momentum now underway. As always, thank you for your
friendship and support.
find us on
With 1,860 friends and counting, CBMM’s
facebook page has more than 560 monthly
active users. We update daily, informing
our followers of progress at the Boat Yard,
information about special events, and share
our endless supply of beautiful photography.
You don’t have to be a member of Facebook
to view our page! To add us, visit
facebook.com/mymaritimemuseum
2 3

Mitchell House Opens
As New Permanent Exhibit
The recently restored, historic Mitchell House opened as
a new permanent exhibit this past October, coinciding
with Frederick Douglass Day. Now located on the Fogg’s
Landing side of the Museum’s 18-acre waterfront campus,
Mitchell House helps to tell the stories and history of free
black laborers along the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Originally located on Lee Street in St. Michaels, the Mitchell
House was brought to the Museum several years before
undergoing restoration as a public exhibit. The left half of
the house is original, with the right half a reconstruction to
resemble its former state.
During the years this house was located on Lee Street,
St. Michaels was a center for oystering with oyster houses
and canneries, and growing employment for black watermen
and their families. Thousands of African Americans made
up one-third of the watermen on the Bay by the late 1880s.
The house was once the home of Eliza Bailey Mitchell,
who was abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s closest sibling.
Two years older than her brother, Eliza became Frederick’s
friend, playmate, teacher, and co-conspirator in the kitchen
and grounds of their masters’ plantations. It was Eliza who
taught Douglass the slave’s ploy of pretending ignorance or
forgetfulness in order to thwart a master.
Frederick Douglass, who was born Frederick Bailey,
changed his name to avoid capture when he escaped from
Many of our exhibits, like Oystering on
the Chesapeake and the packing house
display in the Small Boat Shed, include
African American history as part
of the story of how people have lived
and worked on the Bay, but none is as
poignant and relevant as the Mitchell
House. We are privileged to carry this
rich history forward for our visitors.
-Museum Chief Curator, Pete Lesher
This room incorporates exhibits that help explain who
free blacks were and why they are so important in the
story and history of the Chesapeake.
slavery. Born at Tapper’s Corner, near the Tuckahoe River,
and raised by his grandmother Betsey, Douglass lived in St.
Michaels between 1833 and 1836 as a slave of Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Auld, the family who also owned his sister. Eliza
Bailey married Peter Mitchell in St. Michaels. Peter was born
as a slave to the Hambleton family, owners of Perry Cabin.
Local Quakers who advocated the abolition of slavery
convinced the Hambletons to free their slaves. Peter continued
to work for the Hambletons after he was freed, and
after he purchased Eliza’s freedom in 1836, she also worked
This room displays a pre-Civil War domestic environment.
as a farm laborer. They were living in the house by 1871, and
possibly as early as the 1830s.
In 1972, James E. Thomas, a Mitchell family descendant,
became the first African-American Commissioner of the
Town of St. Michaels and, a few years later, its first elected
president. He was instrumental in saving the Mitchell house
from demolition in 1981.
The Mitchell House exhibit is both inside and out—with
an 1800s swept-earth landscape and heirloom garden, and
the two-room building. One room displays a pre-Civil War
domestic environment. The other will incorporate exhibits
that help explain who free blacks were and why they are so
important in the story and history of the Chesapeake.
A swept-earth landscape sits just a few feet away from
the Mitchell House’s front door.
Curator’s Corner
I was not old enough to work in the field . . . .
The most I had to do was to drive up the cows
in the evening, to keep the front yard clean,
and to perform small errands for my young
mistress, Lucretia Auld.
– Frederick Douglass
Keeping the yard clean meant sweeping an expanse
of bare earth around the slave cabin.
Swept earth was a domestic tradition brought by
blacks from West Africa. It helped to keep the
home safe from fires used for outdoor cooking
and washing. It also made the area inhospitable for
insects and pests, and removed hiding places for
snakes.
Shrubs tended to be set out as individual plants
rather than in groups and there were no hedges or
foundation plantings. These yards were also used
for slaughtering, food preparation and storage,
and soap making, leisure and recreation, as well as
ornament and display.
