MMA STUDENTS TO STAFF CASTINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY EXHIBITS

MMA STUDENTS TO STAFF CASTINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY EXHIBITS

Castine, Maine – With its public exhibit season extended through October 15 this year, the Castine Historical Society is pleased to announce that Maine Maritime Academy students will be serving as exhibit docents on weekends throughout the fall.

This year’s seasonal exhibit at the CHS Abbott School location, “Schooner Bowdoin on the Greenland Patrol”, is co-sponsored with Maine Maritime Academy and tells the little known story of the National Historic Landmark schooner’s World War II service. The extended season at CHS will allow MMA students, parents, faculty and alumni – as well as local residents, visitors and school groups – to explore the Bowdoin’s arctic history from her first voyage north with Admiral Donald MacMillan in 1921 through more recent voyages as MMA’s flagship sail training vessel. With the Bowdoin recently returned to her home port from summer training voyages, visitors to the CHS exhibit will also have an opportunity to see the historic vessel at the MMA waterfront in Castine during the fall season.

MMA faculty members and Bowdoin exhibit co-curators Peg Brandon and Betsy Reese are continuing their research on schooner Bowdoin and her service on the Greenland Patrol. Five MMA students working with them on that research will join CHS volunteer docents in manning the exhibits during public hours in September and October. Visitors to the Castine Historical Society will have an opportunity to engage the students as they conduct their research, and learn more about the back stories of the officers and crew who served on the Bowdoin during WWII as well as how the arctic schooner came to be part of this historic engagement.

The public schedule for CHS exhibits this fall will be Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 10:00am to 4:00pm, and Sundays 1:00-4:00pm. Arrangements can be made for school groups and others to visit the exhibits on other days by contacting CHS in advance at 326-4118 or by email at info@castinehistoricalsociety.org .

In addition to the seasonal exhibit on Schooner Bowdoin in Greenland in World War II, the Society offers a permanent exhibit on the Penobscot Expedition of 1779 at its location in the Abbott School at 17 School Street on the town common in Castine. For more information on the Castine Historical Society and its exhibits, visit CHS online at www.castinehistoricalsociety.org or call 207-326-4118.