Eastern NC readers should come out to the North Carolina Maritime Museum this evening (July 23, 2010) for “The Sea is History” exhibition. This is a free event featuring lectures at the NC Maritime Museum, boat shuttles to the Duke Marine Lab, and a reception at the LEED Platinum Certified Marguerite Kent Repass Ocean Conservation Center.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Dominicans and Cubans have left their homelands since 1960 by sea. They travel in fragile vessels or smugglers’ boats without prearranging authorized entry into another country. The aim of this exhibit is to raise questions, increase awareness, and encourage informed thought about these people.

Schedule after the jump.

4 – 5 PM: Lectures at the North Carolina Maritime Museum Auditorium in Beaufort

• 4:00 pm: Margaret Brown (Special Collections Conservator at Duke University Libraries) – “Sea as A Means of Escape from Political and Economic Hardship” a discussion about the politics and complications of telling this story.
• 4:20 pm: Paul Fontenoy (Maritime Curator at the North Carolina Maritime Museum) – “Improvised Escapes from Cuba”  illustrating some of the remarkable watercraft escapees have created and segments from an interview with one successful escapee.
• 4:40 pm: Holly Ackerman (Librarian for Latin America and Iberia at Duke University) – “Sea as A Means of Escape from Political and Economic Hardship” a discussion about Haitian, Cuban, and Dominican Sea migration from 1960 to 2010.

5 – 6 PM: Free water ferry from the Maritime Museum to the Duke University Marine Lab.

6 – 9 PM: Tour of exhibit and return ferries from Duke University Marine Lab to Maritime Museum dock.

7 PM: Reception with appetizers and cash bar with beer and wine.

~Southern Fried Scientist