The Project History and Our Goal

This hands-on, interdisciplinary project got its start in the fall of 2009 with one question posed to Maria Jacobsen, the senior archaeologist at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, on what, in her opinion, sunk the H. L. Hunley submarine.

After a review of previous replication projects done by Fred Lutkus, Edward “Ned” Eisenhuth and their students at Minersville Area High School, Lutkus and Eisenhuth were invited by Maria Jacobsen to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina to give a presentation to their archaeologists about the student replication projects.  A tour of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, labs, and a viewing of the H. L. Hunley submarine and artifacts followed.  Maria Jacobsen and her team asked Lutkus and Eisenhuth if they could replicate the signal lantern and a pump found inside the H. L. Hunley.  The signal lantern was chosen as the first project.

Since Lutkus and Eisenhuth were retired from teaching, a school and metal shop had to be found to replicate the signal lantern.  After inquires by Nanette Eisenhuth to her school, Hamburg Area High School, the administration eagerly embraced the project and the school’s metal shop was brought out of storage.  The Hunley Program Club was formed with Lutkus and Eisenhuth as advisors.  Twelve students signed on the program to do research, construction, and web design for the signal lantern.

Archaeologists Maria Jacobsen and Mike Scafuri supplied us with drawings, pictures, and historical information on the Hunley signal lantern to get the replication started.

On February 17, 1864, the H. L. Hunley lead by Lt. Dixon and a crew of seven, became the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy warship when she engaged the Union USS Housatonic off the coast of Charleston harbor (Friends of the Hunley).  A legend developed that the H. L. Hunley signaled the Confederate battery on shore with a blue light before she sank without a trace.

Maria Jacobsen is a senior archaeologist at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center directing the excavation of the Civil War submarine H. L. Hunley and related scientific studies.  She plans and manages the interdisciplinary and collaborative study of the submarine’s crew, associated artifacts, and the hull (Clemson Conservation Center).

Mike Scafuri is a staff archaeologist and has been involved in the raising, excavation, and analysis of the H. L. Hunley.  He has spearheaded the scanning, mapping, and digital modeling of the H. L. Hunley, its artifact assemblage, and the remains of the crew (Clemson Conservation Center).

Our goal for this project was to successfully replicate four signal lanterns like the one found on the H. L. Hunley. Two of the H. L. Hunley signal lantern replicas were donated to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina. The third lantern was donated to the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The fourth lantern was donated to the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

*Statement by Edward Eisenhuth*

Works Cited & Consulted

Clemson Conservation Center. Clemson Conservation Center. Web. 02 Jan. 2010. www.clemson.edu/clemson_conservation_center.

Friends of the Hunley. Friends of the Hunley, 2005. Web. 11 Nov. 2009. www.hunley.org.

Signal Lantern Sponsors

Hamburg Area School District, 701 Windsor Street, Hamburg, PA 19526

Hamburg Area Education Foundation

Dr. and Mrs. Joe Jurgielewicz

The Phi Group, LLC

Personal Recognition

Mr. Chris Spohn - Principal, Hamburg Area High School

Mr. Gerry Evans - Hamburg Area High School, Hunley Research

Mr. Fred Yoder, Mr. Darwin Hurst, and Mr. Glenn Henne - Hamburg Area High and Middle Schools, Industrial Technology Support

Mrs. Nanette Eisenhuth - Hamburg Area High School, Mentor/School District Relations

Mr. Mike Kistler - Hamburg Area High School, Website Design Support

Mrs. Suzanne Baylor - Hamburg Area High School, Project Secretary

Hamburg Area School District Custodial Staff - Materials Support

Student Participants - Nikole Lamey, Francesca Lella, Heidi Stertzel, Jessica Dompkowski, Cody Wertz, Josh Buchalter, Joey Parent, Anthony Urban, Seth Kunkel, Nicholas Rentschler, Alex Hartman and Austin Hartman

Archaeologist Ben Rennison - Video Conference

Ms. Kellen Correia - Executive Director, Friends of the Hunley

Ms. Gail Bardhan & Ms. Amy De Simone - Corning Museum of Glass, Glass Lens Information

Mr. Frank Harchuska - "Antique Investments," Lantern Information/Parts

Mr. Virgil Robinson - Lantern Information

Mr. Kent Eisenhuth - " The Phi Group, LLC," Technical and Business Support

Mr. Woody Kirkman - "W. T. Kirkman Oil & Electric Lanterns," Lens/Lantern Materials and Support

Mr. John Kosmari - Lantern Construction Suggestions

Mr. John Minder - "JRM Machinery, Inc.," Filler Spout Machining

Mr. Kevin Hoffman - "Civil War Preservations," Binoculars and Draw Telescope

Mr. Scott Weaver - "Reading Plating & Polishing Works, Inc.," Baffle Plating

Mr. Sam Martin - Schuylkill County Airport, Pilot

Mr. & Mrs. Rich Rada - Airport Test Crew

Mrs. Stephanie Jepko-Menapace - M&T Bank Hamburg, PA, Lantern Display

Mr. Richard W. Hatcher III - Battery Marshall Information

Professor James Malenda - Kutztown University, Baffle Replication/Soldering

Mr. Ray Oxenford - Tinsmith, Baffle Replication and Lens Cylinder Adjustment

Blue Light Information

Mr. James E. Boyle & Mrs. Beth Maxwell Boyle – Rams Horn Studio

Dr. Henry A. Boyter Jr. – Director of the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Textile and Apparel Businesses

Professor Arne Emil Christensen – Retired head of the Viking Ship Museum and professor emeritus of the Kulturhistorisk Museum, University of Oslo

Dr. Roger Cicala – Founder, Lens Rentals

Ms. Caitlin Crennell - Library & Archives Assistant, Science Museum in London

Mr. Michael W. Davidson – National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Dr. David Fleishman – Antique Spectacles and Other Vision Aids

Mr. Paul Koren – Railroadiana Online

Dr. John C. Mather – NASA JWST Senior Project Scientist

Curator Peter Morris - Principal Curator of Science, Science Museum in London

Process Historian Mark Osterman - Kay R. Whitmore Conservation Center, George Eastman House

Dr. Jeffery Raymond – Assistant Director Laboratory for Synthetic-Biologic Interactions, Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University

Professor Louis Scampavia – Associate Professor/Senior Engineering Scripps-FLHTS Lead-ID Division

Dr. Pat Scannon – Founder, Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board of Directors Xoma Corporation

Dr. Tim Scarlett – Industrial Heritage and Archaeology, Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University

Conservator Chris Watters – Warren Lasch Conservation Center