The design and plant selection of the Mitchell
House yard is an effort to recreate the setting
within which Peter and Eliza Bailey Mitchell lived
and raised their family.
They rent about an acre of ground on which
they raise vegetables enough for the family;
they raise their own meat.
– Lewis Douglass describing the Mitchells’ house
to his father, Frederick, 9 June 1865
4 5

2011 SAVE THE DATE Calendar
NEW!
Members
Reception
Saturday, January 29
4-6pm in the Van Lennep
Auditorium. Bring your questions
and ideas and mingle
with friends and staff. Hear
Langley Shook and Pete
Lesher talk bout the “state of
the Museum.”
Maritime Model Expo
Saturday, May 21 &
Sunday, May 22
24th Annual Antique &
Classic Boat Festival
Friday, June 17,
Saturday, June 18
& Sunday, June 19
Chesapeakebayacbs.org
Big Band Night
July, date to be announced.
4th Annual Chesapeake
Folk Festival
Saturday, July 23
2nd Annual Watermen’s
Appreciation Day
Sunday, August 14
14th Annual
Boat Auction
Saturday, September 3
14th Annual
Boating Party
Saturday, September 10
5th Annual St. Michaels
Concours d’Elegance
Sunday, September 25
29th Annual Mid-Atlantic
Small Craft Festival
Friday, September 30, Saturday,
October 1 & Sunday, October 2
OysterFest
Saturday, November 5
Apprentice For a Day
January - May 2011
16’ Rushton Double Ended Rowboat
“Florida Model”
Saturday/Sunday
January 8-9
January 15-16
January 22-23
January 29-30
February 5-6
February 12-13*
February 19-20
February 26-27
March 5-6
March 12-13*
March 19-20
March 26-27
April 2-3
April 9-10
April 16-17
April 23-24
April 30-1
May 7-8
May 14-15
May 21-22
May 28-29
Activity
Take lines off lofting, and
build molds
Bend stems, set keel and
stems, line off planking
Cut keel rabbet
Planking
Planking
Spare weekend for weather
Planking
Clean, sand and seal interior
Varnish interior
Spare weekend for weather
Varnish interior
Steam bend and install ribs
Gunwales, inwales, and risers
Decks
Seats and floors
Oars
Sand and seal exterior
Paint and varnish
Paint and varnish
Hardware and launch
Memorial Day weekend
*Open dates- Classes will be held, activity to be
determined, please call for details.
To register, or for more information, call
Dan Sutherland at 410-745-4986,
or e-mail dsutherland@cbmm.org
Calendar
The Perfect Holiday Gift
This 13 ½’ New Jersey Melonseed sail boat was built
by the participants in the Apprentice For A Day boat
building classes. She is lapstraked cedar planking riveted
to steam bent sassafras frames. Her traditional
sprit sail rig and daggerboard make her a very easy and
forgiving sailor with a good turn of speed.
The lapstraked hull allows her to be trailered or dry
sailed. The asking price for this beautiful handmade
Melonseed is $8,500.
This kid’s paddle boat was built by the Apprentice For
A Day boat building classes. Based on a design by
CBMM boat builder Dan Sutherland’s grandfather, this
fun little paddle boat is every kid’s dream. Paddles turn
independently for steering and reverse.
Make your child or grandchild very happy this
Christmas with his or her very own yacht. Asking price
for the paddle boats is $450. Call Dan Sutherland at
410-745-4986, or e-mail dsutherland@cbmm.org.
6 7

Event Highlights
28th Annual
Mid-Atlantic
Small Craft Festival
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Concours d’ Elegance
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Frederick Douglass Day
Saturday, October 23, 2010
OysterFest
Saturday, November 6, 2010
William Wells, Young Frederick Douglass, Mary Thomas,
Judge James Thomas and Norman Anderson.
