As we welcome the start of another year, the Patriots Point Development Authority Board and our employees are energized and optimistic about all the great things ahead for our museum.
This year, the USS Yorktown will celebrate her 70th anniversary. We have big plans underway to celebrate and we hope you will be a part of the festivities.
In addition, while ‘The Fighting Lady’ celebrates this milestone, Patriots Point will celebrate one of its own – our 40th anniversary as a museum. As the nation’s oldest carrier museum, we have charted a course for other museums to follow and we are proud of where we came from and where we’re going.
In the coming weeks, we will host an educational symposium entitled, “Internment in Times of War.” This special program will feature a panel of remarkable men and women and will explore their personal struggles, challenges and triumphs faced as internees and prisoners of war during conflicts ranging from WWII through Korea.
The symposium is a part of the Patriots Point Institute of History, Science and Technology’s series, “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things” and is free and open to the public. In addition, the symposium will be streamed live into Charleston County School District classrooms and on the Patriots Point website (www.patriotspoint.org).
In conjunction with this symposium, we will unveil a new exhibit entitled, “American Interment.” The exhibit will feature a replica of a Hanoi Hilton cell and POW items – including pajamas, plastic drinking cup, bowl and spoon, and other artifacts.
We also look forward to receiving a report from the MUSAIC Design Group for the first phase of the Museum Master Plan study. This study will find new ways to ‘bring the Yorktown to life’ through added technology and innovation. We will also receive the results of our Environmental Assessment study. This study is the first step in the restoration of the ship and will be followed next year by a structural analysis. This data will ensure that the USS Yorktown remains at the heart of Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum for generations to come.
On behalf of the Patriots Point Development Authority Board and our employees, we wish you a Happy New Year. We hope you are as excited as we are about our future and remain grateful for your continued support.
Respectfully,
R. Mac Burdette