2009 Bronze Door Proposals

Preserving The Mariners' Museum Film Collection

The Mariners' Museum has in its permanent film collection, numerous rare videos that can no longer be viewed because the media is outdated and the films are very fragile. If this project is selected, the most relevant part of the Museum's video collection could be digitized and made accessible to museum staff, educators, researchers, and scholars. Video from the collection would be available for use in both physical and virtual exhibitions, including the upcoming 2012 exhibit Abandon Ship. This project will build upon the previous Bronze Door Society funding that helped furnish video for the Building Better Ships and Antarctica exhibits. FUNDED IN 2009

Promoting Digital Access 2009 update June 2010

The goal of the Promoting Access to the Mariners' Museum Video Collection project is to build and install a digital archive system, conserve 9 selected film reels and conserve some 1,800 videos tapes from collections throughout the museum. Installation of the digital archive and recording equipment is nearing completion. All the major components are in place. Only a few dozen backup tapes are needed to ensure the digital archive is complete and fully protected. This past January, film specialists at Colorlab completed conservation of the 9 selected films. These films consisted mostly of imagery from the 55 United States. These films are now archived digitally and can be viewed without harm to the original masters. With help from volunteers such as Norman Lovett and Harry Carlson, the museum has been able to digitally transfer 280 video tapes in-house. In addition two new volunteers Rose Chang and Sean Ankney will soon be helping in this process as well. Our digital archive now stores hundreds of hours of maritime-related video, and the archive is growing weekly. Also noteworthy, a comprehensive training manual was developed to allow new volunteers to quickly learn the museum's process of digitizing video. There are still about 1,520 tapes yet to be transferred. The Technology Department staff, with help from a growing number of volunteers, is moving at a steady pace to complete the transfer of the remaining video tapes.

The Saunders Plan by John Luke Porter, CSN

Confederate naval constructor John Luke Porter is best know for his work in designing the CSS Virginia, yet his story does not end there. Throughout the war, Porter continued to design ironclad plans for the Confederate navy. The ship represented in this rare plan offered here was never built, but the drawing is an important part of the story of the Civil War at sea. The Mariners' Museum already holds three of Porter's original plans and continually seeks new Porter material. The importance of this piece cannot be understated and should it be accepted, it will find a permanent home within the USS Monitor Center exhibition. For further information on this plan, contact Anna Holloway at 757-591-7740 or AHolloway@MarinersMuseum.org.

Modern Multihull Virtual Exhibition

A dynamic online exhibition, utilizing the full-size multihull vessels in the Museum's collection, along with an unsurpassed model collection, and the archival resources of the modern multihull pioneers Arthur Piver, Jim Brown, and Dick Newick would be used to create a unique virtual exhibit. Like the upcoming virtual exhibition on Stationary Voyages, it would not only have searchable features, images, videos, and interviews, but a social networking aspect as well. This would allow for sailors and multihull enthusiasts around the globe to upload images and voyaging tales as well as to announce The Mariners' Museum as one of the only places in the world to do primary source research on this extremely popular style of boat. For further information on this proposed virtual exhibition, contact Lyles Forbes at 757-591-7761 or LForbes@MarinersMuseum.org. 

Cigar Store Sailor

Finally, a cigar store sailor is currently undergoing appraisal as to authenticity, age, and manufacture and is being presented to the society for funding. The Museum does not hold an explicit cigar store sailor, and this sculpture would currently compliment other wooden sailor figures that are frequently displayed. For further information on the cigar store sailor, contact Marc Nucup at 757-591-7761 or MNucup@MarinersMuseum.org.