Lunch & Learn: Project Mayflower Book Discussion and Signing

The Mayflower II—the replica of the 1620 ship that brought the Pilgrims to America and launched a nation—is seen by some 2.6 million visitors to Plymouth annually and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But there is much more to the replica’s story than meets the eye. In fact, the origins of Project Mayflower began in the 1950s not with an American, but with a British World War II veteran named Warwick Charlton who had what seemed an impossible dream: to build a historically accurate replica, sail her across the Atlantic, and present the finished product as a thank-you to his country’s wartime ally.

What Charlton didn’t know was that the son of a powerful New England financier had the same idea. Henry “Harry” Hornblower II wanted a replica just as badly, though for a different reason: as the star attraction for a new museum he was building in Massachusetts, soon to be known as Plimoth Plantation, where the original Mayflower had landed centuries before. Despite clearly different personal motives, Charlton and Hornblower agreed to join forces when they met by chance in 1955. Charlton would be responsible for financing, construction, and the vessel’s safe passage across the Atlantic, while Hornblower promised mooring, maintenance, and exhibition. Neither man could imagine what would happen next…

Author Dick Stone, will discuss the inspiration behind writing Project Mayflower and the stories he uncovered along the way.

This program is made free to the public, both virtually and in person, through support from the Plymouth Local Cultural Council.
Options to attend Online or In-person are available