USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc.

NEWPORT — Leaders of two significant Rhode Island-based non-profits today announced plans to collaborate on various fundraising and development activities.

Spencer Viner, President of the Japan-America Society of Rhode Island (JAS), and Frank Lennon, his counterpart with the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, are both enthusiastic about the benefits to both organizations that could accrue from working together.

“Although we are a statewide organization, most of our membership and activites are centered on Aquidneck Island,” said Viner. “The Saratoga project garners much of its support from its base in North Kingstown and operations in Providence. This offers both groups the chance to expand into new areas and enlarge their constituencies.”

This cooperation will start with the golf tournament and dinner the Saratoga project has scheduled for Tuesday, September 18 at the Metacomet Country Club in East Providence. “JAS has committed to promote the event through its membership and sponsor base,” said Lennon. “They will then benefit proportionally from their degree of participation. It’s a win-win for both groups.”

On the surface, it may seem to be an unlikely partnership. The Japan-America Society (JAS) is a Newport-based cultural organization whose mission is to strengthen American-Japanese relations and international goodwill. JAS runs the annual Black Ships Festival, a highlight of the Newport social season, and serves as the active link between Newport and its sister city in Japan, Shimoda.

USS Saratoga Museum Foundation has worked for eight years to create a family attraction, educational center, museum and memorial on Rhode Island’s beautiful Narragansett Bay, featuring the aircraft carrier Saratoga as the centerpiece.

The link comes from the “Black Ships” themselves. As all Rhode Island youngsters learn in school, Newport native Commodore Matthew Perry opened Japan to the western world with two voyages in 1853 and 1854. His Asiatic Squadron included the first smoke-belching steamships the Japanese had ever seen--hence the name “Black Ships”.

One of those ships was named USS Saratoga.

Almost 100 years later, a young naval officer was assigned to the WWII aircraft carrier USS Saratoga as the Japanese linguist and interpreter in anticipation of the invasion of Japan. That man was Dr. Vernon Alden, who became one of the leaders of the national Japan-America Society. Dr. Alden is also assisting both groups.

Those footnotes to history have led to this collaboration, which began a year ago when Viner and Lennon joined each other’s advisory boards. This past May, Lennon visited Shimoda as part of the JAS delegation to the Japanese Black Ships Festival, On that trip, the decision was made to join forces on at least one event each year.

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For more information on the Japan-America Society, please visit:
http://www.newportevents.com/Blackships/main.shtml

For more information on the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, please visit:
http://www.saratogamuseum.org

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Last Updated:
9/4/07