8 9

Education
Lighthouse Overnight Adventures
Reserve now for Spring 2011
Through fun, interactive activities, your group can
“travel back in time” to experience the rustic life
of a lighthouse keeper. The program is available
Fridays & Saturdays throughout spring and fall for
children ages 8-12. Maximum 12 children/3 adults.
To make a reservation or for more information,
call Assistant Director of Education Kate Livie
at 410-745-4974, or email klivie@cbmm.org
(left) Participants in the Lighthouse Overnight Adventure
program try on the clothes of a traditional lighthouse
keeper and swear the “oath of lighthouse allegiance” to
become an official Hooper Strait Light Keeper.
(above) Third-graders from Easton Elementary School
participate in the Crab Cakes program and “sort through
the daily catch” with Assistant Director of Education Kate
Livie. The program uses hands-on activities to teach
students about the Chesapeake blue crab and its journey
from the Bay to the table, focusing on the people who
earn their livelihood from the crabbing industry.
Students have a chance to walk in their shoes, crewing
on a crab dredge boat, operating a trotline, picking
stuffed crabs at a packing house, and various other
hands-on activities.
Art work by a fourth grade student from White Marsh
Elementary, as part of CBMM’s Oystering Student Program.
It has been an incredibly rewarding experience
offering the Frederick Douglass essay contest.
The essays we recieved were, as a whole, insightful,
moving, and intensely creative. It was my pleasure
to read each Talbot County student’s illuminating
perspective on a historical figure of such local and
national importance. Over 150 essays were sent in,
and as I read through each one, I found a renewed
appreciation for Douglass’s legacy of freedom
through education.
-Kate Livie, Assistant Director of Education
If I had dinner with Frederick
Douglass, we would discuss…
By Juliette Neil, Country School Student
I am writing from the point of view of a reporter in the
1800s, imagining what questions a journalist would have
asked Frederick Douglass and why. I explain this all to my
sweet but critical Aunt Jane, who is fictional, as is the reporter
from whose point of view I am writing.
Dearest Aunt Jane,
As you know, I have been chosen to interview the
esteemed Mr. Frederick Douglass! I wanted you to read the
questions I have prepared, and for you to offer your views.
Mr. Douglass, what did the visits with your mother
consist of ?
You see, Aunt Jane, I am well aware of the fact that his
mother escaped at night to come stay with her son until he
fell asleep, but I do not know what they did during that time.
Did she sing young Frederick to sleep, or did they talk? I
think that a mother-son reunion would have been more than
just him falling asleep, and I do wish to know more on the
subject.
Mr. Douglass, what made you decide to fight Covey?
Obviously, he would have been angry at the man who played
cruel tricks on slaves, but perhaps there was more to that.
Rebellion, or maybe frustration, toward this mean man who
treated the slaves as little more than dirt, caused this spite.
Mr. Douglass, what was your reaction to your failed
escape?
When he successfully escaped, he must have been triumphant,
happy, but when he failed and was sent to jail, the
emotions passing through him must have been terrible. I
wonder, Aunt Jane, was he disappointed, angry, nervous?
What was going on in his head and heart at that time?
Mr. Douglass, how did you react to the beating those
white sailors gave you? And what was your feeling about
the fact that the witnesses did not lift a finger?
At the beginning, he did try to fight back, Aunt Jane, but
the white men depleted him physically, and the
onlookers didn’t
do anything to
help him. Imagine
that! You’re
being abused with
people watching
you, and no one
helps you, no
one cries in your
defense! All they
do is watch you
get hurt. How
horrible is that?
Changing your
name from
Bailey to
Essay Winner
Essay winner Juliette Neil, from
The Country School, reads her essay
aloud during Frederick Douglass Day.
Douglass was a precaution, but did it mark something
else for you?
You see, I think that shedding his name meant starting a
new life, and leaving behind the slave. I don’t know how Mr.
Douglass felt about it, but I believe it was pretty significant.
Were you proud of your sons when they joined the
army, or were you scared for their lives?
Both of Douglass’s sons joined the fight against slavery, but
I wonder how Mr. Douglass felt about that. Surely he was
worried for his sons’ lives, but did he support them in their
decision? After all, he was a slave, and he did play an active
role in the war.
