Dear Rowing Enthusiast:
It is my distinct pleasure to inform you that on 11/5/07 The National Rowing Foundation and its Rowing Hall of Fame joined Mystic Seaport to realize our long-term vision of a place where rowing can record and celebrate its achievements.
Superb space (approximating 1300 square feet) in the G. W. Blunt White Building has been allocated where we can work with the Museum to develop extensive exhibits using archives and materials we have amassed over the last 30 years.
In addition, we will develop a lasting tribute to the crews, athletes, coaches, and patrons who have been, and will be, inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame maintained by the NRF. In combination, this will build a strong new constituency for Mystic Seaport and the NRF.
The location is the ground floor of the former Library, the G.W. Blunt White Building; prominently adjacent to the Museum's North Entrance overlooking the Mystic River. We will share space in the building with the Cruising Club of America, the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Program in Maritime Studies, and special exhibits from the Museum's all-encompassing collections.
An enthusiastic volunteer force of local people with rowing interests met in the building on Saturday, November 10 with NRF staff and officers of the Friends of Rowing History.
This wonderful partnership between the Foundation and the Museum gives our sport and its heritage an opportunity to create a focal point of national stature for this country's rowing history, at Mystic Seaport. The enthusiasm has grown from the expansion of collegiate, scholastic, and community rowing programs in Southeast Connecticut, which began with the annual race on the Thames River between Harvard and Yale. The Coast Weeks Regatta and The Battle Between the Bridges comprise the Mystic Weekend of Rowing in early September each year.
To quote Doug Teeson, Mystic Seaport's President, "We envision a strong new center of excellence in the form of unique museum-quality exhibits, plus archives of the sport, and the Hall of Fame, all in one great location".
We will have an exhibit in place by March 9, 2008, the date of the Friends of Rowing/NRF/Mystic Seaport's Rowing History Forum. Please join us!
Regards,
Hart Perry