‘Delaware’s Maritime Heritage’ lecture series at the Zwaanendael Museum in September and October 2019
Between Sept. 28 and Oct. 18, 2019, the Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, Del., will present “Delaware’s Maritime Heritage,” a four-part lecture series presented by Bill Manthorpe, retired U.S. Navy captain and author. A complete schedule is listed below. All programs begin at 2 p.m. on the museum’s 2nd floor (entry via staircase; no elevator) and are free and open to the public. However, due to space restrictions, reservations are required by calling the museum at 302-645-1148.
“Delaware’s Maritime Heritage” schedule
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019
“Creating the Navy on the Delaware.” Reservations deadline: Sept. 27, 2019
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019
“Delaware’s Naval Heroes and Their Battles.” Reservations deadline: Oct. 4, 2019
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019
“Ships Named ‘Delaware.’ ” Reservations deadline: Oct. 11, 2019
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019
“The Navy at Lewes and at the Cape.” Reservations deadline: Oct. 18, 2019
William H. J. Manthorpe, Jr.
Bill Manthorpe is a retired U.S. Navy captain and government civilian senior executive. He retired in 1994 as the deputy director of Naval Intelligence, having served 40 years as an intelligence professional. During his government career, Manthorpe was a columnist and frequent contributor to the Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine and was its 1991 author of the year. He also contributed articles to the Submarine Review and Comparative Strategy, and authored a chapter in one book on the Soviet navy and the introduction to another.
Upon retiring from the government, he spent five years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a strategic consultant with the rank of professor, while also teaching leadership and management in the Engineering Management masters-degree program and the ROTC program. While there he was published in the APL Technical Digest. Coincidently, from 1995 until 2008, he taught leadership and management at the Joint Military Intelligence College and edited the college’s Defense Intelligence Journal.
Since retiring full time to the Delaware Coast in 1998, Manthorpe has been researching, writing and speaking on the naval and maritime history of Delaware. He has contributed articles to Pull Together, the publication of the Naval Historical Foundation, and to the Journal of the Lewes Historical Society. In addition, he has written a classified history of one aspect of naval intelligence for the Office of Naval Intelligence and Navy Archives as well as articles for the Naval War College Review and the Naval Intelligence Professional’s Quarterly.
The Zwaanendael Museum was built in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the state’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch along Hoorn Kill (present-day Lewes-Rehoboth Canal) in 1631. Designed by E. William Martin (architect of Legislative Hall and the Hall of Records in Dover), the museum is modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, the Netherlands, and features a stepped facade gable with carved stonework and decorated shutters. The museum’s exhibits and presentations provide a showcase for Lewes-area maritime, military and social history. The museum is administered by the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the State of Delaware.
