Award Recipients
Matthew Stackpole
Award Year: 2011
Rodney N. Houghton Award
The Rodney N. Houghton Award is presented for the best feature article in Sea History in the preceding year. The award is named after Rodney Houghton (1938–2007), a dedicated NMHS trustee and passionate advocate for advancing maritime history education.
Following the publication of my Sea History article in 2011, I continued as Ships Historian and a major Gifts Officer for the Charles W. Morgan project, giving presentations and soliciting support around the country through the summer of 2014 when the vessel successfully returned to Mystic. I was one of several interviewees for the documentary film “The Charles W. Morgan” that was broadcast nationally on PBS stations in 2014. Since 2015 I have worked with the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey Association’s (SEMA) advocacy for total rehabilitation, now well underway, of this 1894 National Historic Landmark and Official Vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I was the lead consultant on the exhibit contents for The Vineyard Trust’s new Cultural Heritage Center, “The Carnegie” on Martha’s Vineyard, which opened in 2018. I also consulted on a Nantucket Historical Association exhibit on Nantucket’s transition from a whaling port to a seasonal destination. I wrote an article for WoodenBoat magazine in 2018 on the design and construction of a traditional round stern wooden motor launch by the Gannon and Benjamin Boatyard.
I currently serve on the Board of the USS Constitution Museum, as a member of the President’s Advisory Council at Mystic Seaport, and a past President and Honorary Director of Sail Martha’s Vineyard. I am passionate about the powerful portal that museums, and especially authentic vessels and artifacts, have in bringing the past to the present and the future.
Categories: Maritime Historian, Museum Leadership