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To our dearest members and friends, Living through the pandemic has proved challenging for all of us, and we are so grateful for your continued support through the new obstacles we have all faced. We are proud to have had the ability to serve our community despite the adjustments to pandemic life. In fact, our little community museum has been growing and evolving in remarkable ways! With your support we can keep up the momentum, and continue our work to best serve the community through the education, preservation, and study of traditional Essex shipbuilding and the proud heritage of our town. We have been able to keep our education programs alive and well. We expanded our student boatbuilding class with the Topsfield Vocational Academy, maintaining another day of instructional time to accommodate smaller class sizes and facilitate social distancing. Under the tutelage of Mark Webster and Jeff Lane the students were able to build and launch an 18 foot Ben Garvey designed Skiff. The perfect small craft for the Essex River, this skiff will serve as a chase boat for rowing programs on our fleet of student built sharptown barges. Through the marvels of modern technology, and the generous support of the Cape Ann Community Foundation and Massachusetts Cultural Council, we were able to reach over 100 students in Essex and Gloucester elementary schools with virtual education programming. We were also able to host a virtual winter lecture series, and even provide a professional development day on the water for science teachers from the O’Maley Middle School. Our preservation efforts have also remained strong. We were able to update our HVAC system in the historic 1835 Schoolhouse that holds our archives to provide a better environment to care for our vast collection of artifacts, documents, and memorabilia. We have received many generous donations to add to our ever growing collection. The museum’s flagship, the LEWIS H. STORY, was dutifully cared for and able to make an appearance in Gloucester’s Schooner Festival: Parade of Sail and Mayor’s Cup Race. Even with a shortened season and reduced hours, the museum hosted over 1000 visitors, and boasts reinvigorated exhibits, fresh signage, and comprehensive guided tours of the1835 Schoolhouse exhibits led by Jim Witham an EHSSM founder and new museum docent. Further study was facilitated by our internship program, with two interns from MERSD and one intern from Bennington College who worked tirelessly over the spring and summer with the archives team to catalogue and scan over 5000 images from the Thomas Hoyne and Dana Story collections. We have been lucky to expand our team, adding Board Members, volunteers members, and staff dedicated to moving the museum forward. It is impossible to fully express how grateful we are to be able to serve this community. Thank you so much for your continued support. With your continued generosity we can carry on our mission to preserve and interpret the history of Essex and shipbuilding. Come by and visit. We look forward to seeing you soon. Dr. David M Driscoll, President of Board of Directors Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum.
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