Councils A Vital Force for Voyages of "Old Ironsides"

By JAMES D. HESSMAN
Senior Writer & Editor Emeritus

"Old Ironsides Across the Nation," an award-winning educational outreach program jointly sponsored by the U.S. Navy and the USS Constitution Museum in Boston, has completed the first half of an extended tour of cities and classrooms and now is ready to get underway for the second half of what will be a six-year voyage of discovery, not only for America's schoolchildren but for their parents and grandparents as well.

The purpose of the program, which has been strongly endorsed by the Navy League of the United States, is, in the words of Burt Logan, executive director of the museum, "to take the story of America's most cherished ship to our next generation of citizens and leaders."

A wooden-hulled, three-masted, 44-gun frigate, USS Constitution--built in Boston and launched on October 21, 1797--is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy today. She won early fame in combat against the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean as flagship of the squadron commanded by Commodore Edward Preble, and during the War of 1812 defeated the 38-gun British frigate Guerriere in a classic battle in heavy seas about 400 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was in that battle that, because Guerriere's guns had almost no effect against Constitution's rugged hull, she won the nickname "Old Ironsides."

Now permanently homeported at the Charlestown Navy Yard, the ship and museum host more than 250,000 visitors annually. "Old Ironsides Across the Nation," or OIAN, was instituted to give more Americans the opportunity to learn about the Constitution, by sending members of the ship's crew and selected ship's artifacts or replicas to host cities across the nation.

The Navy, Logan said, has given the program its fullest support, "particularly as represented by the officers and crew of USS Constitution." Each of the ship's three commanding officers since the program began in 2000 has contributed strongly to its success, Logan said.

"Cdr. [now Capt.] Bill Foster embraced OIAN as an educational outreach opportunity and joined me in a joint presentation at the Navy League's national convention in Reno [Nev.] in 2001. Cdr. Randy Neal made the continuation of OIAN one of his top priorities, despite the increased demands placed upon him, his crew, and the ship following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 200l. And Cdr. Lewin Wright, the current commanding officer, has pledged his support as the program enters its fourth school year."

Ivan R. Samuels, president of the Navy League's New England Region, said that the Massachusetts Bay Council--which has worked with the museum and the ship on numerous projects in recent years--fully endorses the program. Many members of the museum's board of trustees-- for example, William C. Kelley Jr., a past NLUS national president, and Raymond R. Couture, a former national vice president--also are members of the Navy League, Samuels pointed out. And Logan himself is a member of the Massachusetts Bay Council.

During the past three years, the program has received support from a number of other NLUS councils throughout the country, Logan said, "including the Pittsburgh [Pa.], Charleston [S.C.], and Mobile [Ala.] councils." Even earlier, though, in the formative years of the program, he said, "the Greater Cincinnati Council, under the leadership of Walter Foster, and the Chicago Council, headed by Bill Glynn, had been extremely helpful."

"More recently," Logan told Sea Power, "the Greater Central Texas Council and its president, Glenn Looney, set a new standard for both personal and council involvement."

The councils, as well as a number of individual Navy Leaguers, helped support the program in a variety of ways, Logan said, including by hosting luncheons and meetings throughout the week that the program visited their areas; putting the Constitution Museum in touch with local school administrators and school board members; arranging introductions to the local media; endorsing and recommending support of the program to other community and civic groups; and helping to secure an appropriate public venue that could accommodate the 10,000-pound replica of the ship's gun deck, which has been of particular interest to schoolchildren and adults.

Members of the crew and museum representatives toured the Midwest with the collection of historic ship's artifacts in the program's inaugural year, 2000-2001, stopping at such high-visibility sites as the Navy Pier in Chicago; Glendale Mall in Indianapolis, Ind.; the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh; and the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Year 2 (2001-2002) was reserved for Washington, D.C., and the Southeast, with the ship's artifacts and exhibits on display at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Charleston; the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, Tenn.; and the Museum of Mobile.

The third year of the program (2002-2003), touring the South Central states, featured stops at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis; the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas; and the Science Spectrum in Lubbock, Texas.

The program's visit to Austin succeeded primarily because of the "year of planning" that preceded it, said Looney, National Director and Past President of the Greater Central Texas Council. During that time, he said, the council worked with local school districts, a well-qualified media and public relations specialist (Kathy Pillmore of Pillmore Communications), other patriotic organizations including the Military Affairs Council of Austin and the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, and the LBJ Library and Museum, which served as the venue for several events, including a weekend educational exhibit that drew more than 1,400 people. The results, Looney said, were impressive. In addition to the extensive television and newspaper publicity the visit generated:

Ship and museum crew and staff members visited 12 Austin and Del Valle elementary schools and presented the story of "Old Ironsides" to 1,200 students. Neal, then the ship's commanding officer, spoke to students at three high schools as well.

Museum educational specialists conducted a workshop for 30 area teachers, training them in the use of an "Old Ironsides" curriculum and materials.

Neal and Logan were featured speakers in the LBJ Library's Distinguished Speaker Series, and addressed several civic, military, and heritage organizations in the Austin area.

The program's educational purpose has been enhanced significantly by the development and distribution--to numerous schools in the cities hosting the tour--by "All Hands on Deck: Learning Adventures Aboard 'Old Ironsides,'" an interdisciplinary package by free-lance writer Penny Parsekian. It was produced by the USS Constitution Museum for teachers from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

A pilot project for the package, which includes a video and poster for classroom use, was funded in part by the Greater Cincinnati Council.

Another related program that has attracted considerable interest in host cities has been a regional lottery, designed both to support the Old Ironsides program and to publicize the ship's summer turnaround cruises in Boston Harbor. During the first three years of the "Old Ironsides Across the Nation" effort, almost 4,500 lottery entries were submitted from people hoping to win one of the 100 invitations to board the ship for the turnaround cruises that are allocated for each of the six geographic regions of the country visited or scheduled for future visits. Of that total, 25 invitations are reserved for educators, 25 for students, and 50 for the general public.

Among the numerous weekend events also scheduled for the lottery winners are a Welcome Aboard reception at the museum, a teacher workshop, a Sunset Parade, behind-the-scenes tours, and a variety of special family activities.

The fourth year of the program--touring cities in California, Arizona, and other states of the West and Southwest, will begin early next year, Logan said. Year 5 is scheduled for Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, and elsewhere in the Northwest and Upper Midwest. The program will complete its national tour in 2006 with visits to cities in New England, New York, and the Northeast.

Footnote: Robert S. Martin, director of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, a prime source of federal funding for the nation's libraries and museums, announced on October 21 that the USS Constitution Museum has been selected to receive the institute's 2003 National Award for Museum Service, which is considered to be the highest honor in its field. Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center and the San Angelo (Texas) Museum of Fine Arts are the only other museums, of an estimated 15,000 supported by the institute, to be selected this year.

The three museums, Martin said, "have uplifted lives, improved neighborhoods, and made our nation better. ... They have one thing in common: They have each found innovative ways to make serving the community central to their mission. They use their collections and programs to address real community needs."

For additional information about the USS Constitution Museum and the "Old Ironsides Across the Nation" program, contact: Margaret Warren, National Outreach Coordinator, USS Constitution Museum, P.O. Box 1812, Boston, Mass. 02129; phone 617-426-1812; email mwarren@ussconstitutionmuseum.org.