LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Exactly 25 years after she made history by becoming the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, Tori Murden McClure marked the anniversary with a historic donation to the Frazier History Museum. 

McClure's historic 3,300-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean ended on Dec. 3, 1999, when she stepped ashore on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after her solo expedition.

On the 25th anniversary of that achievement, McClure held a news conference in the museum's First Floor Great Hall, where her rowboat — The American Pearl — is displayed as part of the Cool Kentucky exhibition to announce she is gifting the vessel to the museum. It had been on temporary display after Murden McClure loaned it to the museum. 

Thanks to generosity of Tori and her husband Mac, the boat is now a part of the museum's permanent collection.

When asked why she was motivated to donate the boat, she had this to say:

"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.

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.

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.

So, it is with pride that I announce, on this twenty-fifth anniversary of my journey, that Mac and I are donating the American Pearl to the Frazier."

Along with the boat, she also donated a selection of objects from her 1998 and 1999 journeys, including food, cookware, computers, cameras, cassette players, emergency kits, and other boating essentials.

Besides being the first American and woman to complete the solo journey, she was also the first woman to ski to the South Pole. 

After serving for 14 years as Spalding University's president, she retired in June 2024, after serving in various roles at the school for 25 years.

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