Ken Black

2004 Recipient of the Holland Award

There was no American as deeply linked as Ken Black to the collection and preservation of the artifacts and equipment that tell the story of America's lighthouses. As the almost accidental founder of what became the best lighthouse museum in the nation, Ken has spurred both regional interest in the coastal heritage of his adopted state of Maine and national interest in lighthouse lore and technology. He is a pioneer and an iconic figure in the lighthouse preservation movement in this country.

Ken's interest in lighthouses blossomed during his years in the United States Coast Guard, where he served from 1941 to 1971 in posts that included the commands of rescue stations, a lightship and an icebreaker. His discovery and purchase of an old set of lighthouse postcards, and the interest that visitors showed in his Coast Guard station display of that set, started a lifelong collection process that culminated in the founding of the Shore Village Museum, now in the process of evolving with his guidance into the Maine Lighthouse Museum. That process was aided by the interest shown by a commander of the Coast Guard's First District who was impressed by Ken's station display and assigned him to gather artifacts for the district's own first Marine Exhibit. Ken showed little reluctance in using that order and the admiral's name -- a combination now fondly referred to as a "license to steal" -- to further the collection under his care.

That effort was of critical importance to lighthouse preservation. It came at a time when the Coast Guard was launching its automation initiatives, and much of the traditional equipment in lighthouses was being scrapped during the conversion. Ken offered an alternative to that scrapping and saved some 570 artifacts, some of them critically important to the understanding of lighthouse history. The value of that simply cannot be overstated. The debt owed by lighthouse historians to Ken Black is enormous.

After retiring as Chief Warrant Officer from the Coast Guard station in Rockland, Maine, Ken settled in the Rockland area and founded the Shore Village Museum to house and display a collection that had outgrown its space in working Coast Guard facilities and included precious lenses, fog hors, lifesaving equipment and other artifacts. The museum unofficially became "America's Lighthouse Museum" and developed into a prime Rockland attraction. This year, is begins its move to new and better quarters on Rockland's waterfront as the newly-renamed Maine Lighthouse Museum.

While developing his museum, Ken also supported the preservation movement at large through his distribution of an early and informative newsletter and his encouragement of local preservation efforts. He was instrumental in the success of the Maine Lights Program. He also served on a steering committee for the National Lighthouse Museum project, and is honorary chairman of the American Lighthouse Foundation. Recently, he was honored with the U.S. Coast Guard Public Service Commendation for lifetime achievement. The American Lighthouse Coordinating Committee is proud to have have added to that honor by presenting him the H. Ross Holland Award.