How did your family react when you remarried to a
white woman? How did you respond?
Don’t you wonder, Aunt Jane, how this marriage would have
disturbed their family peace? I know that I would have been
angry towards this woman whose race had caused so much
pain, and I do not know whether I would have been able to
accept her into the family. Furthermore, I wonder how Mr.
Douglass would have responded. Would he have matched
their feelings with anger, or answered tranquilly yet firmly?
Mr. Douglass, if you could relive your life, is there
anything you would have done differently?
I find this final question an interesting one because he
lived such a fulfilling life, and it seems odd that he would
have done anything differently. But I believe people who
have done great things see themselves in a different light
from the shining one we see them in, and Frederick
Douglass may have seen a mistake where the rest of the
world did not.
I would deeply appreciate your comments on these
questions, things that Mr. Frederick Douglass and I shall
discuss over dinner.
-J C MacNeill
10 11

Lifelines
Model Guild
The enthusiastic cooperation on
projects and the opportunity to learn
from other members makes the
Model Guild an especially enjoyable
volunteer activity at the Museum.
-Bob Mason, Director of the Model Guild
A special thanks to our volunteer water captains and crewmembers, who offer Mister Jim rides for the Museum’s on-the-water
programs. Pictured from left: Nick Green, Tom Hollingshead, John Stumpf, Tom Carlson, Duane Lundahl, Don Parks, Bill Day,
Lou Beman, Jerry Friedman, Geoff Holmes, Ben Tilghman, Richard Shaw, Robin Gordon, and Lloyd Devigne.
The Academy for
Lifelong Learning’s
(ALL) winter semester
begins in January,
and follows a fall
semester with the
highest attendance in
ALL’s history.
Please register early,
as courses fill up fast.
You can look for your
class catalog to come
in the mail soon.
ALL offers an enriching experience – with classes
focused on history, literature, art, science, religion,
leisure, sport, current affairs and more. One of
the many benefits of Museum membership is a
discounted ALL membership.
To request a course catalog or for more
information, contact Helen Van Fleet at
410-745-4941, or email hvanfleet@cbmm.org.
Information on ALL can also be found at
cbmm.org/l_academy.htm
Get Involved with CBMM
Would you like
to help with our
special events?
Give tours of the
Museum?
Do model boats
intrigue you?
Are you a gardener?
Is research your
cup of tea?
Volunteer Docent John
Stumpf leads a tour around
Watermen’s Wharf.
Whatever your interests, we have an opportunity for
you! Learn more about becoming a volunteer and
the fun ways you can help and meet new people too!
Contact Acting Volunteer Coordinator
Melissa Spielman 410-745-4956,
or mspielman@cbmm.org
Wander through the Museum grounds on any Monday
morning, and you will find a group of volunteers hard
at work building boats. You may be surprised to find yourself
not at the Boat Yard, but at the Bay History Building among
the dedicated members of the Model Guild, who support the
curatorial needs of the Museum with display models. Each
year, Guild members conduct four classes to teach modeling
skills while making a lapstrake skiff or a half-hull model of the
Pride of Baltimore II.
A major project of the Guild is to manufacture model kits
to sell in the Museum Store. The kits for sale include Martha,
a Hooper Island draketail, the Lark, an early sailing deadrise
workboat, a lapstrake crabbing skiff, and the Hooper Strait
Lighthouse. The Model Guild was loosely organized in 1990
and headed up by
Norm Stewart, an avid
model builder who
was actively involved
at the Museum for
many years.
Prior to the Guild’s
formation, Stewart
offered a variety of
model building classes.
In 1990, the curatorial
department
approached him for
assistance to build
display models for
the Steamboat Building
exhibition. Stewart
organized a group
for the project, which
Model Guild Director & Treasurer
eventually branched
Bob Mason
into other activities.
