Video
Julius Britto Ernestina-Morrissey Interview
Transcript
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Speaker 1
Today is August 28th, 2023.
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We're doing an interview
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for the Ernestina-Morrissey Matterport scan.
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Speaker 1
My name is Jan da Silva. I'm the Program Manager of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
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Speaker 1
I'm here with Julius Britto who is President of
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the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association.
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Speaker 1
Mr. Britto, what's your connection
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and
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history with the Ernestina-Morrissey?
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Speaker 2
Everyone has their own story and reason for being involved with the Ernestina.
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My connection began 48 years ago, actually, in 1975, during the first independence of Cape Verde from Portugal.
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I sat around with the freedom fighters
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the night of independence on July 5th.
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And they turned to me and they said,
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“What are you going to do?
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You’re
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Cape Verdean-American?”
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There was only 4 or 5 Cape Verdean-Americans there in Cape Verde for the independence.
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I was
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speechless. What am I going to do? These guys
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put their life on the line.
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I'm just a probation officer. (subtle laugh) What can I do
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to talk about the independence of Cape Verde?
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I said, “you know, I don't know at this time
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but,
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I'm going to find something. And what I found was the Ernestina.
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Around the 10th of July, I went over to Saint Vincent because the celebration began in Santiago and then moved over to Saint Vincent.
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I stayed with Pedro
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Almeida Paducah.
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We went over to Sao Antone for
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another
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get together with
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John Peter Santos. And on the way, I saw the Ernestina in the harbor in Mindelo.
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I didn't know the significance of the Ernestina at the time. And Paducah pointed it out to me.
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It had no masts., it was
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unpainted.
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It looked terrible,
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to be honest.
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There was an old man living onboard, pumping it out to keep it afloat.
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From that point
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we moved
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forward to 1976, when it was invited to the tall ships
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in New York by Mayor Abraham Beame.
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They hastily put it together in Cape Verde.
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They put the masts on
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and this was because of Laura Pires Hester. She had
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talked with the
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government. She
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had
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information from another friend, Michael Platzer, who was
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in the UN and he was going back and forth to,
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West and East Africa for the UN. He saw the Ernestina and he knew it as the Morrissey.
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He got in touch with Laura. Laura started talking with the government,
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some other individuals in Rhode Island
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were working that end to try to
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repatriate the Ernestina.
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Aristides Pereira was the President of Cape Verde and he
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listened to Laura and agreed that
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the government of Cape Verde
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should participate in the tall ships.
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About 11 hours out from
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Cape Verde,
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going to the tall ships in 1976, it got dismasted.
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I learned about that again with
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Ray Almeida. We were at a celebration for the 5th of July.
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He says, “You know
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the Ernestina never made it
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across the Atlantic because she got this dismasted in a storm.”
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The vessel went back to Cape Verde,
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the government made a decision at that point
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to
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fix the vessel up and send it to the United States as a gift.
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That was in 1976.
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They worked on it
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from 1976 until 1982. During that period of time.
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Governor Dukakis
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had made
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a commission for the Ernestina and
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he appointed me as the first commissioner
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to receive the vessel from Cape Verde.
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My role during
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the time from 76 to 82 was to be the liaison between
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William Baker, who was the
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ship's architect for the
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Nautical Museum at MIT.
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He had
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rebuilt
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the Mayflower.
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He was on the commission with me
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and he gave me plans, I would take
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them to the State Department. The State Department would pouch them over to Cape Verde.
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Cape Verde would continue to work
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on the vessel.
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We got
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pumps that they needed,
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that
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they couldn't get
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elsewhere in Europe.
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We got nails from the Tremont nail factory
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in Wareham. They were the only factory in the country that had these square nails that were originally used in 1894
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on the vessel.
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I remember walking in to this old building at the nail factory and this old gentleman
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listened to my story about rebuilding the Ernestina. And he says,
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“I think they sell nails over there someplace.
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Check it out.” And he let me go through these
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areas of the old factory, and I found some boxes of
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square nails that
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we were able to send over to Cape Verde.
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So there was a lot of things going on between
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76 and 82
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that
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we gathered funds. We did everything we could to help
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rebuild the vessel and send it over. In fact,
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my mother
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raised more funds
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doing
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different sales. We went out of
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Falmouth Heights over to Martha's Vineyard with,
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July Gonzalez and Cape Verdean bands on the Viking Queen.
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It was just a wonderful time
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to
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work on repatriating the vessel.
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In 1982,
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the vessel was
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sailing from Cape Verde. I met with
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Governor Dukakis and with Pedro Peters, who was the Prime Minister at the time.
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We talked about
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that
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it looks like in 1982, we're going to come over.
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The legislation had been all set up to receive the vessel from Cape Verde for the people of the United States through the Massachusetts Commission.
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It was thought
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that was the best way to do it, because
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we felt that
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Massachusetts was where it was launched and we should receive it for the people of the United States.
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It
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came in 1982
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and
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they started out in July.
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It
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took 40 days and 40 nights
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to arrive in Newport with a crew of 14,
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seven Americans and seven Cape Verdeans,
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one woman on board.
