LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty-five years ago, Tori Murden McClure completed the impossible. She became the first woman and first American to row the Atlantic Ocean solo.
On Dec. 3, 1999, McClure completed the 3,300-mile journey from the Canary Islands to Guadeloupe while rowing the American Pearl.
On Dec. 3, 2024, she donated the vessel to the Frazier History Museum. It had been on loan to the museum since Sept. 2020.
At a news conference, McClure said, “The Frazier History Museum is both a community asset and a community resource. The story of the American Pearl is bigger than me and even bigger than the large circle of friends who helped me to build the American Pearl and to row the boat ‘alone’ across the Atlantic Ocean. I was physically alone, but there were two flags aboard that connected me to land and to people: the American flag and the Kentucky flag.”
According to the museum, the American Pearl has become one of the “most talked about and iconic artifacts” in the museum. Thanks to the generosity of McClure and her husband, Mac, the boat is now part of Frazier’s permanent collection.
Over the years, thousands of stories have rippled outward from this boat.She added, “Over the years, thousands of stories have rippled outward from this boat. For some, the stories are about exploration or adventure. For others, the stories are about becoming comfortable with uncertainty—or, as my outdoor friends would say, finding ‘tolerance for adversity.’ For me, the American Pearl symbolizes a love story. I love life. I love exploring physically and intellectually. And, above all, I love Mac McClure. The American Pearl brought the two of us together.”
Along with the boat, the McClures donated several objects from the 1998 and 1999 journeys, including food, cookware, computers, cameras, cassette players and other boating essentials.
“Mac and I can only hope that the ripples that extend from the American Pearl will continue to move others to see themselves in the story. What better place to amplify the reach of the story and its ripples than the Frazier, where the world meets Kentucky,” Murden McClure said.
The Frazier History Museum offers daily guided tours of the museum’s “Cool Kentucky” exhibit, where staff discusses Murden McClure’s journey in the American Pearl.