They were grim years. Hobbled by the Great Depression, America in the 1930s was in a downward spiral that seemed to have no bottom. But on the Peninsula, thousands of workers defied the odds, pushing, prodding and bending steel into the shape of behemoth ships.
While they were doing this, building passenger ships, aircraft carriers and other vessels, an accomplished artist by the name of Thomas C. Skinner was capturing their efforts, turning out painting after painting of what it was like in the cavernous work spaces of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.
At the same time, in order to train new workers, the company was documenting their techniques on film.
The remarkable thing about a new exhibit at the Mariners’ Museum is that Skinner’s near life-size canvases are presented side-by-side with the recently restored films that mirror identical skills. A painting of workers laying out patterns in the cavernous lofts in the factory is echoed by a similar, moving black-and-white image. Scenes of workers pouring molten lead into a mold, bending white-hot steel strips into the shape of a prow, or turning a glowing propeller shaft are similarly juxtaposed.
Celebrating its 75th year, the museum’s “Building Better Ships,” pays tribute to its intimate relationship with the sprawling shipyard, now Northrop Grumman Newport News. The exhibit, like the environs of the shipyard, sprawls through cavernous museum rooms, beginning with the shipyard’s founding.
“It was my original intention,” confided Collis P. Huntington, founder of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, “to start a shipyard plant in the best location in the world, and I succeeded in my purpose. It is right at the gateway to the sea. There is never any ice in the winter, and it is never so cold but you can hammer metal out of doors.”
Huntington, one of the driving forces behind the nation’s transcontinental railroad, was intrigued by the natural deepwater harbor at Newport News Point. In 1881 he ran tracks there from the once-bankrupt Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Then, 15 years later, in order to repair ships that began calling at the coal piers, grain elevators and cargo wharves that sprang up at the point, he began what was to become the largest privately owned shipyard in the U.S .
There are historic photos of the shipyard at the beginning. There is a propeller from the 1902 SS Virginia, a huge model of a passenger ship, a film clip of a launch, a puzzle that kids can assemble showing how a ship takes shape, other photos of workers gathering at shipyard pay windows and pouring out of the factory at quitting time.
One of the most intriguing displays is one that tests your knowledge of tools used in ship construction. It’s ingeniously interactive: you answer a question by touching one of the tools, and a computerized touch sensor delivers the answer and, if right, displays a short film.
What was used, for instance, to bend hot steel plates into ship shapes?
If you touch the head of a sledge hammer, a vintage film shows workers swinging the hammers one after another like the fellows who once drove railroad spikes.
But the most striking part of “Building Better Ships” is the presentation of Skinner paintings.
The American marine artist, born 1888 in Kentucky, was hired by the shipyard in 1932. This must have been due to the influence of Archer Huntington, the step-son of the founder, who became a world-class art collector. Skinner was given a studio in the yard where he turned out dramatic paintings, as the exhibit points out, “that served to promote prosperity during the Great Depression and celebrate America’s industrial might.”
Served up beside the films might be the ultimate way of presenting, and appreciating, historic works of art.
While they were doing this, building passenger ships, aircraft carriers and other vessels, an accomplished artist by the name of Thomas C. Skinner was capturing their efforts, turning out painting after painting of what it was like in the cavernous work spaces of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.
At the same time, in order to train new workers, the company was documenting their techniques on film.
The remarkable thing about a new exhibit at the Mariners’ Museum is that Skinner’s near life-size canvases are presented side-by-side with the recently restored films that mirror identical skills. A painting of workers laying out patterns in the cavernous lofts in the factory is echoed by a similar, moving black-and-white image. Scenes of workers pouring molten lead into a mold, bending white-hot steel strips into the shape of a prow, or turning a glowing propeller shaft are similarly juxtaposed.
Celebrating its 75th year, the museum’s “Building Better Ships,” pays tribute to its intimate relationship with the sprawling shipyard, now Northrop Grumman Newport News. The exhibit, like the environs of the shipyard, sprawls through cavernous museum rooms, beginning with the shipyard’s founding.
“It was my original intention,” confided Collis P. Huntington, founder of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, “to start a shipyard plant in the best location in the world, and I succeeded in my purpose. It is right at the gateway to the sea. There is never any ice in the winter, and it is never so cold but you can hammer metal out of doors.”
Huntington, one of the driving forces behind the nation’s transcontinental railroad, was intrigued by the natural deepwater harbor at Newport News Point. In 1881 he ran tracks there from the once-bankrupt Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Then, 15 years later, in order to repair ships that began calling at the coal piers, grain elevators and cargo wharves that sprang up at the point, he began what was to become the largest privately owned shipyard in the U.S .
There are historic photos of the shipyard at the beginning. There is a propeller from the 1902 SS Virginia, a huge model of a passenger ship, a film clip of a launch, a puzzle that kids can assemble showing how a ship takes shape, other photos of workers gathering at shipyard pay windows and pouring out of the factory at quitting time.
One of the most intriguing displays is one that tests your knowledge of tools used in ship construction. It’s ingeniously interactive: you answer a question by touching one of the tools, and a computerized touch sensor delivers the answer and, if right, displays a short film.
What was used, for instance, to bend hot steel plates into ship shapes?
If you touch the head of a sledge hammer, a vintage film shows workers swinging the hammers one after another like the fellows who once drove railroad spikes.
But the most striking part of “Building Better Ships” is the presentation of Skinner paintings.
The American marine artist, born 1888 in Kentucky, was hired by the shipyard in 1932. This must have been due to the influence of Archer Huntington, the step-son of the founder, who became a world-class art collector. Skinner was given a studio in the yard where he turned out dramatic paintings, as the exhibit points out, “that served to promote prosperity during the Great Depression and celebrate America’s industrial might.”
Served up beside the films might be the ultimate way of presenting, and appreciating, historic works of art.
Illustration: Thomas Skinner painting showing the foundry at Newport News Shipbuilding. Courtesy of the Mariners’ Museum.
