|
(Note:
This press release has been designed for distribution
just prior to the opening of the Pirates! exhibition at your museum. By following the format below, you can
either use it as written or combine it with your own
publicity to meet special needs your museum may have.)
Pirates!
Hoist Black Flag Over
(NAME
OF MUSEUM)
The
bustling commerce of an 18th-century wharf. The pungent
scents of vanilla and fresh coffee beans. The sullen
gleam of a pistol. The chilling sound of a judge
pronouncing sentence: “You shall be taken to the place
of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck
until you be dead.” All are components of Pirates!,
the intriguing new exhibition opening at
(NAME
OF MUSEUM) on
(OPENING
DATE) .
Pirates!
uses shipwreck artifacts, period documents and
illustrations, computer interactives, and multi-media
components to paint a richly evocative portrait of the
buccaneers, pirates, and privateers whose exploits
helped shape the history of the Americas. Virtually
irresistible to both adults and young people, this
fascinating exhibition unfolds tales of real-life
pirates to examine the social and economic forces that
compelled their career choice and the pivotal role they
played in the American colonies’ fight for freedom.
“Piracy
is an ever-popular subject that never ceases to capture
people’s imagination,” says Angus Konstam, maritime
historian and curator of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum,
where Pirates!
was created and had its national debut. “What people
don’t know is that, from the days of Spanish and
English sea dogs through the buccaneers, through the
Golden Age of piracy and then the privateers, piracy was
interwoven into the development of this country.”
That
theme underlies virtually all facets of the
2,500-square-foot exhibition. Selections from the Mel
Fisher Maritime Museum’s collection of 16th- and
17th-century maritime artifacts, unparalleled anywhere
in the world, form the cornerstone of the exhibition.
Among them are religious items, pewter tankards
recovered from the wreck of the English merchant slaver Henrietta
Marie, ship fittings and tools, silver and gold
coins, and arms and ordnance including a rare
17th-century arquebus (long-barreled firearm) recovered
from the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Throughout, Pirates! brings history alive in a compelling—and sometimes
grisly—fashion.
Museum-goers
enter the exhibition to the strains of hearty voices
singing period sea chanteys, and first discover the
difference between buccaneers, pirates, and privateers.
The preliminary focus is on the rich Spanish Empire and
those who preyed on its treasure-filled galleons—men
like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake. A walk-in
sound booth describes Drake’s raid on St. Augustine,
Florida, in vivid detail; visitors can inspect a
17th-century arquebus as well as shipborne artillery and
the silver bars and coins, gold chains, and glittering
gems that the raiders sought.
The
next section of the exhibition gives museum-goers an
in-depth look at the lives of the notorious buccaneers
who menaced Spanish shipping and coastal settlements
during the early and mid-17th century. Using Sir Henry
Morgan’s exploits (including the sack of Portobello)
as a centerpiece, it also details the fierce rivalry
between the Spanish and English. Artifacts deal with
seamanship and life on board ship, while one of the
highlights is a reconstruction of a tavern in Port
Royal, Jamaica—a buccaneer boom town that, by 1690,
was twice as big as New York and one of the richest
cities in the Americas.
The
Golden Age of piracy, the late 17th and early 18th
centuries, is examined next. Its colorful
characters—including Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham
and the female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Reade—are
spotlighted, and museum visitors can try their hand at
hauling sacks of booty aboard ship using a block and
tackle system. In the exhibition’s most chilling
components, they are also able to stand in the dock and
hear the death sentence pronounced on Captain William
Kidd, and discover what happened to the luckless pirates
who were captured and hanged. This segment also outlines
the link between piracy and the slave trade, and
includes artifacts recovered from the slave ship Henrietta Marie.
The
role played by “legitimized pirates” or privateers
in the American colonies’ fight for freedom is a
pivotal part of Pirates!.
A vivid recreation of the sights, sounds, and smells of
the Crowningshield Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts,
features the typical contemporary cargoes that figured
in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. This
section also incorporates a model of the 18th-century
merchant ship Rattlesnake
and a replica of a “Brown Bess” musket like those
used in the American Revolution. The notorious Jean
Lafitte’s part in the War of 1812 is also examined.
Piracy
in the waters surrounding the Americas declined
dramatically during the first half of the 19th
century—thanks to an organized anti-piracy squadron
headed by the U.S. Navy’s Commodore David Porter, who
was based out of Key West, Florida. The final segment of
Pirates!
retells the efforts of his “Mosquito Fleet” and
contains artifacts from The
Spring of Whitby, a British merchant ship wrecked
off Vero Beach, Florida, in 1821.
From
its earliest beginnings to its virtual eradication,
piracy—with its renegade practices, colorful
characters, and inherent drama—captivated the American
imagination. Pirates!
provides a solid foundation in the social and historic
aspects that drove it, while recreating its fascination.
(QUOTE
FROM MUSEUM SPOKESPERSON EXPLAINING WHY PIRATES!
IS SO IMPORTANT FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS AND VISITORS TO
SEE.)
Pirates!
will be on exhibit from
(OPENING DATE)
through
(CLOSING
DATE) at the (NAME
OF MUSEUM) . It may be viewed at the
(STREET LOCATION)
museum
from (HOURS
AND DAYS) .
The exhibition is financed in part by the Historical
Museums Grants-in-Aid program. Assistance is provided by
the Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Historical
Museums, Division of Historical Resources.
|
