Here comes the Amistad -
A replica of a 19th-century schooner set to dock in Poughkeepsie Thursday will put Dutchess County in touch with its history of slavery while attempting to promote interracial cooperation. The Amistad saga dates to 1838, when 53 West Africans were kidnapped, brought to Cuba on the ship, then rebelled before the Amistad was seized off Long Island. The West Africans were jailed, but successfully defended in the U.S. Supreme Court, resulting in the return of 35 survivors to Africa. The reconstructed Amistad was built by Amistad America Inc., a national, nonprofit education organization based in New Haven, Conn. This vessel is on a tour of the Hudson Valley that will stretch over a week and include a stop in Kingston. The Amistad — the original was the subject of a 1997 Steven Spielberg film — will be docked at Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie Thursday through Saturday, then sail to Kingston before returning to Poughkeepsie Oct. 19-20. Scheduled for the ship's stay in Poughkeepsie are tours of the vessel, along with theater, concerts, lectures, a symposium and many other activities set for venues throughout the city. Admission to all events is free.
PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Here comes the Amistad
BALTIMORE - Tighten the main sheet. For the 17th time, the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race will launch Thursday just south of the Bay Bridge and make a 126-mile journey to Norfolk, Va. The race was started in 1990 as a personal challenge by Lane Briggs, a captain from Norfolk, to the Pride of Baltimore II and was sailed between Baltimore and Norfolk because of the rich sailing history the two cities share. “A big part of it is to recognize the maritime heritage of the bay,” said Nan Nawrocki, the vice president of Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, Inc., and chair of the Maryland Racing Committee. The race is a partnership between the Friends of the Chesapeake Bay in Portsmouth, Va., and Baltimore, an organization that educates students about the bay. The race donates the excess participation fee funds to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Great Schooner Race launches Thursday - Examiner.com
K W Kerr for Heidi Sawyer
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