12 13
The Model Guild, back row from left, Casper Behr; Graeme Clapp;
Tom Huddleston; Gary Nylander; Bob Mason, Director and Treasurer;
Jim Wortman; Gordon Ries; Ed Santelmann. Front row: Dennis Berg;
Kirby Scott; Angus MacInnis; Ted Suman.
(above) A model of the
Hooper Island Draketail,
Martha.
(left) A half-hull model of
The Pride of Baltimore II.
Approximately 30 volunteers currently make up the organization.
Every Monday morning several members meet to
review current and future endeavors. The group is not all
business though––the informal atmosphere has been another
draw for the Guild. Members enjoy not only the group dynamic,
but also the chance to share their love of model building
directly with the public through an open window in the
Model Gallery of the Bay History Building, and also through
classes and open houses during the Museum’s festivals. New
members of any experience level are always welcome.
For more information about the Model Guild, please contact Bob Mason
at 410-745-3266, or email bobmason@atlanticbb.net.

continued from front page
Feature
President Langley Shook announced the restoration project at the November 6 OysterFest,
with three generations of Parks family members by his side, as well as the Museum’s Board
of Governors.
But Rosie was 20 years old when she joined the Museum’s
floating fleet. That was well past middle age for a craft that
typically lasted only 30 years before it had to be retired. Scofield
says the Boat Yard crew kept Rosie in shape for several years,
sailing her as a roving ambassador around the Bay to show the
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum flag at festivals and watermen
contests. “The last time she sailed was in the mid to late 1990s,”
he says.
By 2000, Rosie was dock-bound and demoted to being a stage
for dockside programs for school groups. Her sails were raised as
a demonstration exercise, but she did not slip her mooring lines.
A log of the repairs done to keep Rosie afloat lists a plank-byplank
process over 25 years. But it became clear that the repairs
would not stop the decay. Rosie’s decks became unsafe and the
dockside classes were stopped. Rosie was dying.
A 2002 entry reads, “Rosie sinks dockside while moored.”
Extra pumps were added, but Rosie became a filter for Bay water
as her old seams opened and her loblolly skin sloughed away.
In 2006, the decision was made to pull Rosie out of the water to
save what was left. Once on land, several of her bottom planks
fell off. Water pressure and a few rusty nails had been the only
force keeping them in place. Scofield did not give up on Rosie.
While others questioned the decision to keep her under a tent
behind the Boat Shop, he held out hopes. Rosie was a skipjack,
not the Space Shuttle. She was a simple boat made with local
wood by craftsmen who worked with hand tools. Also, Rosie has
a special pedigree and place in Eastern Shore history.
She is a Bronza Parks boat.
While no longer a household name, in the mid-1950s Bronza
“Bronzie” Parks was a well-known boat builder, popular
community leader and political candidate in Dorchester County.
He was also the victim of one of the more sensational murders
on the Eastern Shore.
As a boat builder, Parks earned
the reputation for excellence
that spread far from his home in
the fishing hamlet of Wingate.
A 1955 Baltimore Sun article
described the assembly line
he had set up to build three
skipjacks at one time. The Rosie
Parks was built for his brother
Orville and named for their
mother. The Martha Lewis was
built for his brother-in-law,
James Lewis, and named for
his mother, and Lady Katie was
named for Bronza’s wife.
Parks’ boat yard was not on
the water, so when the boats
were completed, they were
loaded on a long, big-wheeled
cart and towed to the launch
site a quarter mile away on the
Honga River.
Although the basic skipjack
design was more than 75 years
old by that time, there was still
a demand for the sailing vessels.
Maryland law required that dredging oyster bars in the Bay had
to be done under sail. Parks, the Sun reported, started working
the water when he was just a boy and was not impressed with the
handling of the boats on which he served. He began building a
crabbing skiff for himself but before he could finish it, another
waterman bought it from him. Thus began a career that would
turn out more than 400 boats.
…
(right) Boatbuilder
Bronza Parks posed at
the bow of one of his
skipjacks.
(left) Capt. Orville H. Parks
at the helm of the skipjack
Rosie Parks.
PHOTO BY ROBERT H. BURGESS, 1955.
