MIT MUSEUM
HART NAUTICAL COLLECTIONS

Hours: 0900-1900 daily except holidays

Mission Statement: To document and preserve the technical history of ship and small craft design, construction, and propulsion with emphasis on the New England area.

Use of the Collection: Archives are accessible but by appointment only. Electronic access in process of being established. Will respond to written inquiries within 2 weeks to several months. Staff size is limited hence turnaround time depends strongly on current demands of other museum activities or projects.

• Photocopies: $0.25/pg. Photo prints from negative, b&w, 8x10: $20, add $18 for copy neg, if required (neg retained by Museum). Photo prints from glass plates: $25 and up.
• Plan copies as laser prints (usually 2/ drawing, photoreduced): 1-9 $2.50, 10-29 $2, 30+ $1.50. Plan copies as blackline prints: <1000 sq in $10, <2000 sq in $15, 2000+ sq in $20.

  If research is required a fee of $15/hr may be levied (upon notice to customer). A fee is also charged for building a model: full - $40, half - $10. Mailing charges are $8 domestic.

Collection Content:

• General areas - Commercial shipping, small craft, yachts, marine engines. Mid 1800s-present.

• Library - 3,000 volumes, 100,000 technical drawings, 130,000 vessel photos, 20,000 other shipbuilding and marine engineering archives. Particular collections include: Atlantic Works Collection - East Boston ship and engine building and repair facility 1853-1951. Photos and drawings.

• William A. Baker Collection - Curator of Hart Nautical Collections, 1963-1981. Recognized expert on 16th-19th century boat and ship design. Design drawings, technical files and research notes.

• Bethlehem Steel Collection - Quincy, Mass, yard operations and ships built: 13,000 drawings from 1900- 1937, 80,000 photos from 1900-1963.

• Capt. Arthur H. Clark Collection - American and British ships and yachts 1850-1900, European shipbuilding 17th- 19th centuries. 1400 prints, lithos, etchings, engravings and photos, 300 ship's plans (including contemporary clipper ship lines), 16 half models, 400 volumes on ship design and yachting.

• Alan Forbes Whaling collection - Whales and whaling, 2,000 prints and paintings, 16th-19th century.

• Charles H. W. Foster Collection - Yachting, some commercial, 1885-1930. 5 half models, 46 books, 4300 photos by Stebbins, Jackson and Peabody.

• General Dynamics-Quincy Shipyard Collection - Bethlehem era to 1986. Photos, models, marketing films and videos.

• Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection - Yachts and commercial vssels built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, RI . 13,000 drawings, , documents, photos and models. A "Guide to the Haffenraeffer-Herreshoff Collection" has been published by Hart describing in detail what is in this collection; a significant aid in using and researching this archive. Order copies from the Museum.

• Davis-hand Collection - Design work, mostly yachts, of Richard O. Davis while with William Hand, 1920-1950. 2,000 plans. A guide similar to that for the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is currently in preparation.

• McInnis-Lawley Collection - Yachts built by George Lawley & Son Corp, Neponset, MA, 1910-1940. 2,000 drawings, 10 half models.

• Gordon Monroe Collection - Designs of Monroe while with Lawley, 300 plans.

• George Owen Collection - MIT professor and yacth and commercial vessel designer, 1884-1950s. 2,000 plans, 42 models, photos.

• Frank C. Paine Collection - yacht designer early 1900s. 2,300 plans, 21 half models.

• Paintings - 1 displayed, 30 stored: ship portraits.

• Models - Full: 40 displayed, 330 stored. Half: 270. Collection also includes several steam engine models.

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