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 | One of the SS United States' telephone switchboards, still aboard the vessel, many years after her final crossing. Photo credit: Steven Ujifusa.
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Executive Director Update
Dear SS United States Conservancy Members and Supporters:
As we enter our "make or break year," we are working harder than ever to assure that the SS United States endures as a vibrant and inspirational symbol as well as a job-creating economic catalyst in an urban waterfront setting.
We have begun to tally the preliminary results of our Annual Appeal, and we are incredibly grateful for your continuing support and goodwill. Beyond your crucial financial contributions, many of you took the time to share why the SS United States inspires you. We will be disseminating these reflections in various outreach materials as we build up to our summer celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of the SS United States' maiden voyage, but I wanted to share some of these sentiments with you now. In the words of Kyle Sund from San Fransisco, "In a text message and war-weary world, it is important to look at what was and remember that our history is important. The technological advances of our predecessors enabled the life we enjoy today."
Douglas Hoefle from Wilmington Delaware wrote that the SS United States "represents the absolute pinnacle of transatlantic ocean travel" and "deserves to be preserved and maintained for future generations as a reminder of mid-20th century life and as an example of what Americans can achieve."
Many shared personal encounters with the ship: Tony Straiges explained that he was in active duty in the Naval Reserve in the spring of 1952 and he was able to tour the newly minted SS United States from "stem to stern... Never at the age of 22 had I experienced the sight of such a beautiful liner. I will recall that day for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, by the time I could finally sail as passenger liner/cruise ship, she had been laid up. I only hope that I might walk her decks again, as a museum ship."
According to Greg Pastore from Philadelphia, the SS United States "is a cultural artifact, a work of art, a machine, a past way of life and an expression of national will. Its very existence represents an appreciation for what man has done."
Thank you so much for sharing your reflections with us, and please keep them coming!
Susan Gibbs
Executive Director
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 SS United States: Made in America Film Screening and Gibbs Lecture at Mariners Museum of Newport News | |
Conservancy Executive Director Susan Gibbs will present a "sneak preview" of the dazzling new film, SS United States: Made In America at the Mariners Museum of Newport News, VA, on Thursday, February 9. We hope that many Conservancy members and supporters from the Hampton Roads area, the birthplace of the SS United States, will attend this special event.
The film, a successor the award-winning film SS United States: Lady in Waiting produced by Bob Radler and Conservancy board member Mark Perry, includes extensive new footage and tells the riveting story of the SS United States past and present. After the film screening, Susan will deliver a short presentation on the SS United States Conservancy's ongoing to quest to preserve the record-breaking liner as well as share a few stories about her grandfather William Francis Gibbs, the ship's designer.
As a special treat to accompany the program, the Mariners' Museum Collections Department will be exhibiting original table, chairs, and place settings from the SS United States. A light reception will follow the screening and presentation. The event is free of charge. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
For more information on this event, please click here.
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SS United States to be Featured in New German Documentary | The leading German television news channel, N24, is producing a 45-minute documentary piece about the SS United States. Covering the liner's magnificent history, the piece will also profile the SS United States Conservancy's efforts to achieve the vessel's security over the long term. N24's Agenda Media was founded by prominent journalist Stefan Aust, author of Baader Meinhof Complex and former editor-in-chief of one of Europe's most important and widespread news magazines Der Spiegel. Agenda Media's Charlotte Kruger and Detlev Konnerth traveled to the US last month and shot extensive footage for the piece, including interviews with former crewmembers, passengers, and Conservancy staff, board and supporters. They also conducted archival research and collected vintage footage. The show will air nationally in Germany this spring.
 | Agenda Media's Charlotte Kruger and Detlev Konnerth film interviews with former crewmembers Joe Muchulsky and Alex Keisch as well as Conservancy Advisory Council member and former deck cadet Albert Herberger. Photo credit: Kyle Ober.
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| An Epic Story of An Epic Ship (and the Man Who Made It Possible) | |
After years of work and research, Conservancy development associate Steve Ujifusa's book, A Man and His Ship
, will be published by Simon & Schuster. Following William Francis Gibbs's improbable quest to build the best ship afloat, from his Harvard days to the launch of his masterpiece, the SS
United States, Ujifusa's book captures the sweep and spirit of the twentieth century. With a backdrop of the industrial innovation and ingenuity, the SS United States takes shape - eventually in aluminum and steel in a drydock in Newport News, but first in the mind of a singular and driven man.
