William A. Baker
Encyclopedia
William Avery Baker was a distinguished naval architect of replica historic ships
Ship replica
A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of an historic vessel...

 and a maritime historian, who was curator of the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum
Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum
The Hart Nautical Gallery is a gallery in the MIT Museum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.The original Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum was established in 1922 at MIT as part of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. It was...

 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 1963-1981.

Early life and education

The son of William Elisha Baker and his wife Margaret MacDonald Sanderson, William A. Baker was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

, where he earned an S.B. degree in 1934 in the Department of Naval Architecture
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...

 and Marine Engineering
Marine propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a ship or boat across water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting a motor or engine turning a propeller, or less frequently, in jet...

 with a thesis on "Development of Catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

 Hulls" supervised by George Davis. On 2 May 1936, he married Ruth Stuart.

Professional career

In 1934, Baker joined the shipbuilding division of the Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...

 Corporation and became a registered professional engineer
Professional Engineer
Regulation of the engineering profession is established by various jurisdictions of the world to protect the safety, well-being and other interests of the general public, and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes authorized to provide professional services to the...

 in the states of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Baker served with them until 1964, when he became curator of the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum
Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum
The Hart Nautical Gallery is a gallery in the MIT Museum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.The original Francis Russell Hart Nautical Museum was established in 1922 at MIT as part of the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. It was...

. He was the compiler of plans and specifications for a number of historic Ship replica
Ship replica
A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of an historic vessel...

s, including Gjoa in 1948, Mayflower II
Mayflower II
The Mayflower II is a replica of the 17th century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World.The replica was built in Devon, England, during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Plantation, an American museum...

 in 1957, Adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...

 in 1970, and Maryland Dove
Maryland Dove
The Maryland Dove is a re-creation of a late 17th-century trading ship. She was designed by the naval architect and naval historian William A. Baker....

 in 1978.

He served as a member of the editorial advisory board of the American Neptune
American Neptune
The American Neptune: a quarterly journal of maritime history and arts was the leading academic journal for the field of American maritime history from its establishment in 1941 until it ceased publication in 2002.- History :...

, 1952–1981; Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea, in Mystic, Connecticut, is notable both for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of crafts and fabric of an entire 19th century seafaring village...

, 1973-1981. He was a Fellow and trustee of the Pilgrim Society, Plimoth Plantation
Plimoth Plantation
Plimoth Plantation is a living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts that shows the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by English colonists, some of whom later became known as Pilgrims. They were among the first people who emigrated to America to avoid religious...

, and a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers is a professional society that provides a forum for the advancement of the engineering profession as applied to the marine field...

, of which he was co-founder of the New England section in 1943 and served as secretary-treasurer, 1943–44, and chairman in 1957-58. He also served as secretary-treasurer of the Northern California section in 1949 and became an honorary member of the society in 1980. Among other organizations, he was a long-time member of the Hakluyt Society
Hakluyt Society
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society is a registered charity based in London, England, which seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material...

, the Society for Nautical Research
Society for Nautical Research
The Society for Nautical Research was founded in 1910 to promote the academic field of maritime history in the United Kingdom.The aims of the society are to:* support and encourage research in maritime history and underwater archaeology....

 and the Boston Marine Society
Boston Marine Society
The Boston Marine Society is a charitable organization in Boston, Massachusetts, formed "to 'make navigation more safe' and to relieve members and their families in poverty or other 'adverse accidents in life.'" Membership generally consists of current and former ship captains...

. He was a founder and the first president of the North American Society for Oceanic History
North American Society for Oceanic History
The North American Society for Oceanic History is the national organization in the United States of America for professional historians, underwater archeologists, archivists, librarians, museum specialists and others working in the broad field of maritime history...

.

Published works

  • The new Mayflower, her design and construction, by her designer. Illustrations by R.S. & W.A. Baker. Barre, Mass., Barre Gazette, 1958.

  • Colonial vessels; some seventeenth-century sailing craft. Illustrated by the author. Barre, Mass., Barre Pub. Co., 1962.

  • The engine powered vessel: from paddle-wheeler to nuclear ship. New York, N.Y. : Grosset & Dunlap, 1965.

  • Sloops & shallops Barre, Mass., Barre Pub. Co. 1966; Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988.

  • The clipper ship. [Exhibition] Hayden Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, November 14 through December 2, 1966. [Cambridge, Mass.]: The Hayden Gallery, 1966.

  • A history of the Boston Marine Society
    Boston Marine Society
    The Boston Marine Society is a charitable organization in Boston, Massachusetts, formed "to 'make navigation more safe' and to relieve members and their families in poverty or other 'adverse accidents in life.'" Membership generally consists of current and former ship captains...

    , 1742-1967. Boston : Boston Marine Society, 1968.

  • A history of the first 75 years. Cambridge, M.I.T. Dept. of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, 1969.

  • C. J. A. Wilson’s Ships. With notes and comments by William A. Baker. Introd. by Richard B. Holman. Barre, Mass., Barre Publishers, 1971.

  • New England and the sea, by Robert G. Albion
    Robert G. Albion
    Robert G. Albion was Harvard's first professor of Oceanic History and inspired two generations of maritime historians in the United States...

    , William A. Baker, and Benjamin W. Labaree. Marion V. Brewington, picture editor. Middletown, Conn., Published for the Marine Historical Association, Mystic Seaport, by Wesleyan University Press [1972].

  • "Maritime History of Bath Maine and the Kennebec River Region, Vol. I and Vol . II" Marine Research Society of Bath, 1973

  • Maine
    Maine
    Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

     shipbuilding: a bibliographical guide. Portland: Maine Historical Society
    Maine Historical Society
    The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine and is located in Portland.-History:The Maine Historical Society was founded in 1822 and is the third oldest state historical society after the Massachusetts Historical Society and New York Historical Society...

    , 1974.

  • The Mayflower
    Mayflower
    The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...

     and other colonial vessels. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, A 1983.

Source

  • Who's Who
    Who's Who
    Who's Who is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biographical information on a particular group of people...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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