today, Sunday, May 22, noon
NATIONAL MARITIME DAY
You, your family, and friends are cordially invited to join the USMMA ALUMNI FOUNDATION USMMAAF) Connecticut Shoreline Chapter (CSC) for a memorial service at the former Maritime Officers Training School at Fort Trumbull New London, Connecticut at noon on National Maritime Day, Sunday, May 22nd. The Memorial is located at New London's Merchant Marine Memorial Park at Bowditch Street. This monument marks the site of the largest United States Maritime Service Officers School during events leading up to and including World War II. We of the USMMAAF-CSC together with the American Merchant Marine Veterans and Naval Armed Guards Associations have been holding this service at the memorial on National Maritime Day since the Navy departed the fort. After a noon Naval Gun salute and the reading of President Joseph Biden’s National Maritime Day Proclamation, a short service will be held. Our goal for this community event is to promote the maritime history of the State, the community, and the potential for the future of New London's magnificent deep-water harbor. Photo, Capt.Moses Rogers.
Please join the USMMA ALUMNI FOUNDATION (USMMAAF) Connecticut Shoreline Chapter (CSC) in honoring the United States Merchant Marine and those who gave their all supporting our freedom. The speaker this year will be ship pilot & NLMS trustee Joe Maco.
Luncheon follows at Capt. Scott's!
& from NLMS
An online exhibition about New London's unique relationship with the SS Savannah and her pioneering transatlantic voyage in 1819 under Captain Moses Rogers and First Mate Stevens Rogers.
A pictorial history of the U.S. Maritime Service Officers School at Fort Trumbull, New London, Connecticut (1939 - 1946)
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What's Up at the
Custom House
May 22, 2022
Join us! Become a member
The Custom House Maritime Museum & Shop are open 1-5 PM, Wednesday - Sunday, and Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM.
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photo above, Pauline and Russ DeMarco, charter NLMS members, got the Jibboom postcards out last Tuesday!
We thank our sponsors - Bodenwein Foundation - Chelsea Groton Foundation - Community Foundation of Eastern CT - CT Humanities - Eleven+ - Frank Loomis Palmer Fund - Robinson+Cole - State of CT - SVOG U.S. Small Business Administration.
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this Tuesday, May 24, 1:30 PM
JIBBOOM CLUB #1
Historian Eric Jay Dolin presents his new book, Rebels at Sea, on May 24. The event is by donation and space will be limited. Doors open at 1 o'clock; the program starts at 1:30.
Rebels At Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
The best-selling author of Black Flags, Blue Waters reclaims the daring freelance sailors who proved essential to the winning of the Revolutionary War. The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told before, yet missing from most maritime histories of America’s first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels, from 20-foot whaleboats to 40-cannon men-of-war, that truly revealed the new nation’s character―above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. In Rebels at Sea, best-selling historian Eric Jay Dolin corrects that significant omission, and contends that privateers, though often seen as profiteers at best and pirates at worst, were in fact critical to the Revolution’s outcome. Armed with cannons, swivel guns, muskets, and pikes―as well as government documents granting them the right to seize enemy ships―thousands of privateers tormented the British on the broad Atlantic and in bays and harbors on both sides of the ocean. Abounding with tales of daring maneuvers and deadly encounters, Rebels at Sea presents the American Revolution as we have rarely seen it before. Rebels at Sea is now available in the Museum Shop.
The Jibboom Club is not a ‘club’, but a friendly gathering of people interested in all aspects of the waterfront. Sponsored by the Maco Family Fund, meetings are free. We've got cookies & coffee, and good conversation. Please come and bring a friend.
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Sunday, May 29, 6-9 PM
OpenMic at the Museum
OpenMic meets 6-9 PM on the last Sunday of the month. OpenMic is a chance to meet other creatives, share ideas, have a few laughs, and gain confidence by putting yourself out there.
Performers of all kinds are welcome. Bring your bongos, read a poem, or sit back & enjoy. Admission by donation. Photo, Christina Corcoran
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We want to show off our love of the light. --Lloyd Beachy
So many people have commented that the lighthouse should be cleaned -- well, now is our chance. We're at $2,900 but need to reach $4,500 to do the job.
Please contribute!
With by-mail and online donations, we are more than half-way there...
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Saturdays at 11 & 11:45
We give tours year-round!
Meet at the lighthouse, then climb 116 steps to the lantern room -- all the while learning the 262-year history of Harbor Light, one of the oldest lights in the country, and the tallest on Long Island Sound. The 1865 4th-order fresnel lens remains in the lantern room. Views at the top are spectacular! Photos, Sebastien Jean Michel and Eduardo Montenegro at the lighthouse.
Tours takes 45 minutes. Everyone uses hand sanitizer and we all wear masks. Book a tour for up-to five people: click for May dates or June-Sept dates, or email to schedule a tour during the week.
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Have fun, find gifts, & support the NL Maritime Society.
New in the Shop are tea towels from the UK, $14, ammonites, seaweed, butterflies, and eggs!
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The Paulownia tomentosa, or Empress tree, native to China, is blooming just now behind the Custom House.
from wikipedia: The lightweight seed pods were commonly used as a packing material by Chinese porcelain exporters in the 19th century, before the development of polystyrene packaging. Packing cases would often leak or burst open in transit and scatter the seeds along rail tracks.
We like to imagine the tree seeds blew over to the Custom House from a crate unloaded on the pier.
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Keep Up with What's Up
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The camera is installed up on the chimney.
Sebastien Jean Michel, our new summer intern (studying computers at UCONN) made the final Internet connection on Saturday.
Now we just need some tech support to get things going...
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Visitors from Port Angeles, WA. |
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Lighthouse fans from Maine. They have visited over 80 lighthouses along the east coast. Photo, Steve Hambey
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Happy to have our collections manager Denise Davies back at work after a month-long cross-country meander with family. With any luck, her son Estlin will be back to help, too. (By the way, 'Estlin' is the 2nd 'E' in e. e. cummings.)
Photo below, SECONN's used scuba equipment sale in the CH courtyard.
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Talking About Preservation Spring Series
Tom Schuch, Black Heritage Trail, researcher
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CONNECTICUT EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
40th Anniversary season
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Photo, the new New London HarborCam is affixed to the Custom House chimney.
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View Online Exhibitions of New London Maritime History from the Custom House Maritime Museum's Frank L. McGuire Library.
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Facebook the Custom House MUSEUM SHOP for gifts with an extra feel good factor -- when you shop with us your purchases support our exhibitions, & educational programs.
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Photo, Colorful chalk & dominoes. Who knows what you'll find in the Shop.
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We're on Instagram! nlmaritime
Photo below: the Harbor Light landscaping last week.
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Have a Sparkling Day!
The Custom House Maritime Museum is open Wed.-Sun., 1-5 PM, Sat. from 10 AM- 5PM.
The Museum will be open on Memorial Day.
150 Bank Street, New London, CT 06320 | 860-447-2501
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