Saratoga to house history display from Annapolis

NORTH KINGSTOWN – An interactive Navy history exhibit from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., will go on permanent display in Rhode Island under an agreement with the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation.
The exhibit comprises 30 panels, most six to seven feet tall by between three to four feet wide.
They were the heart of a $1.5 million exhibit – “100 years and forward,” depicting the Navy’s history from the late 19th century to the Vietnam War era – that opened at the Academy Museum in April 2000, the foundation said. Some panels – including the one about the attack on Pearl Harbor that sparked the U.S. entry into World War II – are interactive exhibits that include video and audio presentations.
“This exhibit was designed in 2000 as a prototype for the type of exhibit the new museum would contain,” Frank Lennon, the foundation’s president, said in a statement last night. “However, Naval Academy officials decided not to include it in the new facility, which will ultimately focus on the history of the Naval Academy and the contributions of Annapolis graduates, rather than the history of the Navy.
The original plan was for the exhibit to go to the USS Massachusetts at Battleship Cove after the Naval Academy Museum closed for an 18-month renovation, but at the last minute, the Fall River museum said it was unable to accommodate the display, which
had to be picked up before Jan. 14, when the building where it had been housed was slated for demolition.
“We only learned of this opportunity on December 20th,” Lennon said. “We were able to pull this off thanks to the resourcefulness and responsiveness of our volunteers.”
Richard Picard of Woonsocket and Patrick Twohey of North Smithfield flew to Baltimore on Jan. 12, and picked up a rental truck, then drove to Annapolis, where Naval Academy Museum Curator Scott Harmon was awaiting their arrival. With the help of Twohey’s uncle, James Donahue, an Annapolis area resident, they dismantled the exhibit, loaded it up, then headed for home.
The panels are now at the Saratoga headquarters in North Kingstown, and eventually will go on display at the planned Saratoga Museum.
“The educational community in Rhode Island has benefited greatly from this Annapolis decision,” Lennon said. “A few of the panels depicting the early days – Spanish American War and World War I in particular – went to academic departments at the Academy,” he added. “But we have the lion’s share, to include the complete presentation of World War II.”
For now, segments of the exhibit will be on display on a rotating basis at the Foundation’s headquarters, 6854 Post Road, North Kingstown.
“This exhibit puts us in the education business immediately,” said John Gibbons, one of Saratoga’s project managers. “Because of its size, a permanent display of the whole exhibit must await the opening of the aircraft carrier Saratoga. In the interim, we would welcome working with another group or organization with a space large enough to effectively display it all.”
An online slideshow, showing the exhibit on display at the Naval Academy Museum before the move, can be viewed at www.usna.edu .
The USS Saratoga Museum Foundation is working to rehabilitate the World War II-era aircraft carrier and create an Air, Land & Sea Heritage and Technology Park at Quonset Point in North Kingstown – tentatively being called “The Saratoga Experience” – that besides a museum/memorial might include restaurants, vocational training workshops, community meeting space, recreation space, rides and even a water park. To learn more, visit www.saratogamuseum.org or call the foundation at 398-1000.