In 1958, Bronza Parks was hired to build an 18-foot skiff by
Willis C. Rowe of Silver Spring, Maryland. Rowe was a lawyer,
researcher, and writer for the U.S. News & World Report magazine.
On May 13, 1958, Rowe asked another legendary Eastern Shore
boat builder, Captain Jim Richardson of the Neck District west
of Cambridge, to go with him to Parks’ boat shop and inspect
the skiff, according to original press reports researched by
Dorchester County writer, Hal Roth.
Richardson later testified in court that he waited outside the
shop while Rowe went in to talk to Parks about payment. Three
shots rang out. Richardson told a jury he reentered the shop and
saw Parks on the floor, dead, and Rowe holding a revolver. Rowe
was taken to Cambridge by the sheriff as a crowd of about 150
Wingate residents gathered around the Parks shop. A mysterious
fire destroyed the skiff.
Rowe was held in state mental facilities for almost five years. In
1963, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced
to 18 years in prison. The case was overturned by Maryland’s
highest Court of Appeals because the jury found Rowe was
sane when he shot Parks, but insane when he stood trial. He was
retried and convicted in 1965.
…
Scofield says one of the goals of rebuilding the Rosie is so she can
become a roving ambassador for the Museum and St. Michaels.
The skipjack represents a key part of the Bay’s history. The lines
for the Rosie were lifted in the late 1970s and the Museum has
plans and dimensions to help with the reconstruction. Scofield
says parts of the original keel, the transom and the stem may be
saved and reused.
14 15
“We hope to involve area school children in the project,” he
says. “I can see Tuesday and Thursday mornings working with
kids on specific jobs.”
Pres Harding, Bronza Parks’ grandson and a Chestertownbased
musician, says the family is very excited about the project.
“I was a young boy when those boats were built, but I remember
all three of them in the yard,” he says.
Harding’s musical group has performed at Museum events
over the last two years. “I have to say, I was pretty shocked when
I saw the condition Rosie is in,” he says. “This is a really good
thing for the family and the Museum.”
Three generations of the Parks family were at the Museum
when the rebuilding project was formally announced on
November 6. Now deceased, Bronza was married to Katie
Lewis and had five daughters – Lucille, Irene, twins Mary and
Martha, and Joyce.
Shook says he envisions the project as an ongoing exhibit.
“Visitors will be able to return several times and watch
the progress.”
Photos from the Museum files show the skipjack in her prime.
She is under sail, cutting through the water as white foam rushes
from her stern. It is a majestic sight, a glimpse of the past and a
look into the future when Rosie Parks returns to sail again, rebuilt
and ready to rejoin the Bay’s skipjack fleet.
-Dick Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize-winning career journalist with more
than 35 years of daily newspaper experience. He was a reporter and
editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer for 28 years before moving to
St. Michaels, Maryland.
PHOTO BY RILEY WALTER

Charting the Course
On The Rail
Skipjacks embody the strong spirit of Chesapeake
people. They not only represent what is past, but
also the ways in which people’s lives are currently
connected to the Bay. People that care about this
place, and its connections to its people will support
this very important project.
-Richard Tilghman
Spes alit agricolum: Hope sustains the farmer.
– Tilghman Family Motto.
In the history of the Tilghman family—including
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Board of Governors
member and generous supporter Richard Tilghman—farming
was deeply connected to the Chesapeake Bay.
“The Bay was the highway and commerce system of the
Eastern Shore,” comments Tilghman. “It was the quickest
way to get crops and other goods to the other side. Now that
way of life is gone. About all that’s left of the old Eastern
Shore is the recreation we enjoy on the Bay.”
As a 12th generation Eastern Shoreman, Richard
Tilghman could make the case that the Chesapeake Bay is
as much a part of him as his family is a part of American
history. The Tilghmans settled in Maryland in the mid-17th
century and became one of the founding families of the
United States. His mother’s family, the Lloyds, also settled
on the Eastern Shore in the 17th Century and still own the
property known as Wye House, where Richard and his wife,
Beverly, now live.
