NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD, INC.

Survey submitted by Phillip Crombie, South Windsor, CT - Updated 2/8/05

Address: 75 Greenmanville Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
Tel/fax & Contact:
Library - 860-572-5366 / 860-572-5394, Paul O'Pecko 
General collections - 860-572-5313 / 860-572-5371, Phil Budlong 
Photo archives - 860-572-5383 / 860-572-5301, Peg Tate Smith 
Rights & reprod.- 860-572-5383 / 860-572-5301, Peg Tate Smith 
Rosenfeld photos - 860-572-5370 / 860-572-5320, Deborah DiGregorio 
Ship's plans - 860-572-5360 / 860-572-5394, Ellen Stone 
Film & video - 860-572-5379 / 860-572-5328, Suki Williams
E-mail: inquiries@mysticseaport.org
Internet: http://www.mysticseaport.org and http://schooner.mysticseaport.org

Hours: 0900-1700 daily, Library: 1200-1700 Mon-Fri and 1100-1600 most Sat each month (reduced staff, please call ahead).
Visitors: 450,000/yr

Overall Description: Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea, was founded in 1929 on the site of a nineteenth century shipyard along the Mystic River. The Museum welcomes 450,000 visitors annually and conducts 150 education programs to audiences of all ages, interests and affiliations. Mystic Seaport has 22,000 members from all 50 states and 35 foreign countries.

Mission Statement: The Seaport's mission is to create a broad, public understanding of America's historic and contemporary relationship with the sea.

Use of the Collection: The archives are available, some through the internet web site. It is best to have an appointment, but some departments (library, ship plans) will assist you an a walk-in basis. Response to written inquiries depends on the complexity of the request -- a few days to "much longer". The average time to fill copy orders is 4 weeks. This can be accelerated with rush fees.

• Research fees are $20.00 per hour for individuals and $40.00 for commercial requests.
• Photocopies are $0.25 each.
• Photographic reproduction (not including rush or use fees) are:

  Prints (b&w): 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 -- $20-$25.00, 11x14 -- $50.00, 16x20-- $75.00.

  Prints (b&w contact): 4x5 -- $3.50, 5x7 -- $4.25, 8x10 -- $5.00.

  Negatives (b&w): $15.00 - $60.00 (negatives are printed, not sold)

  Color (transparency) $5.00 (35mm duplicated color slides)

• Rosenfeld Collection: This is a separate schedule. Contact the person above for prices.
• Plans and Drawings are reproduced as blueline or microfilm reader copy. Cost varies by drawing size, job size and other production factors. It is best to get a quote for your order.
• Licensing and use fees apply for commercial uses.

Collection Content:

• General areas: - Mystic Seaport is laid out as a seacoast town with many historic buildings. While some buildings house static displays dealing with banking, medicine, printing, time keeping, oyster fishing and other subjects, many have operating exhibits such as an 18th century home kitchen, a blacksmith shop, a shipcarvers shop and an 18th century tavern where light meals can be purchased. An operating boatshop conducts classes and builds period boats for the Seaports boat livery. A sawmill, floating drydock and enclosed shipyard provide maintenance facilities for the Seaport's in-the-water fleet. Sails are made in a sail loft. There is also an old rope walk in its original building that is not operational. All are open to observation by visitors. The Shaeffer Gallery provides periodically changing exhibits of marine art and artifacts. The Stillman and Mallory buildings have permanent displays of art, ship models, half models and marine artifacts. Separate buildings house the beautifully restored cabin of the BENJAMIN F. PACKARD and the keel of the coasting schooner AUSTRALIA. A planetarium features shows on navigation and other subjects.

   

• The G.W. Blunt White Library: The Library is divided into four sections: Imprints; Manuscripts, charts and maps; Ships Plans; and Sound archives. Its doors are freely open to both members and non-members of Mystic Seaport who have a serious interest in American maritime history. The Seaport admission fee is waived for those wishing only to use the Library. While retrieval of material for people visiting the library is free, research is performed at a fee of $20.00 per hour for individuals and $40.00 per hour for businesses. Friends of the Library receive one free hour of research annually.
  • Imprints: The Library is home to 65,000 books on maritime and related topics. Subjects such as maritime commerce and industry, ship and boatbuilding, recreational boating, fisheries, historic preservation, gardening, art, architecture, meteorology, marine sciences, maritime literature, music, culture, foodways, navigation and immigration are covered. The holdings address nearly every aspect of the American maritime experience, from pre-Columbian times through the 20th century, and examine this nation's relationship with the world through the perspective of its involvement with the sea. The Library holds a seminal collection of materials on 19th and early 20th-century polar exploration. Frequently researchers are referred to the Library for access to rare books such as the Portugaliae Momumenta Cartographica and DesBarres' Atlantic Neptune. Over eight hundred sixty periodical titles and thousands of rolls of microfilm help tell the American maritime story. Three hundred thirty of the periodicals are currently published.
  • Manuscripts, Charts and Maps Collection: This collection contains nearly1,000,000 pieces including 1300 logbooks and 1000 ships registers. The earliest material, dating from the beginning of the 18th century, includes ships' logs and journals, ledgers, diaries and documents from the whaling, fishing and shipping industries. Later manuscripts also incorporate business and personal papers of prominent naval architects, correspondence, design data, construction information, notes and photographs. This entire collection provides a multiple-perspective, firsthand account of trade patterns, travel routes, shipboard working and living conditions, race relations and American encounters with European and non-Western cultures, given by the people who actually experienced them. The small collection of maps pertains almost exclusively to Connecticut, but the more extensive collection of about 8,000 charts is worldwide in scope focusing primarily on the nineteenth century. A description of this vast resource collection is provided in the book A Guide to the Manuscript Collections of the G.W. Blunt White Library by Douglas Stein. The Electric Launch and Navigation portion of the collection is described in Elco Archives--1842-1949 also by Douglas L. Stein
  • Sound Archives: The Oral History and Sound Archives contain 600 hundred audiotaped interviews and lectures, 200 videotaped symposium talks and additional sound recordings of meetings, events and programs. The oral histories serve to document maritime activity, people and material culture (tools, gear, materials, vessels). While the Collection's geographic emphasis is on New England, the information it contains tells an international story. This collection is documented in the book Guide to the Oral History Collections at Mystic Seaport Museum by Fred Calabretta.
  • Ship Plans Collection: This very large assemblage of graphical maritime data consists of 115 discrete collections containing over 79,000 individual drawings, 86 gore books and bound volumes of drawings. It is publicly accessible in the Ships Plans Division of the American Maritime Education and Research Center at Mystic Seaport. Just a few of the names associated with the various collections are W.P. Stephens, Carl C. Cutler, Burgess-Donaldson, Cox & Stevens, Inc, Sparkman & Stephens, Inc., L. Francis Herreshoff, Breck Marshall, Clifford D Mallory, Sr., Augustus Sprague Burgess, Elco-General Dynamics, Brewington Research Material, Portia A. Takakjian and Thomas F. McManus.

