The year 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic on April 15, 1912, and it is also the 25th anniversary of James Cameron’s movie by the same name. I would like to pay my respect by highlighting a few Titanic-related artifacts that the Museum has in its Collection.

Have you noticed our Conservation crew treating the Leifr Eiriksson statue this summer? Work is now complete, so read along with us as we share how we cleaned and recoated him!

What happens when a zoologist/biologist applies his powers of observation for studying animals to the study of boats? For Alfred Goldsborough Mayor it meant producing a body of work that has given researchers and museums some of the best historic documentation available on the construction of a variety of Pacific island sailing canoes.

History is filled with ages that are tied to the innovation of materials: The Stone Age, The Bronze Age, and The Iron Age. We are currently in The Plastics Age. Plastics have changed so much in our daily lives. Plastics are around us all the time.

After the Battle of Hampton Roads, USS Monitor —“little ship that saved the nation” — seemed perfect. But this illusion was shattered after the James River Flotilla's defeat at Drewry's Bluff. Lt. William Jeffers wrote a detailed report lodging his complaints about the vessel, from intolerable ventilation to questionable design choices, leading to a harsh rebuke from inventor John Ericsson. 

The first combined operation of the Civil War was the capture of Hatteras Inlet. This inlet was used by Confederate gunboats and privateer merchantmen sailing around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.