Land & Sea: Exhibit at Clinton Academy

Presented in collaboration with the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum, this exhibit about cartography and maritime navigation features early navigation tools, maps, and charts used by sailors from East Hampton and the South Fork to navigate the waters of the mid-Atlantic. Connecting past and present, the exhibit is on display exactly where students enrolled in Clinton Academy during the late 18th and 19th centuries learned navigation, surveying, and seafaring.

The Land & Sea exhibit is co-curated by Stacy Myers, Director of Education of the Historical Society and Prudence and Brian Carabine from the Farm Museum from the collections of both institutions. Among the highlights is a cross-staff. This celestial navigation instrument made its appearance in Europe in the 1300s and by the 1700s, it had been fully developed for use at sea. The cross-staff was used for finding the latitude by measuring the altitude of the polar star and for measuring the altitude of the sun. To measure the altitude of a celestial body, the eye-end of the staff was placed near the observer’s eye and the other end half way between the horizon and the celestial body. The vane was then slid along the staff until its upper edge appeared to touch the celestial body, while the lower edge appeared to touch the horizon. The altitude could then be read off the staff.

On display in Clinton Academy at 151 Main Street in East Hampton through December 20, Land & Sea is open Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 3 PM. The exhibition is free to visit.