Recently, Richard and his wife and mother made a substantial
gift to the restoration of Rosie Parks. Built by Bronza
Parks, Rosie is one of the Chesapeake’s most well-known
skipjacks.
When asked why giving to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime
Museum and the Rosie Parks restoration is so important to his
family, Tilghman takes pause. “It’s almost an innate response.
It seems awfully important
to preserve
the things that used
to be, so that we can
understand where
we have come from
and ultimately, who
we are.”
At the Museum,
hope also sustains
the legacy of the
skipjack.
The Rosie Parks is
a two sail bateau, or
skipjack, which was
Museum Board Member Richard
Tilghman at the Wye House.
deemed Maryland’s
State Boat in 1985.
Skipjacks are the last working boats under sail in North
America.
In winter, fleets of skipjacks used to dredge oysters from
the floor of Chesapeake Bay. “Drudgin,” as watermen called
this process, was hard, cold, dirty, and sometimes dangerous
work. In 1957, more than 80 skipjacks plied the waters of
Chesapeake Bay.
Today, the prevalence of powerboats and disease and
environmental hazards affecting the oyster, present a bleak
future for commercial skipjacks. Despite restoration efforts,
the fleet has diminished sharply in recent years. Few skipjacks
operate commercially except in the tourist trade.
“Skipjacks embody the strong spirit of Chesapeake people,”
said Tilghman. “They not only represent what is past,
but also the ways in which people’s lives are currently connected
to the Bay. People that care about this place, and its
connections to its people will support this very important
project.”
Richard Tilghman joined the Museum’s Board of
Governors in 2009. He also serves as president of the
Historical Society of Talbot County and on the boards of
Pickering Creek Audubon Center and the Maryland Historical
Society. Prior to moving to Wye House in 2006, Tilghman
was a partner in the international law firm DLA Piper.
Edna’s old king plank will also be
replaced, and will sit on top of the
new mast partner being built.
(top) The shipwrights working on the Edna E. Lockwood have constructed a cover to protect them from the winter elements, complete with
windows. (from left) From the inside - Shipwright Marc Barto chips out a pine beam, which will be replaced with a more durable Douglas Fir
beam. The Edna was dismantled down to her nine logs in 1975 and rebuilt over the next several years. Shipwright Apprentice Joe Green (left)
and Master Shipwright Marc Barto (right) are using hand tools to build a new mast partner to support the main mast for Edna. The shipwrights
are using White Oak for Edna’s new mast partner, which will then be bolted together and installed on the deck beams of the 57’ 1889 bugeye.
CBMM Heros
Annual Fund Gifts of $500 or greater
Last year almost 1,000 donors together gave over
$500,000 to our Annual Fund—a new record. This
year, we’re off to a running start and wish to extend our
deepest gratitude to the generous self-starters who
already have made a sizeable gift or pledge before a
single appeal letter or “ask” was even made.
Watch for your Annual Fund appeal letter in the mail,
or use the enclosed envelope. We thank you in advance
for giving generously. The Museum has big plans and
you can be a big part of them by making a tax deductible
donation by April 30. Be a Hero!
Antique & Classic Boat Society -
Chesapeake Bay Chapter
Nancy & C G Appleby
Beth & Harry Burton
Jocelyn and George Eysymontt
Anna & Chip Fichtner
Liz & Howard Freedlander
Shirley S. Gooch
Penny & Alan Griffith
Leeds Hackett &
Victoria McAndrews
Pam & Jim Harris
Nancy C. Hickey
Jane & Frank Hopkinson
Pam & Jerry Jana
Karen & Dick Kimberly
Alice & Peter Kreindler
Pat & Ted Lewers
Nancy & Fred Meendsen
Maxine & Bill Millar
Talli & Geoff Oxnam
Fran & Sumner Parker
Mary Lou & Joe Peters
Donna Cantor & John Pinney
Carol & Charles Robertson
Alexa & Tom Seip
Karen & Langley Shook
Sally & Roger Stobbart
Susan & Jack Stoltz
Beverly & Richard Tilghman
Joan & Clif West
Lisa & Tim Wyman
Become a CBMM hero!
