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The Waterman Globe Makes Its Return

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Posted on May 10, 2017

Alice Jackson

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The Waterman Globe, one of Mobile鈥檚 best-known artifacts, the focal point of the Mitchell Center鈥檚 main lobby and the traditional backdrop for thousands of new graduate portraits, returned for Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 6.

The globe had been draped off since November 2015, when the metal shaft that held the 12-foot-tall sphere on its tilted axis broke after 26 years. Decades older than the University, the globe is part of Mobile鈥檚 role in a worldwide shipping industry that exploded at the beginning of the 20th century. How the globe found a home in the Mitchell Center is a symbol of the University鈥檚 commitment to honoring local history. Despite the damages from its fall, there was never a question of whether or not to repair it. There was only the determination to repair it the right way.

鈥淭he globe was suspended out at a cantilevered position by the shaft, and it broke because of metal fatigue,鈥� said Randy Moon, associate vice president for facilities management. 鈥淎 side of the globe was damaged, and the globe damaged the building where it fell.鈥�

The repairs involved numerous members of Moon鈥檚 division, along with engineers, a metallurgist and a faculty member in the University鈥檚 department of visual arts. A specially designed lifting mechanism was needed to lift the globe  without crushing it, and then keep it suspended above the floor during repairs. Sheet metal on one side of the globe had to be replaced. A totally new metal shaft was fabricated. And, once the globe was back in place, the damaged portions of the 1950s world it depicts were painstakingly repainted to perfection.

鈥淲e put a lot of engineering and thought into it, and this project became very detailed because we wanted the repairs to last a long time,鈥� Moon said.

Cynthia Rush, a graduate student in English, is likely the most knowledgeable person on campus about the globe鈥檚 history. She has researched the globe鈥檚 beginnings through interviews with Melissa Inge, the granddaughter of John B. Waterman, founder of the highly successful Waterman Steamship Corp., and the daughter of Carrol B. Waterman, vice president of the company. It was Carrol Waterman鈥檚 idea to commission Rand McNally to build the globe for the lobby of the Waterman Building, the historic headquarters of the company in downtown Mobile.

鈥淗er father really cared about art and history,鈥� Rush said, describing the globe鈥檚 original placement surrounded by murals. 鈥淭here were only three of those globes ever commissioned, and it was a very valuable object, especially during those times.鈥� One of the globes was inside the lobby of the New York Daily News and the other was at the Iowa Chronicle.

The two-story main lobby of the building on St. Joseph St. was opened in 1950 with a public invitation for visitors. To a population that knew television only as a new-fangled invention, the Waterman Globe, surrounded by the same brass railing that remains with it today, was the hottest ticket in town. During the two-day grand opening, thousands of Mobilians saw the globe and the murals for the first time with people often waiting in line for blocks. The building was kept open until 9 p.m. both evenings to accommodate the crowds.

Rush, who was so taken with the globe鈥檚 history that she presented her research in a public presentation and tour of the globe several years ago, called the globe鈥檚 restoration 鈥渁nother amazing part of its story.鈥�

鈥淭his globe is an amazing link to a local company that was once the leading steamship company in the world,鈥� Rush said. 鈥淭hen, it ended up at the University of South Alabama in pieces and was kept that way in storage for years.鈥�

When the Waterman Building was sold in 1973, the globe was dismantled. However, USA founding president Dr. Frederick Whiddon brought the pieces to USA, hoping to use it at the right time in the right place, which turned out to be the new Mitchell Center when it opened in 1998.

The globe was reassembled over two years by employee Lanny 鈥淢ac鈥� McCormick, who was the engineering lab technician. For details of that story, Rush located McCormick鈥檚 widow and other family members.

鈥淣ow, that鈥檚 a story,鈥� Rush said of her talks with them. 鈥淢cCormick put the globe back together all by himself, squeezing that difficult work in between all his other engineering duties at USA. He had seen the globe originally as a child when it was in the Waterman lobby, and he drew from his personal memory during the reassembly.鈥�

McCormick fabricated the metal shaft himself. The original sheet metal had 5,500 rivets at one-inch intervals. If he had made even one tiny miscalculation on the metal braces inside the globe鈥檚 interior, its exterior wouldn鈥檛 have fit together.

鈥淚n the end, he put the world back together for a purpose,鈥� Rush said. 鈥淣ow, with the new repairs, the globe will continue to fascinate campus visitors for years to come.鈥�

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