Education Mission
To reinforce the significance of cruising to the islands, educational
activities are planned to orient both the public and students on the
importance of coastal shipping and the steam engine to the history
of America. Explanatory visuals and brochures will be developed to
explain this role starting at the Charlestown Navy Yard during the
period of restoration and continuing once NOBSKA returns to
service as an operating steamship.
Restored, NOBSKA will contain
a small on-board museum to describe the essential significance of
coastal steamships as well as steam engines, along with appropriate
rotating exhibits.
Beyond activities directly related to NOBSKA's operation, there will be an outreach lecture series developed for school students and the general public to provide background and develop interest in traveling on the NOBSKA. Plans are being made to work with other nearby museums such as New Bedford's Whaling Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum, the Maritime Museum at Fall River, the Vineyard Museum, and Nantucket Whaling Museum in collaborative efforts to interpret the impact of the steamship at the local level. The major thrust of NOBSKA's educational mission is to show the "way of life" along the southeastern New England coastline, highlighting the role of the steamship.
The engine which powers the NOBSKA is itself a museum centerpiece. It represents the tremendous contribution of the steam engine as the industrial and transportation tool which powered our nation's development. From the steam engine's early use as a pump, to the power which turns industrial machinery, from its role in propelling ships and locomotives to its turning of electrical generators, there is no other single force which drove American development like the steam engine. Even today's automobiles and television pale by comparison in terms of their impact, for it was the steam engine which turned this country into a continental powerhouse.
During 1997, primary emphasis for our educational programs and educational materials will be designed to support the following:
- Development of museum exhibits interpreting the steamship age.
- Taking inventory of present artifacts.
- Development of lesson plans and pictorial support for schools.
- Development of steam engine models.
- Development of regular lecture programs for schools and museums.
- Building alliances with other museums.
- Development of interpretative materials to be used in conjunction with NOBSKA's presence at the Charlestown Navy Yard.