Spanish Bronze Cannon Mount Construction and Display

The following proposal won the competition for funding by the Bronze Door Society at the annual meeting of the Bronze Door Society on May 14th. The project, presented by Dave Krop, will be the construction of mounts for and the display of two Spanish bronze cannon (1936.0025.000001A, 1936.0111.000001A). Representatives from The Mariners’ Museum acquired these cannons from Cabana Fortress in Havana, Cuba in 1936. Manufactured during the reign of Ferdinand VI (1683-1746) these two-ton guns, one cast in 1721, the other in 1746, saw use in the fortress until the Spanish-American War. Following the war, they were removed and stored in a dungeon until being acquired by The Mariners’ Museum.

Members of the Conservation department will design and fabricate new epoxy-coated steel mounts (similar to the mount for the CSS Virginia Dahlgren) that can endure year-round weather conditions in Newport News. Both mounts will be identical and will require little to no maintenance.

The cannon mounts will be constructed of 4” x 4” steel tubing welded to the appropriate configuration for strength and aesthetic value. Fabrication of each mount will take approximately 2-4 weeks, and require an additional week for proper coating in Exhibit Design facilities. FUNDED IN 2010

Bronze Gun Mounts 2010 Update June 2010
Significant physical work on the Spanish bronze cannon mount construction will begin this summer, following the current disassembly of the USS Monitor's port gun carriage (which will free up space in the lab), AAM reaccreditation activities (completion date June 30, 2010), and the conclusion of a 5-year federal grant cycle also ending June 30, 2010. Upon completion of these activities, Krop, Paden, and Nordgren, in coordination with other TMM staff who have agreed to participate in the project (Chris Voll), will begin mount construction and surface re- treatment of the To date, the following activities have occurred:

• Re-evaluation of both Spanish bronze guns for surface re-treatment/coating.
• Evaluation of surface corrosion products and necessary treatment supplies ongoing by Conservation department.
• Multiple discussions about mount design, including incorporating shape/design features ofprevious carriages into design proposed by Krop at BDS annual event. Strongly considering reducing construction material from 4" x 4" steel square tubing to 3" x 3" steel square tubing to minimize overall physical profile of mounts in relation to the "lean" shape of the bronze guns. Material will still provide sufficient physical support for guns. Krop and Paden have scheduled a meeting with Chris Voll on 6/18/2010 to discuss mount design and set a date for completion of final computer model of mounts.
• Computer model will provide data necessary to purchase appropriate materials for mount construction and coating.

Next steps:

• Purchase supplies.
• Complete evaluation of current surface coating and corrosion products on surface of
• bronze guns.
• Move bronze guns into Conservation laboratory for surface re-treatment.
• Construct and coat mounts.
• Discuss final display location options with Collections and Facilities staff.
• Move guns and mounts to final display location.

Barring unforeseen conservation issues related to the re-treatment of the guns' surfaces, this project should be completed in a 4-month window from the date mount construction begins.

Krop, as the mount construction project manager, will be available via e-mail, phone, or in person at the museum to discuss the project as it progresses in the coming months.
 

Library Exhibition

The Library and Archives of The Mariners’ Museum is known world-wide and draws scholars, authors, lawyers and students through its doors on a daily basis. And as beautiful as the new space is in CNU’s Trible Library, there is one thing missing: dedicated exhibition space within the Library itself. Implementation of this proposal would give TMM staff the flexibility to display both archival and collections pieces within the Library itself. Ease of staff access to the cases would allow them to react quickly to topical issues, or to display new acquisitions in a timely manner. Also—such flexible exhibition space allows the Museum the unique opportunity to partner with CNU’s Public History students and provide them with the means to curate small, short-term exhibitions within the space, thus introducing our collection, as well as the world of Museology and maritime history to a new generation of visitors.

To that end, Priscilla Hauger and Chris Voll from The Mariners’ Museum’s Exhibition Design department have created an elegant, as well as versatile design which would be implemented in the entrance to The Mariners’ Museum Library at Christopher Newport University. Echoing the 19th century ‘cabinet of curiosity’ feel with dark woods and brass accents, while imbuing the space with a 21st century sensibility with track or fiber-optic lighting, Voll and Hauger’s design ensures that these beautiful, archivally-sound cabinets and cases—filled with the treasures of the Library, Museum and Archives—would be the first thing a visitor would see as they enter The Mariners’ Library.

We have a world-class collection—we need to show the world what’s in it!

A possible idea for the first display is one that documents the service of two German ships that were interred at the Norfolk Navy Yard during World War I and the miniature village that the German sailors built in Portsmouth during the first years of the war—the Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prinz Freidrich Wilhelm. Besides many images of the ships and village in our Photograph Collection, we have an entire collection (MS189) of photographs and post cards documenting the ships and village from a sailor who served aboard the Kronprinz. We also have items in MS15, such booklets, menus, and plans of accommodation, that document the ships’ service as a civilian passenger liner. In our object collection, we have a band from a sailor’s hat who served on the Kronprinz Wilhelm that displays the ship’s name, an engraving of the Kronprinz, and the ship’s brass gimbals. The U.S. eventually commandeered the ships when we entered the war. We have several images of the ships during this time period, as well.

In short, we have enough material to provide a relatively complete narrative of the history of these ships from their passenger liner days, their service as German warships, their period of interment locally, and their tenure in U.S. service. Included in this history is the remarkable and little known story of the little German village that was built in Portsmouth. Indeed, the village could be the focus of the display, with the history of the ships providing background information and context. For further information on this project, contact Mary Sellen at MSellen@MarinersMuseum.org

Educational Courseware

The Mariners' Museum Education Department is working closely with Sara Johnston, Programs and Multimedia Specialist, to develop web content for school teachers and students. This content will be aligned with National and State Standards of Learning and will also support programming offered to students through on-site visits, out-reach sessions and Interactive Video conferencing.

Our IVC initiative has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years—in 2009 we taught 224 programs to sites as far-flung as Texas, Spain and Alaska. If the first quarter of 2010 is any indication, we should expect to see a 250% increase in demand for this type of program delivery. It is clear that the audience is hungering for this type of experience—and the topics are ours to own so long as we continue to provide deep, well-researched content that aligns with both state and national standards.

To create content that will be both educational and of assistance to teachers, we have determined that a software package—SoftChalk—will prove invaluable to creating content that will be interactive for teachers and their students, educational, and will maintain the professional and cutting edge appearance The Mariners' Museum wishes to have for it’s website. But most importantly, Softchalk helps us align all of our programs to each state’s standards—which allows us to serve even more districts as they come online with IVC technology.

The SoftChalk software is $550 per license, but we are investigating the possibility of receiving a discount for purchasing multiple licenses. (For efficiency, we will need multiple licenses to allow for program installation on more than one computer.) For further information on this project, contact Anne Marie Millar at or AMillar@MarinersMuseum.org.