LegacyElegance • of •
Some pieces shine on display in handsome
splendor, while others are carefully wrapped up
and tucked away in an archives room, waiting
to be polished again to their former glory.
For more than a century, 100-plus magnificent pieces of presentation
silver have served the state of North Carolina and the
United States Navy on ships and in the Governor’s Mansion,
telling important parts of the Tar Heel State’s history through
detailed etchings that include the state Capitol and seal, tobacco
plants, pine boughs, cotton bolls, nautical themes and the silver
The North Carolina
S i l v e r
by Michelle Saxton
photography by Allison Breiner Potter
set’s first home — the USS North Carolina armored cruiser.
They also symbolize the formality of the Navy and the vessel
they now call home — the Battleship North Carolina, the Port
City’s renowned floating memorial museum that stretches about
two football fields long and boasts 16-inch guns.
“It’s an American legacy,” says Sherry Langrock, a writer from
Williams, California, who plans to produce a book based on
research she has done over the years on U.S. Navy silver services
like those on the Battleship North Carolina.
It’s a legacy worth documenting, a legacy of elegance.
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WBM march 2011