A Man and His Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S.S. United States will be published on July 10th, 2012.
For the official release information and to pre-order a copy, please click here.
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Celebrating the Ship: A Musical Tribute to the SS United States
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The SS United States inspires us all. Whether life-long sea dogs or armchair seafarers, she is significant to each of us in different ways. Over the past months, many of you have written to the Conservancy, in tribute to the ship. You have praised her as a feat of maritime and American engineering, as a symbol of greatness, and as one of the most beautiful ships ever built. It is your passion for the SS United States that keeps her alive. We at the Conservancy encourage you to continue reaching out to us and sharing how you celebrate or commemorate the Big U and her legacy.
Clinton Grey, from Hereford, Arizona, has written an homage of a different sort to the SS United States. A high school student and jazz pianist, Clinton has penned a ragtime tune in the Big U's honor.
A longtime ragtime enthusiast, Clinton came to the SS United States through a love of the great ships. Starting with the RMS Titanic, he gradually and meticulously worked his way through the history of the great liners. But of all the vessels, the SS United States stood out. Fascinated by her speed and her sleek design, and motivated by her struggle to survive, he was inspired to combine his interest in music with a similar love for the ship. The result? The "SS United States Rag", to be performed either by pianist or by musical roll for a player piano.
Hoping to see the SS United States preserved and restored, Clinton says of the ship, "It's the American Dream that's been sort of fulfilled and forgotten. We can't let go of that."
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| SS United States Placed on Most Endangered List | |
2012 is the make-or-break year for the SS United States. In recognition of the ship's urgent situation, Joe Follansbee, the editor of the Fyeddeye Guide to America's Maritime History, has included the SS United States on the list of America's 10 Most Endangered Ships - the ships which are in the most imminent danger of disappearing.
The list, republished yearly, is intended to raise awareness of national maritime treasures left to languish. The Conservancy is determined to preserve the SS United States, and is aggressively pursuing every avenue that may lead to its stated goal. With your help and support, we will protect our ship from the dangers which have so long threatened her.
To see the full list of the year's most endangered vessels, click here
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| From The Vault: Beverley Jackson Recalls An Atlantic Passage | Last December, we began the series From The Vault, showcasing oral histories, still images, home movie footage and other personal remembrances of America's "ship of state." These stories and photographs will be incorporated into our future exhibitions, expanded archives and outreach materials. We will also share highlights in our newsletter. We are always searching for new material - we look forward to hearing from you! Contact us at archives@ssusc.org!
Beverley Jackson spent a charmed time crossing the Atlantic aboard the SS United States in 1953. Now, almost sixty years later, she recalls in a recent column the glamor and the building excitement of the voyage.
Beginning in Los Angeles, she and her parents traveled by train to New York, there to embark on the SS United States. The whole experience was nothing short of magical - from the armfuls of flowers, sent aboard by friends and well-wishers, awaiting her arrival in her stateroom, to the dizzy festivities surrounding the impending voyage.
Of the moment of departure, she writes, "Steam was now billowing out of the two red funnels, the band was playing, everyone was waving and shouting last minute words you really couldn't hear and there was a veritable net of brightly colored paper serpentine thrown by us at the railing to the waving friends below. It was rather a bond between us and those we were leaving behind. Then one heard the grinding of the anchor being hauled up, the churning of machinery deep within the ship in full action ..."
To read the rest of her account, please click here. |
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| The SS United States and the Queens of "The Age of Ships" | The SS United States looms large in "The Age of Ships", an excellent piece in City Journal. Michael Anton, the article's author, elegantly evokes a bygone world where even the people of landlocked prairie towns knew the names of the great liners. Chronicling the succession of Blue Riband holders, Anton pays special attention not only to the Normandie, the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, the United States, but also the men who designed and built them. For the full text of the article, please click here.
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Follow the Conservancy with Facebook and Twitter!
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Over the past few months, the Conservancy has completely redeveloped its social media presence, giving us new ways to connect with Conservancy members, fans and potential supporters of the SS United States. Be sure to join us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest in developments from the Conservancy as well as discussions, photos from the ship, photos of Conservancy events, and fun ship related trivia!
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