Council Member Joann Ariola on board Wavertree at Pier 16.
Photo by Shane O’Brien
Council Member Joann Ariola said she plans to introduce an initiative encouraging District 32 schools to visit the South Street Seaport Museum and nearby historic vessels after visiting the area to mark America’s 250th birthday last week.
Ariola had planned to take a number of District 32 residents aboard the wrought iron 19th-century cargo vessel Wavertree last Monday but was forced to reschedule the visit due to inclement weather. Last week’s rescheduled visit featured a much smaller group due to the last-minute changes.
Photo by Shane O’Brien
Still, Ariola believes that the museum and historic ships present a unique opportunity to teach school children part of America’s history, adding that she believes it is important to continue promoting such history after the fervor of the USA250 celebrations has died down.
“It shouldn’t just be on the nation’s anniversary,” Ariola said. “I’m going to try to make it an initiative in our public schools in District 32 that they utilize funding that we provide for trips to the South Street Seaport Museum, to make sure that kids of all ages can come.
“We’re here today with someone who came on a fourth grade trip, and now they’re an adult and couldn’t wait to experience it again.”
She also believes that students have to “see” history so that they can properly learn about it, adding that Wavertree offers an insight into conditions sailing across the Atlantic from Great Britain in the late 19th century.
“They can learn about it in school, but they have no idea the adversity of sailing from Great Britain to America, the adversity of getting the news out the way we saw with the printing press. “It’s important that they see it, and I think that they would be thrilled. I’m going to make it a priority.”
Wavertree, which is permanent docked at Pier 16, was built in 1885 in Southampton, England, and circumnavigated the globe at least three times, carrying commodity cargo such as Australian grain and Chilean nitrate in its massive cargo hold.
Wavertree’s cargo hold. Photo by Shane O’Brien
A tour of Wavertree lasts roughly 30 minutes and involves a tour of living quarters and the tall ship’s cavernous hold. The ship stands as the last remaining iron-hulled three-masted full-rigged cargo ship in the world.
The South Street Seaport Museum, meanwhile, tells the story of New York’s rise as a port city and currently houses a number of unique documents as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, including an original copy of the US Constitution printed in 1787, a printing of the Declaration of Independence from 1776 and rare handwritten pages from an inaugural address that George Washington never delivered.
Photo by Shane O’Brien