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Fall 2005President's Report 2005
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| NHS President Louis L. Guy, Jr. and wife Suzanne (at right) with Mrs. Emma Miller, sister of the late George Tucker, at the opening of the Norfolk History Museum. |
During the past year NHS (with an active, involved Board of Directors),
was successful in developing a new Strategic Plan, and
in reviving our Courier newsletter and the George Tucker Essay Contest
for high school students. The opening by the Chrysler
Museum of the new Norfolk History Museum at the Willoughby- Baylor House,
on Sept. 10, 2005, was an unprecedented celebration of local history,
with great fanfare and publicity. NHS offered guided mini-tours of the
historic sites surrounding MacArthur Center, with help from the mall.
NHS is supporting the Museum with a nine-year $50,000 pledge.
On summer weekends, NHS has continued to subsidize the opening of Old Fort Norfolk to the public, with assistance from the 2nd Va. Regiment, War of 1812 as interpreters. The NHS agreement with Norfolk District Corps of Engineers, regarding our use of Fort Norfolk, expires in June 2006 and must be renegotiated. A new agreement is close to execution for NHS to lease space in the Taylor-Whittle House on West Freemason, offering new visibility and access for our members.
The NHS Biography Committee, which produced the Roy Martin bio, is working on its second project recording the stories of people who made a big difference here in the last half of the 20th Century. The next subject is Frank Batten. NHS is also looking forward to 2007 and Virginia’s spotlight on 400 years since Jamestown. Our contributions may include a cooperative venture with historic Norfolk houses of worship, and a 200th anniversary event (with the Hampton Roads Naval Museum) for the 1807 Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, which caused the Jefferson Administration to fund the existing masonry structures at Fort Norfolk.
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