The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) will present “Dearest Minnie: A Sailor’s Story,” an in-person lecture with author Leslie Compton that explores Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet as told through historic postcards. The program is at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 19 at SBMM, 113 Harbor Way, Ste. 190, Santa Barbara Harbor.
Registration is required for attendance. The cost is $20 for the general public, free for SBMM Navigator Circle members, and $10 for all other SBMM members. There will be a pre-lecture reception for SBMM members only, 6:15-6:45 p.m. Register at https://sbmm.org/santa-barbara-event/. Become a member at https://sbmm.org.
Hoping to enforce treaties and protect overseas holdings, the nation and Congress set out to build U.S. naval power. Beginning in the 1880s with just 90 small and mostly obsolete ships, the navy quickly grew to include new steel fighting vessels and two fleets — the Atlantic and Pacific.
By order of President Theodore Roosevelt, 16 battleships of the Atlantic Fleet and their various escort vessels sailed around the world between Dec. 16, 1907 and Feb. 22, 1909, visiting numerous countries and arriving in Santa Barbara 114 years ago, on April 25, 1908.
The hulls of the battleships were painted a stark white, which later earned them the nickname, the Great White Fleet.
“Dearest Minnie” chronicles not only the cruise itself, but the social and political elements in each port where the ships re-coaled. The story is told through some 200 picture postcards and letters sent from a sailor on the USS Virginia to his sweetheart, eventually leading to his proposal of marriage.
Compton’s audience will learn about the history and development of picture postcards, the reason for the cruise around the world, the political climate at the time, the animals aboard the ships, and some of the unexpected mishaps, while focusing on their visit to Southern California.
Compton began writing “Dearest Minnie” 20 years ago after discovering a large section of her postcard collection originated from a sailor on the USS Virginia while he was sailing with Roosevelt’s Atlantic Fleet around the world in 1907-09.
Compton spent years researching, visiting libraries and museums, and meeting like minds to create a narrative-driven historical fiction, bringing to light a typical sailor’s life during this historical event.
Most of Compton’s adult life was spent working as a professional musician; teaching elementary school, and childbirth education; and writing nonfiction. She moved to Southern Oregon in 2001. She recently completed her third book “The Forgotten Artist,” the life story of trailblazing female artist Evylena Nunn Miller, and is currently working on a new book “Windows of Deception.”
Find more about Compton and her books at www.Lesliecompton.com.
The SBMM event is sponsored by Marie L. Morrisroe. For more, visit sbmm.org or call 805-962-8404.