By LANNAN M. O’BRIEN
For Cape Codders, it’s easy to become desensitized to the water that surrounds us every day. Even if we appreciate its beauty, do we understand the role it plays in our local history? Situated on the water next to Michael K. Aselton Memorial Park, where the Hyannis ferry departs for Nantucket, is a vital resource that reminds us of our maritime traditions — and their significant impact on our past, present and future.
Established in 1998 (and open at its current location since 2004), the Cape Cod Maritime Museum hosts a rotating series of exhibits on local maritime history, ecology and marine biology. Currently, those include “Quest for Cod: Two Hundred Years of Fishing in Provincetown, “Hyannis Port Railroad Wharf: 1854-1937, “Shellfishing Cape Cod: Past, Present and Future,” and “Where are we? “History of Navigation from 1200 BC,” among others.
Opened in April, an exhibit called “Surrounded by Water” features the work of students from several schools in Barnstable, from elementary through high school, who were prompted to react to their feelings about growing up on the water and being stewards of their maritime environment. Of the work they created, museum executive director Elizabeth York said, “We were incredibly impressed. A lot of the artwork has a statement to it, whether it’s through the medium that they were using or through the incredible talents [of the students].” The exhibit will be displayed through April 2024.
As the result of earning a competitive $20,000 Mass Humanities grant called “Expand Massachusetts Stories,” the museum is working with a local Wampanoag-led creative agency called SmokeSygnals to design an upcoming “Women of the Water” exhibit, which it plans to open in October. The exhibit will spotlight “women from history who either work with or on the water in many different ways,” said Ms. York, including lighthouse keepers, WHOI scientists, and Wampanoag tribe mothers. Specifically, one feature of the exhibit will highlight women at war: “It’s telling the story of a top-secret LORAN station run by women in the Coast Guard out of Chatham,” she said, referring to the Women’s Reserve members known as SPARS (an acronym for the Coast Guard motto, “Semper Paratus-Always Ready”) who were recruited for various shore jobs during World War II.
However, the exhibits themselves are a small part of what the museum has to offer.
Open year-round, the nonprofit provides lecture series, workshops and classes, and programs for children and families. The museum’s summer camp, called the Young Mariner Program, engages children in grades 4-7 in maritime-themed STEM activities like navigation, seamanship, marine life, sailing and local ecology. New this year is a Junior Mariner Program, said Ms. York, which will be available for children and teens ages 12-16. “It will be much more of an in-depth look at different topics,” she said, adding that it will include a marine biology “boot camp” and a navigation and seamanship boot camp. In the fall and winter, the museum also offers a boat building workshop for middle school students, where children work as a team to construct a 12-foot traditional rowing skiff. At the end of the workshop, participants’ families may choose to purchase the boat. “It’s really amazing for kids to have this opportunity, because you’re learning hands-on skills that you can’t learn anywhere else,” Ms. York said. “They become confident using tools, and learning math skills… and it’s so different from sitting in a classroom.”
The 21+ crowd will be excited to learn about History on Tap, a three-part series coming to the museum this summer, in which participants can enjoy living history presentations while sampling beer from local breweries on the museum’s waterfront patio. The series will run on Fridays in July (check the museum’s online event calendar for details at capecodmaritimemuseum.org).
For those eager to get out on the water, there are plenty of options to do so. Led by volunteers from the Cape Cod chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association, the museum runs tours around Lewis Bay in a traditional fixed-seat rowing rig. In addition, from late June through Columbus Day, there is a unique opportunity to ride as a passenger on Catboat SARAH, an 1886 Crosby Catboat replica that was built in the museum’s Cook Boat Shop. The boat rides are a way for people to learn about sailing, said Ms. York, or to simply relax and enjoy a sunset cruise. “It’s a great way to see Cape Cod from the water,” she said.
All of the museum’s programs are possible thanks to its staff and dedicated team of volunteers, who Ms. York describes as passionate about the core values of the organization: ensuring that the Cape and islands’ maritime history is kept alive for years to come. “That includes making sure that young people and adults are able to build skills in that field, whether it’s building a boat or witnessing our surfboat restoration, or visiting the museum and attending one of our programs. We all have that sort of shared interest for our maritime future.”
Cape Cod Maritime Museum
135 South Street, Hyannis
(508) 815-4435
capecodmaritimemuseum.org