New -- Collections and Research Image Archive

Mystic Seaports' collection of art, objects, photographs, and ships plans number in the millions and while it is an ambitious undertaking staff at the CRC are continually working to serve our visitors by putting more and more of these vast resources online. To date approximately 10,000 images have been shot and scanned. That isn't all the collection but it is enough to keep many researchers, staff, folks with general interest in various maritime maters, or just the plain curious, plenty busy.

Search the Image Archive at: http://library.mysticseaport.org/ere/oindex.cfm. Results can be viewed in either List or Gallery views.

Or browse some selected ‘collections’

By Category: Instruments Scrimshaw Oil Paintings

By Topic: Canals Tugboats Bicycles

Please note - this resource is under continuing development (for instance you will see a few broken image links) but the visitors who have seen it appreciated it so much we felt it was time to make the announcement. Please send along your comments and suggestions to myself, kelly.drake@mysticseaport.org or any other members of the CRC staff. We’ll be working toward incorporating user input and adding more and more images to the archive.

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  Also - don’t forget our Digital Library collection of books, registers and manuscripts. Online at: http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/MsList.cfm

Collections Featured in "Classic Yachts" Article

This months issue of "Classic Yacht" carries a story on just a few of the many gems in our vast collections. You can view the article, some great shots of collection pieces, as well as words of wisdom from the staff at: http://www.classicyachtmag.com/currentissue (article on page 96).

Newest Title

The ever popular Silas Talbot (Mystic Seaport mss Coll. 18) is one of the early U.S. Naval Commanders featured in Lou Norton's new book Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine . Along with Talbot, this book also looks into the characteristics of Dudley Saltonstall, Joshua Barney, and John Paul Jones and into how their reckless bravado and frequent antagonism toward their fellow officers shaped the new institution.

Another Weekend, Another Hurricane Threat

Last weekend Hurricane Bill skirted the nearby coast giving us lots of good surfing waves. This weekend we're waiting to see what Danny will bring - and thinking about Hurricanes past. If you want to see what a real hurricane can do - take a look at our photos from the 1938 Hurricane.

The 2009 Williams-Mystic Essay Contest in Honor of Joseph Conrad

The Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport is awarding a $5,000 scholarship for one semester.

Deadline: October 15, 2009

Eligibility: Undergraduates of any major in good academic standing at an accredited college or university are eligible. High school seniors may also submit. Must be interested in spending a future semester at Williams-Mystic, either spring or fall (based on choice and availability), as part of your college career.

The Essay: Submissions of either fiction or nonfiction should be between 1,000-5,000 words.
Submissions may be about any topic and in any genre as long as the ocean or a major body of water is the primary setting or aspect of concern. The essay may be nature writing, environmental or political activism, literary or historic scholarship, or simply good storytelling. (Sorry, no collections of poetry in 2009.)

More information: www.williams.edu/williamsmystic, rk2@williams.edu

Letter to the Collections and Research Library

Dear Mystic Seaport Library and Special Collections,

Thank you very much for your help during our research trip to study pirates this summer. As we are researching the changing meanings of "pirate" throughout history, several aspects of your collections were very helpful to us. On the matter of evolving legal and policy responses to and understandings of piracy, the transcripts of Civil War era trails of Confederate privateers on charges of piracy provided us with excellent empirical evidence of the disputer meaning of 'pirate' during this time.

Equally illuminating in terms of popular cultural understandings of piracy were your collections of pirate stories for children which help us trace the course of the romantization and de-fanging of portrayals of pirates through the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. We really appreciate your help in locating and providing these text for us.

Sincerely,

Researchers from American University
Washington, DC

The CRCs got talent

Not only did staff members produce this excellent video - they also star in it: