The A J Meerwald & New Jersey's Oyster Industry

Public Presentation: The AJ Meerwald and New Jersey's Oyster Industry by Rachel Rogers Dolhanczyk, MA.

Rachel Dolhanczyk of the Bayshore Center at Bivalve will share highlights from the new book that charts the history of New Jersey's Delaware Bay oysters and the historic ship that carries the industry's traditions today. 

The AJ Meerwald is a restored Delaware Bay new style schooner that was built to dredge oysters under sail but saw a lifetime of change. She served the US Coast Guard during World War II, returned to oystering under power for 10 years, was converted to dredge clams and then was left to rot in Maryland before being saved in 1986 by John Gandy and the Bayshore Center at Bivalve.

You can order the book, The AJ Meerwald and New Jersey's Oyster Industry, HERE

About the Authors

Rachel Rodgers Dolhanczyk, MA, has been the museum curator at the Bayshore Center at Bivalve’s Delaware Bay Museum since 2010. A native of the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, she found her way to the water and has worked in the history field for over twenty years along New Jersey’s waterfronts and the Chesapeake Bay. Dolhanczyk has a BA in history from Wheaton College (Massachusetts) and an MA in museum education from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. 

Constance L. McCart, EdD, is a retired school administrator and teacher, a graduate of Rowan and Temple Universities. She is a longtime member of the Washington Twp. Historic Preservation Commission. A highlight of the eleven years spent as an onboard educator with the A.J. Meerwald was sailing in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Volunteering on the A.J. was the motivation for this book.

This program is supported by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities through the “NJ Women Vote: The 19th Amendment at 100” initiative. NMHA proudly presents it during Women’s History Month.