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They had no engine
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because Henrique Mendes, who
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purchased the vessel in 1946,
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took the engine out.
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They had a
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harrowing experience.
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They talk about doldrums out in the ocean
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and sitting for days
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before
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they get any wind.
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And they were able to get here.
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We had a ham radio operator,
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his name was Red Barber in Wareham.
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Who kept in touch with Stephen Platzer. Michael Platzer’s brother, who was the radio operator on the Ernestina coming across.
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Laura
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and I,
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we talked with Mr. Barber and find out where is she, what she doing?
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And it arrived
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in August of
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1982
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to New Bedford.
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Cape Verde was a new country, brand new.
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They had no money
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to
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do this, but they did it.
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I have estimates
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between,
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1.5 and $2 million that it cost them,
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over that period of time
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to
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rebuild it,
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make it safe enough
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to get here. It's remarkable.
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Speaker 1
What's your current relationship with the Ernestina-Morrissey?
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Speaker 2
In 2008,
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Bob Hildreth, who
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was and has been
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a constant
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philanthropist for the vessel. In fact,
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I think
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it's his
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philanthropy that really
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brought this vessel over here. He
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got together with Mary Anne McQuillan,
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and
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talked about putting together a non-profit and
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SEMA Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association was formed.
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Mary Anne and I worked with
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Linnea Michel at
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UMass
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School of Law.
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Linnea and Mary Anne and I put together
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the SEMA bylaws.
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with the purpose of
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raising funds
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to
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equip the vessel to prepare it
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for a
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educational vessel
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and a cultural icon.
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and
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that was
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our mission statement and,
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in 2008 and 2009, we were fortunate enough to get a grant from the Island Foundation
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to put on a symposium
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at the Whaling Museum.
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200 people came to that first initial symposium to
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rally
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around the issue of bringing
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Ernestina back to life because in 2005,
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she lost her certification so she could not sail anymore.
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I became the president of SEMA Mary Anne was the
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secretary. Bob Hildreth was the vice president.
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Louise Croteau
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was our accountant
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and treasurer.
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We had
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Melissa Devalles,
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Manny Lopez,
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Derek Stevens, Willi Bank, who was a former captain
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on the Ernestina.
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Polly Zajac who was a teacher
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on the Ernestina when it was sailing.
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We had
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Mike Gomes. We had,
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you
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know a cadre of people who were really
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interested in making sure that the vessel
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got repaired
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and
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was going to be able to sail again.
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Speaker 1
Bob Hildreth’s name is mentioned a lot. What's his connection to the Ernestina?
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Speaker 2
He was the
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financial pump primer.
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Because of his
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philanthropy,
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a gentleman by the name of Gerry Lenfast
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came in with substantial amount of funds, but he came in
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for two reasons. One, that
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the Ernestina was going to
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have
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the added name of Morrissey because that's how he knew the vessel
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as a young boy.
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He
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suggested or asked that,
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the vessel
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be attached with the name Morrissey. So it became Ernestina-Morrissey. And,
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Speaker 2
He
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came in because he saw what Bob Hildreth was doing.
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Bob Hildreth was putting his money in
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maybe more than $2 million at the time,
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and he had a
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strong connection, Mr.
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Lenfast did
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Speaker 2
to the Ernestina and he said, well,
00:09:46:09 - 00:09:52:03
Speaker 2
I think that this is a worthy cause. And he put in, I think, about $6 million dollars.
00:09:52:05 - 00:09:57:02
Speaker 2
the whole project cost over $12 million. And SEMA
00:09:57:02 - 00:10:05:02
Speaker 2
corralled, I would say half of that. Those funds, $6 million of those funds, this little group of people, all volunteers
00:10:05:06 - 00:10:07:08
Speaker 2
gathered those funds from
00:10:07:10 - 00:10:10:14
Speaker 2
the Manton Foundation, from individuals, again
00:10:10:14 - 00:10:14:10
Speaker 2
Bob Hildreth, Gerry Lenfast, the Island Foundation,
00:10:14:13 - 00:10:17:10
Speaker 2
John Bullard's Family Foundation.
00:10:17:14 - 00:10:21:08
Speaker 2
It was just amazing. And we had the help of
00:10:21:10 - 00:10:23:14
Speaker 2
both John Bullard, and
00:10:23:14 - 00:10:26:12
Speaker 2
Matthew Stackpole. Matthew Stackpole,
00:10:26:12 - 00:10:30:01
Speaker 2
is the historian for the Charles W. Morgan.
00:10:30:03 - 00:10:33:04
Speaker 2
He and I worked on a lot of fundraising.
00:10:33:04 - 00:10:35:08
Speaker 2
That's another reason why we were so successful.
00:10:35:10 - 00:10:37:05
Speaker 1
I remember hearing about
00:10:37:07 - 00:10:38:14
Speaker 1
Gerry Lenfast because
00:10:38:15 - 00:10:41:05
Speaker 1
his father was one of the Bartlett boys?
