Traveling “Real Pirates” exhibit makes a stop at Milwaukee Public Museum
MILWAUKEE -- A traveling exhibit called "Real Pirates" is making a stop at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Over 200 artifacts recovered from a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod are on display! It's the only pirate shipwreck that's ever been discovered!
“It was a folk story around the Cape where I was growing up as a kid -- pirate ship wrecking off the beach I used to swim at,” underwater explorer Barry Clifford said.
In 1984, Clifford he discovered the Whydah, a 75-foot vessel that sank nearly 300 years ago. At first, he found a bell, a cannon and coins (or pieces of eight).
“We brought our equipment in and dug down 20 feet in the sand and starting finding artifacts,” Clifford said.
This is the only authenticated pirate ship and treasure that's ever been discovered.
“It's an amazing story of how it started as a slave ship, sailed to the West Indes, then became a pirate ship when it was captured by Sam Bellamy. It really is a walk-through of a pirate's life,” Mark Lach, Creative Director of the “Real Pirates” exhibit said.
Firearms of the 1700s, tools, real gold and a chest of more than 2,500 coins are just some of the artifacts from the ocean floor that are now part of the exhibit.
“This is the only place you can actually see and touch pirate treasure,” Lach said.
In the 15,000 square foot space, visitors can interact with pirates and walk aboard a replica of the Whydah.
“You'll go into a pirate's tavern. You'll go in the captains quarters, down below the decks,” Lach said.
“This way, it tells a story. It tells who these people were. It’s one of a kind,” Clifford said.
The “Real Pirates” exhibit opens Friday, December 14th and runs through the end of May.
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