Dyer Library/Saco Museum
371 Main St.
Saco, ME  04072
www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org
 
NEWS RELEASE    
 
CONTACT:                Camille M. Smalley, Program & Education Manager
                                    207-283-3861 ext. 115
Email: education@sacomuseum.org
 
FOR RELEASE:        April 15, 2011 (immediate)
 
SEAFARING EXHIBITION AT SACO MUSEUM A COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND

Saco, Maine— The University of New England and the Saco Museum will team up this summer to create an exhibition on the great age of sail in Maine. Dr. Elizabeth A. De Wolfe, Professor of History at the University of New England, and Camille Smalley, Program and Education Manager for the Saco Museum, will team-teach an exhibition class titled “Voyages and the Great Age of Sail.” The resulting exhibition of the same name, curated by students in the class, will feature a treasure trove of artifacts related to the Saco sea captain Tristram Jordan —paintings, decorative arts, navigational tools, and more—in order to explore nineteenth-century maritime history. The exhibition will be on view at the Saco Museum May 7 through September 4, 2011.  A free public opening reception will take place on Friday, May 6, at 5:30 p.m.
 
The course “Voyages and the Great Age of Sail,” offered through UNE’s History Department, will use the experiences of a Saco sea captain, Tristram Jordan, as a window into nineteenth-century maritime history. Students will study the letters of Captain Jordan and his wife, Catherine, as a way to understand Saco and Biddeford's role in this important period of New England history. Jordan, at sea in both the trans-Atlantic trade and coastal New England trade for months at a time, wrote long letters capturing both of the excitement of the sea and of the time he could return to land and simply farm. Catherine, at home in Saco, wrote to her distant husband of her struggles raising their children, running a household, and managing the family farm and business interests. The Jordans' story is filled with the excitement and the dangers of life at sea and the challenges for the family left behind at home. Captain Jordan's life, and that of his son Frederic, both come to tragic ends at sea. As students learn the Jordans' story, they will explore the local, regional and national issues that made this period so important in maritime history, connecting a local story to national, and indeed global, trends.

The major project of this course is for students to design a museum exhibit to share the Jordans' story with the public. As part of this hands-on history course, students will make decisions about each facet of the exhibition, including which elements of the story to tell, what background historical information to provide, and which artifacts to display. Students will tackle design issues such as the layout of the exhibit, the wall colors and look of the exhibit, and accessibility to diverse audiences. Students in this class will learn about an important period in American history as well as how historians make important choices in the stories they tell, both in writing and visually.
 
Students will also have the opportunity to help plan and execute programming. Several events and programs will be offered in conjunction with this exhibition. Family events such as learning about nautical equipment, shipwrecks, buried treasure and seafaring imagery will occur throughout the summer 2011, as well as other on-and-off site outreach. So come down to the Saco Museum this summer and experience the great age of sail’s heroism and tragedies!
 
Voyages and the Great Age of Sail is made possible, in part, by a major grant from the Maine Humanities Council to the University of New England.
 
Image captions: Artist Unidentified (possibly William Stoodley Gookin, Saco, 1799-1872), Captain Tristram Jordan (1798-1856), circa 1830-1840, oil on canvas, Saco Museum Collection, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Hicks from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jordan Patterson; Spyglass owned by Captain Tristram Jordan, circa 1800-1840, brass, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred H. Hicks from the estate of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jordan Patterson.
 
Related Programs:
 
VOYAGES STUDENT GALLERY TALK
Come and hear the curators of the exhibition Voyages and the Great Age of Sail—all of them students at the University of New England—talk about the exhibition and the history course that started it all!
Main Gallery, Saco Museum
Thursday, May 12, 6:00 p.m.
 
BOOK TALK WITH WILLIAM H. BUNTING
William H. Bunting is the author of several books about New England maritime culture published by Tilbury House of Gardiner, Maine. Sea Struck is about the final decades of American square-rigged sail, as recorded in firsthand accounts of voyages made by three well-born young men from Massachusetts. The Camera’s Coast is a collection of historic photographs and ephemera providing a panorama of New England coastal activity from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Join us in the Voyages exhibition to hear about the author’s adventures in researching and writing about the great age of sail. Copies of Bunting’s books will be available in the Saco Museum gift shop.
Main Gallery, Saco Museum
Friday, May 27 at 6:30 pm
 
VOYAGES FAMILY FUN SERIES
This series will give you and your family four great reasons to visit the Saco Museum this summer! On four days in July and August 2011, you can learn how to tie different nautical knots, learn about sunken treasure and shipwrecks around Wood Island Light, experience sea shanties, and examine the art of the sea and take home your own maritime art creation.
July and August 2011: Details to come!
 
IT’S A PIRATE’S LIFE FOR ME
Julie and Brownie, renowned musicians and performers, will be singing sea shanties and taking the audience on a pirating adventure! Sign on The Ship, The Bonnie Lady for a voyage on an 1850's Clipper Ship down the eastern coast, around Cape Horn, and up to San Francisco with a cargo of fun, original and traditional sea songs, and Julie & Brownie in full pirate costumes!
Saco Museum Lawn
Thursday, July 7, 5:00 p.m.
 
Dyer Library/Saco Museum Information:
The Dyer Library/Saco Museum is located at 371 Main Street (Route 1) in historic downtown Saco, Maine.  Free parking. Museum is handicapped accessible. 
 
Museum Hours and Admission through May 31: Tues, Wed, Thurs 12 – 4 pm; Friday 12 – 8 pm (FREE from 4 – 8 pm); Saturday 10 am – 4 pm.  Regular admission: Adults $4; Seniors & Students $3; Children (7 – 18) $2; Children 6 and under, no charge. 
 
Museum Hours and Admission beginning June 1: Tues, Wed, Thurs 12 – 4 pm; Friday 12 – 8 pm (FREE from 4 – 8 pm); Saturday 10 am – 4 pm; and Sunday 12 – 4 pm (June-December only).  Regular admission: Adults $5; Seniors & Students $3; Children (7 – 18) $2; Children 6 and under, no charge. 
 
Admission is ALWAYS FREE to DL/SM Card holders and their guests. Group tour rate available for groups of 8 or more.  Group tours must be scheduled in advance. For additional information about group tours, please call 283-3861, ext. 115 or visit www.dyerlibrarysacomuseum.org
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