00:10:41:05 - 00:10:42:10
Speaker 2
No, his father was
00:10:42:12 - 00:10:44:02
Speaker 2
a philanthropist who supported the
00:10:44:03 - 00:10:47:12
Speaker 2
Morrissey. But Gerry, when he was
00:10:47:12 - 00:10:50:03
Speaker 2
around 12 or 13, he tells the story that
00:10:50:05 - 00:10:53:01
Speaker 2
he was on board the Morrissey with his father
00:10:53:04 - 00:10:54:04
Speaker 2
and it was getting ready
00:10:54:04 - 00:10:59:14
Speaker 2
to go up to the North Pole or someplace some exploration was going to be doing. And
00:10:59:14 - 00:11:04:00
Speaker 2
Mr. Bartlett, Bob Bartlett turned to Gerry Lenfast
00:11:04:00 - 00:11:04:10
Speaker 2
as a youngster
00:11:04:10 - 00:11:10:06
Speaker 2
and he said, when you get old enough, you're going to come on board with us and you're going to sail on the Morrissey.
00:11:10:08 - 00:11:15:02
Speaker 2
He said his eyes lit up. He was so anxious to do that. And then,
00:11:15:02 - 00:11:18:08
Speaker 2
World War two came in 1942 and,
00:11:18:08 - 00:11:20:11
Speaker 2
the vessel got conscripted into
00:11:20:13 - 00:11:22:05
Speaker 2
service. And
00:11:22:05 - 00:11:23:07
Speaker 2
it never went back
00:11:23:07 - 00:11:25:11
Speaker 2
to its exploration days.
00:11:25:12 - 00:11:29:01
Speaker 2
And so he never got to sail, but he always
00:11:29:02 - 00:11:30:10
Speaker 2
wanted to and
00:11:30:10 - 00:11:31:04
Speaker 2
he saw
00:11:31:04 - 00:11:32:14
Speaker 2
the love his father had
00:11:32:15 - 00:11:33:11
Speaker 2
for the vessel.
00:11:33:11 - 00:11:36:13
Speaker 1
What do you see in the future for the Ernestina-Morrissey?
00:11:36:13 - 00:11:46:14
Speaker 2
I felt that the Ernestina was a neutral, wonderful issue that had no sides, no political sides, no negative sides.
00:11:46:14 - 00:11:54:07
Speaker 2
It was just a positive issue that I could get involved with to tell the world about Cape Verde.
00:11:54:09 - 00:11:56:10
Speaker 2
Every place that that vessel sails to,
00:11:56:12 - 00:12:05:03
Speaker 2
it's going to be what's this vessel all about? What's the history and so forth. It'll be the Morrissey history. It'll be
00:12:05:03 - 00:12:07:04
Speaker 2
it's fishing history. It'll be
00:12:07:06 - 00:12:09:03
Speaker 2
it's Cape Verdean history.
00:12:09:04 - 00:12:25:07
Speaker 2
“What's Cape Verde?” I'm sure people are going to say that. Recently the vessel on its first voyage shakedown voyage went down to Tampa, Florida. I called my cousins the Cabrals and my best friend, the Andrews, Cape Verdeans. I said, “Hey, the vessel is coming to Tampa.
00:12:25:10 - 00:12:29:03
Speaker 2
You guys got to meet it.” Sure enough, they met it.
00:12:29:04 - 00:12:33:15
Speaker 2
They brought manchupa, kachupa, and gufong. They brought stuff on board.
00:12:34:02 - 00:12:36:11
Speaker 2
Captain Tiffany was so gracious to them.
00:12:36:11 - 00:12:47:04
Speaker 2
That was an example of what I feel that Ernestina will be able to do in the future. It'll be able to sail around and talk about Cape Verde, as well
00:12:47:04 - 00:12:48:11
Speaker 2
other parts of its history.
00:12:48:13 - 00:12:53:06
Speaker 2
That is what I see for the Ernestina going forward.
00:12:53:08 - 00:12:59:09
Speaker 2
That and educating young people to all of its history and all of its culture.
00:12:59:11 - 00:13:00:09
Speaker 2
That I think
00:13:00:11 - 00:13:01:15
Speaker 2
is the legacy of the
00:13:01:15 - 00:13:02:14
Speaker 2
Ernestina-Morrissey.
Descriptive Transcript
The video begins with a black background. It then transitions to another black background with all text centered on the screen. The white text at the top reads: "Julius Britto" Below it, a green horizontal line divides the text. The bottom line reads: "Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey" in white. The title page text shrinks to a smaller size and moves to the top left corner. The black background remains, and white closed captioned text appears in the center of the screen, double-lined in a large font size.
Description
Join Julius Britto as he discusses the historic Ernestina-Morrissey and its significance. Learn about Julius's 48-year journey with the schooner, starting in 1975 during Cape Verde's independence. Discover the efforts to restore and repatriate the vessel, culminating in its arrival in the US in 1982. Explore Julius's ongoing connection to this remarkable ship.
Duration
13 minutes, 3 seconds
Date Created
08/28/2023
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