Use the enclosed envelope to
mail in your donation or visit our
website at cbmm.org/give.htm
to use your credit card or
PayPal account.
*list current as of November 22, 2010
16 17

George A. Hatcher, Jr. and Joe Green Join Museum
The Museum is pleased
to announce the
addition of George A.
Hatcher, Jr. of Easton,
Maryland, and Joe Green
of Portland, Oregon, to
the staff.
As the Museum’s director of advancement and visitor services,
George is responsible for overseeing the membership,
development, and visitor services activities of the Museum.
George brings more than 25 years executive management
experience to his position, which most recently includes his
tenure at Easton Ford and Norris Ford of Easton.
George earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
with distinction from the University of Virginia before
serving in the aerospace industry earlier on in his career.
His community involvement includes serving as secretary
and past-president of the Rotary Club of Easton as well as
co-chair of the Next 50 Years Committee of Sts. Peter and Paul
High School in Easton. He is a charter member and past
president of the Chesapeake Bay T’s and for 21 years has
served as the host of WCEI’s Standards radio show, which
airs Saturday mornings.
Joe Green has also come on board at the Museum as a
shipwright apprentice with the Boat Yard. With an associate’s
degree in wooden
boat building from the
Northwest School of
Wooden Boat Building in
Port Hadlock, Washington,
Joe will be working
primarily on the restoration
of the Museum’s bugeye,
the Edna E. Lockwood.
During his one-year apprenticeship,
Joe is living
on Tilghman Island.
The next time you are
on campus, please help
welcome George and Joe
to the team.
Visit the new CBMM
Website: cbmm.org
We’d like to hear from you! Tell us what you think of
the new website. Send us an email at havefun@cbmm.org
What’s
What?
Chicken
Beak
Currents
A Maryland term, a chicken beak is another
name for the long head, which is the
decorative piece of wood forward of the
stem of a skipjack, under the bowsprit.
The skipjack’s trailboard is usually attached
to the chicken beak.
With a mix of casual elegance and formal settings,
the Museum is ideal for weddings, corporate
functions, and special events. To reserve the
Museum’s facilities for your next special
event, contact Ida Heelan at 410-745-4944,
or email iheelan@cbmm.org
Come Shop!
Take advantage of your member discount
at the Museum Store this Holiday Season.
You’ll find a wide selection of regional books,
jewelry, model kits, clothing,
ceramics, and more.
Can’t make it to the store?
Shop online at cbmm.org/store
CBMM Supports Frederick Douglass Honor Society
The Museum recently presented a check for $10,000
to the Frederick Douglass Honor Society (FDHS),
proceeds from Frederick Douglass Day, held at the
Museum on October 23.
The proceeds will help fund the Frederick Douglass
statue, to be installed at the Talbot County Courthouse
in Easton, and support educational programs on
Douglass’s life in the Talbot County Public Schools and
Libraries.
“We’re happy that the event was so successful,” said
CBMM Chair Joe Peters. “We hope this is just the first
of a long string of partnerships with this cause.”
“Our partnership with the Maritime Museum has
been a positive experience,” said Frederick Douglass
Honor Society President Eric Lowery. “It shows that
organizations working together can effectively give support
and encourage community involvement in projects
that improve our quality of life. We’re so grateful for
the volunteers who came from several organizations
and for Museum President Langley Shook’s initiative in
creating the event.”
Pictured from left: CBMM Chair Joe Peters, FDHS President,
Eric Lowery, Frederick Douglass Day Co-Chairs Harriette
Lowery and Karen Shook.
In addition to donating all the proceeds from the
Frederick Douglass Day event, the Museum also donated
staff time in coordinating volunteers, assisting the
committee, and working the day of the event.
18 19

Happy
Holidays!
PHOTO BY DAVID HARP
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Navy Point PO Box 636
St. Michaels, MD 21663
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage Paid
Chesapeake Bay
Maritime Museum
To the Point
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum