In Memory of R. J. Holt (1918-2004)

The Museum's first full-time executive director, Jim Holt, died on Sunday, November 21 at Heartfields in Easton, Maryland. He was 85 and had been in ill-health for some time. He is survived by his wife Marjorie, five children, and eleven grandchildren. A memorial mass was held on Monday, December 6 at St. Michaels Chapel. A reception followed in the Van Lennep Auditorium of the Museum's Steamboat Building, an exhibit building dedicated to him.

When he retired as executive director in 1987, the Baltimore Sun reported: "Today Mr. Holt ends a seventeen-year career as a director of what has probably become the pre-eminent tourist stop on the upper half of the Eastern Shore. He has molded what was once a modest collection of artifacts and memorabilia into a professionally managed $4 million institution on eighteen acres with thirty-two buildings and twenty-six full-time employees." This was a far cry from the two acres and three deteriorating Victorian houses the Museum owned at its opening on May 22, 1965.

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum owes an extraordinary debt of gratitude to Jim for the entrepreneurial way he grew this institution during his tenure - it's a history of "firsts": he brought a then-fledgling museum up to American Association of Museum (AAM) standards by securing AAM accreditation in 1973; he acquired parcels of land on Navy Point which brought the entire point under Museum ownership; he acquired other properties along Mill Street which became storage, maintenance, and curatorial facilities; he acquired a large tract of Perry Cabin Farm on Foggs Cove, the site of the Steamboat Building and Waterman's Wharf. Also during Jim's tenure the marine railway was built, the Waterfowling Building was constructed, along with the Bay History Building, and the Webb House was moved to its present location to become the Museum Store. Much of today's Museum has Jim Holt's stamp on it - and he did all of this on the fly: borrowing here, begging there, cajoling donors to help with various projects. His official title was Director-Curator, but one might also have added Financial Officer, Operations Manager, Personnel Director, Dockmaster, Fundraiser, and Custodian.

Energetic and entrepreneurial, he was also quite modest about his many accomplishments, and credited others for many achievements. Typical of Jim were his comments at a reception in his honor: "Being the retiring director of the CBMM is like being the figurehead of a ship that has been on a seventeen-year voyage through the past and into the future. The ship has been well manned and supported by an excellent staff, Board of Governors, and many friends and volunteers who have helped us during the way. The honor should go to you, our friends and crew members who are the most important part of the Museum . . . it's been a good sail."

HOME | ABOUT US | WHAT TO SEE & DO | VISITOR INFO | EDUCATION & OUTREACH
MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS| NEWS & MEDIA | Copyright 2003, The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.