New Mural in Norfolk celebrates Hampton Roads’ maritime history
NORFOLK — The signatures from the original Feb. 13, 1920, charter are scrawled out on light parchment-like paper: Virginia Iron Works, Lambert’s Pt. Tow Boat Co., Norden Ship Supply Co. and Portsmouth Cotton Oil Refining Corp.
In all, 56 businesses signed on that day, forming the Norfolk Maritime Exchange. Virginia joined just four other states that then had such a group, known as “exchanges” because they kept and shared records of when ships were coming and going from their ports, what the ships were carrying and how much the cargo was worth.
The Virginia group is today known as the Virginia Maritime Association and has grown to represent around 500 companies that employ over 70,000 people, said the group’s executive vice president, David White.
They’ve gone beyond just exchanging information to advocating for some of the port’s larger projects, such as deepening and widening its shipping channels.
“Maritime has been the center of this economy for at least 100 years,” White said. It can be traced farther back than that — while other ports on the East Coast might be bigger and older, Virginia can claim commerce on its waterways, including the James River, dating back to the 1600s.
To help mark its 100th anniversary, the trade group employed the help of muralist Adam Stanton, a Coast Guard public affairs officer, to draw up images that reflect the region’s maritime industry.
On the wall of the group’s downtown Norfolk building, Stanton is including images of welders, farmers and port container pier workers — along with a cargo ship and train.
He said he wanted the East Plume Street mural, which he plans to finish in the next few days, to reflect the diversity of the maritime industry.
The largest image that stands out is that of a welder, an African American woman looking directly out at you from the wall with her welding gear on her head. When Stanton was researching what images to include, he learned that some of the first female welders were African American women during World War II.
Next to her is a man with a hard hat and goggles who represents a port worker, like a ship-to-shore crane operator. Above them stands an older man in coveralls and hat. He represents a farmer or truck driver.
Stanton chose the images because he wanted to show the flow of commerce around Hampton Roads that’s linked to the maritime industry, not just the container ships most people might see.
“I tried to make everything modern, current and diverse,” Stanton said, “because we’re not just talking about on the water. We’re talking trains, we’re talking trucks, from farm to table. I tried to piece together and capture as much as I could.”
And most of all, he wanted to capture the people that help make it all work.
Gordon Rago, 757-446-2601, gordon.rago@pilotonline.com