In Search of Virginia’s Maritime Heritage

On Saturday, August 24, between 9 a.m. and 12 noon, DHR will introduce a series of presentations focusing on how the commonwealth’s extensive network of bays and rivers has influenced and impacted the lives and commerce of Virginia’s citizens for more than 400 years, and how the public can become involved in a statewide effort to locate and protect maritime archaeological sites.

NOTE: If you plan to attend, you will need to enter the museum through the business entrance. See these directions.

The event, “In Search of Virginia’s Maritime Heritage,” will be hosted by The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News. It is open to the public and admission is free. Because space is limited pre-registration is encouraged.

Presentations will highlight—

• How Virginia’s waterways have shaped the state’s history from prehistoric times to the present, with an emphasis on how that history is revealed through shipwrecks and other underwater archaeological resources;
• How Virginians’ use of the commonwealth’s bays, rivers, and tributaries has changed over 400 years;
• How underwater archaeologists extract history from beneath the waters;
• How nongovernmental organizations can contribute to research, management, and protection of underwater archaeological sites;
• How Florida’s Public Archaeology Network has developed partnerships that involve the public in stewardship of buried cultural resources; and
• How the public can get involved in Virginia’s Underwater Archaeology Program.

Speakers will include Bruce Terrell, an archaeologist and historian with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; Patrick Brendan Burke, the associate director of archaeological research at St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum in Florida; Della Scott-Ireton, associate director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network at the University of West Florida; and John D. Broadwater, acting state underwater archaeologist with DHR.

The day’s event will conclude with a question-and-answer session, after which attendees will be invited to visit The Mariners’ Museum.

To register for the event in advance, please visit this link: http://bit.ly/2TgtDyg.

For more information about the event or for assistance with registering, please contact John Broadwater at 757-645-7836.