Spirits of the Passage: Stories of the Transatlantic Slave Trade opened yesterday on board the ex-USCG cutter Lilac at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25.  The exhibit explores the transatlantic slave trade through a display of nearly 150 historical objects, many salvaged from sunken ships, and was created by the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. The museum was established by diver Mel Fisher, a treasure hunter who found the sunken wrecks of the Spanish galleons Nuestra Senora de Atocha and Santa Margarita. The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, September 27. The ship is open free to visitors from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on Thursdays and 2:00 to 7:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Lilac received key funding from the Sandy Hook Pilots’ Association to bring this exhibit to New York. The Association represents licensed pilots who guide ocean-going vessels through the Port of New York and New Jersey, the Hudson River, the East River, and Long Island Sound.

Lilac is the last steam-powered lighthouse tender in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is eligible to become a National Historic Landmark. Launched on May 26, 1933, she carried supplies to lighthouses and maintained buoys for the U.S. Lighthouse Service and then the U.S. Coast Guard until she was decommissioned in 1972. Lilac is currently being restored as a unique vehicle for maritime education and community activities and is berthed at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 in New York City. More information can be found at www.lilacpreservationproject.org.