Photo by George Sass
Now two years into its constriction of a new Maryland Dove in St. Michaels, Md., the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Historic St. Mary’s City have planned a virtual symposium for this fall to allow the public to dive deeper into the historic project.
Maryland Dove: A Symposium on Memory and Meaning will offer sessions on Wednesdays, Sept. 29, Oct. 6, Oct. 13, Oct. 20, and Oct. 27 that cover the transition from the current vessel built in the 1970s to a modern reproduction based upon decades of research. This series will consider the legacy of the iconic tall ship, as well as the future of the new vessel.
The series will begin at 3pm on Wednesday, Sept. 29, with a session titled “Researching Dove Tales.” The current Maryland Dove has served as Historic St. Mary’s City’s floating ambassador since 1978. Cambridge, Md., shipwright James B. Richardson was coaxed out of retirement to build the vessel, working with a handful of assistants over 15 months at his boatyard off the Choptank River. In this session, CBMM’s Associate Curator of Collections, Jenifer Dolde, will share research from an oral history project with shipwrights who worked alongside Mr. Jim on Maryland Dove, as well as plans for Dove Tales, an upcoming exhibition about the 1970s vessel.
Drawing by Iver Franzen
In the world of sailing, iconic tall ships stand out for their visible connection to maritime history. On Oct. 6 at 2pm, join Captain Will Gates (Historic St. Mary’s City), Captain Eric Speth (Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation), and Captains Lauren Morgens and Sharon Dounce (Kalmar Nyckel Foundation) as they share their experiences blending modern and historic expertise as ship’s masters aboard replica and reproduction 17th century vessels.
The next session, “Interpreting Maryland History on Both Sides of the Atlantic,” will be presented at 10:30am on Oct. 13. Heritage tourists in both North Yorkshire, England, and Maryland regularly encounter the shared history of the Calvert family and the establishment of colonial Maryland. In this session, Kiplin Hall & Gardens Director James Etherington and Maryland Heritage Scholar Henry Miller will discuss their perspectives on interpreting the legacies of the Calverts and an important chapter in American colonization.
“Diving into the Past: How Underwater Archeology Informed Maryland Dove” will be presented on Oct. 20 at 3pm. With the original Dove presumed lost at sea, the design of the reproduction Maryland Dove draws heavily upon research into the preserved shipwrecks of other period vessels. The Head of Research at Sweden’s Vasa Museum, Dr. Fred Hocker, has played a critical role in translating discoveries from the field of maritime archeology to guide the design and build process of Maryland Dove.
The final session in the virtual symposium, “Building Maryland Dove,” is scheduled for 3pm on Oct. 27. With a targeted launch of spring 2022, CBMM’s Lead Shipwright Joe Connor has taken the new Maryland Dove from idea into reality. In this session, Connor will highlight important milestones and review important design and build choices to craft a vessel that blends historical authenticity with modern U.S. Coast Guard standards for passenger-carrying vessels.
The cost to attend Maryland Dove: A Symposium on Memory and Meaning is $7.50 per session, with a 20% discount offered to CBMM and HSMC members. An additional discount is offered to anyone who registers for all five sessions, which will also be recorded and shared with registrants who are unable to participate live. To register, visit cbmm.org/dovesymposium.
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