MEDIA center: article

Amistad Arrival to Set Tone for Juneteenth
The Vineyard Gazette | June 8, 2023

By Thomas Humphrey

When the Amistad schooner sails into Vineyard Haven harbor on June 16, it will bring with it a story of oppression and triumph, of enslavement and freedom.

The ship is a replica of the historic vessel that was the setting of a slave revolt in 1839 involving captives from Sierre Leone who were eventually vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Amistad’s arrival on the Island will signal the start of a busy three-day Juneteenth weekend, now a national holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States.

Free tours of the ship will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its temporary berth at Tisbury Wharf in Vineyard Haven. Juneteenth celebrations will take place all weekend long in Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, with a gospel brunch rounding out the festivities on Monday.

The Amistad is well suited to lead the festivities, planned around the theme Free as the Wind.

“The idea of building the replica was to try to capture the history... to create a kind of floating classroom,” said Paula Mann-Agnew, executive director of the Discovering Amistad organization, who will host the tours throughout the weekend. “We use the story as a platform, so we can make connections between past and present.”

At the center of their mission is the boat itself, constructed in 2000 by Mystic Seaport Museum with funds from the state of Connecticut.

“It’s almost like history come alive,” said Ms. Mann-Agnew, noting that exploring the ship helps visitors engage with the story of the revolt.

Maintaining that historic resource requires constant vigilance, explained Amistad ship keeper RJ Lavallee.

“It’s a life of triage, because it’s not a matter of if the boat will rot but when the boat will rot,” he said, requiring him and his crew to always be ready for the next repair. “It’s a constant battle of whack-a-mole, basically.”

Boating has always been a passion for Mr. Lavallee, who spent his teens and twenties in the windsurfing industry before a stint as a stay at home dad. He returned to volunteer at Mystic Seaport in 2015 and was hired as Amistad ship keeper four years later.

“The vessel itself is amazingly well built, which is a testament to the folks at Mystic,” he said.

Mr. Lavallee credits the ship’s construction to Warren Marr, an advocate for preserving African-American history, and editor of the NAACP’s Crisis Magazine, who tirelessly pushed for an Amistad replica.

“He always wanted to see this vessel built to be that talisman of triumph over adversity,” Mr. Lavallee said.

According to the original plan, Mr. Lavallee said, the boat would be constructed out of wood from Sierra Leone but before that lumber could be shipped, a civil war broke out in the country and insurgents sold off the wood to a higher bidder.

Some of the Sierra Leone wood did make it over for the deck, however, in addition to New England lumber rounding out the job. Much of Mr. Lavallee’s work remains behind the scenes, keeping track of ship elements which might need replacement or repair.

Working on the historic ship, Mr. Lavallee said, has given him a chance for personal reflection as well.

“One thing I’ve struggled with is identity,” he said. “I’m a 57-year-old white man in charge of a boat that is representative of some triumphant yet horrible moments in human history. It’s been a really interesting and very humbling experience.”

It is this kind of personal connection, Ms. Mann-Agnew said, that she hopes to instill in those who take tours on the Amistad.

“When we’re working with students on the ship, we ask them what connections they see to this country today,” she said. “We deliver the story from a very human perspective.”

The Amistad’s visit to the Island was organized by the Vineyard Gazette Media Group and sponsored by Vineyard Wind.  Tours of the schooner will join a host of other events this Juneteenth holiday. A panel discussion on historical maritime escapes from enslavement on June 17 will feature historians Timothy Walker and Lee Blake, along with the Martha’s Vineyard Museum historian Bow Van Riper.

Bill Pinkney, the Amistad’s first captain, will also come to the Island, sponsored by the HistoryMakers and Toyota. Festivities will conclude with the annual gospel brunch on Monday.

“Our intention is to complement all the events that are going on,” Ms. Mann-Agnew said, of the Amistad’s presence that weekend. “The symbolism of the ship being on Martha’s Vineyard on Juneteenth is very important to us.”