    The drawings consist of both originals and copies, mainly documenting vessels spanning the years of the late 19th to mid 20th century. Lines, sail and rigging plans, outboard profiles, arrangements, construction, power plants and various types of details are provided on these documents, many of which were used by the designers and builders during the actual construction process. Primarily for wooden vessels, the collected plans also represent construction in metal, composite and fiberglass technologies.

    Drawings for all types of vessels, including ocean-going, bay, lake, river, canal and harbor craft have been collected. These drawings depict watercraft in power and sail used for fishing, commercial, yachting and recreational boating activity. Other drawings represent marine engines and machinery, ship decoration, buoys, lighthouses, lightships, light stations, launching ways, drydocks and boatyards.

    The Ships Plans Collection also preserves the archive plans and technical drawings of many of the watercraft and maritime objects that are now or have been owned by the museum. Specially selected plans in this category appear on a published list known as A Guide to Plans For Watercraft In The Collection of Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. Copies of this list are available upon request and contain ordering and pricing information.

    A complete description of the Ship Plans collection is provided in the publication "Guide to the Ship Plans Collection at Mystic Seaport Museum" by Ellen C. Stone and published by Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc. In addition to a description of 111 plans collections, this publication contains three indices--by collection name, by individual and corporate names and by vessel name.

    There are a number of ways to search for information within the collection. Each vessel or object is described by name, purpose or occupation, type, date built, designer, builder dimensions, class, owner, etc. Historical files are available on all vessels that have been researched by the staff. Biographical files on some designers and builders have also been created.

    Ready reference queries are answered at no charge. A flat research fee of $10.00 is assessed for all inquiries which require a written response. A research fee of $20.00 per hour is charged for complex written responses, and commercial clients are assessed $40.00 per hour for reference services. Although appointments are not required, it is best to call ahead prior to visiting in person.

    Copies of most plans can be purchased. Some are restricted, however, as to use. Plans are reproduced as blueline prints and microfilm reader-printer copies are available of those images preserved on film. Prices for copies vary depending on a number of factors. Copies are provided for personal use only. Permission in contract form is required for any reproduction, distribution or publication project.

   

• Photo Archives: The photo archives comprise the largest single collection of commercial and recreational maritime photos in the United States. Photos are divided into two parts--the general collection and the Rosenfeld Collection. The collections are treated, stored and administered separately.
  • The general photo collection includes 200,000 images dating from 1840 to the present. This collection is currently expanding to include other parts of the country as well as the northeast. This collection also includes non-maritime images such as farms and building interiors. The general photo collection is administered as a part of the general collections.
  • The Rosenfeld Collection, acquired in 1984 by Mystic Seaport, is one of the largest archives of maritime photographs in the United States. This collection of nearly one million pieces documents the period from 1881 to the present which is captured in a variety of formats from glassplate negatives to color transparencies and from glossy prints to photographic murals. The evolution of photographic technology for the last hundred years is also represented. Although the Rosenfeld collection has a strong yachting component (America's Cup Races from 1885 to 1992), the Morris Rosenfeld & Sons photographic business also maintained a collection of assignment photography such as business, American Telephone & Telegraph and New York City scenes. Marine related subjects include boat shows, boat building, repairs, fitting out, people and places, junks, tugs, freighters, military vessels of both major wars, ocean liners, steamships, coastal steamers, working vessels, rowing craft, catamarans, windsurfers, fishing both commercial and pleasure, lighthouses, scenic subjects and more. Included in the Collection are the works of Arthur F. Aldridge, Charles Edwin Bolles, James Burton and Edwin J. Carpenter, on glass plates from 1881 to 1910, which contain images as varied as socialites participating in leisure activities, steam yachts, battleships and river boats on the Ohio River. Post 1981 images which are owned by Stanley Rosenfeld are stored in the Rosenfeld archives and include cruising images in Europe, the waterways Europe, Haiti, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Bahamas, Florida, Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands, Italy and the Northeastern United States coast. A CENTURY UNDER SAIL, a book by Morris and Stanley Rosenfeld illustrates the scope of sailing subjects and is a wonderful window into the Collection.
  • Mystic Seaport encourages the use of the Collection for research purposes. There is an ongoing effort to inventory the Collection on computer files. Currently 53,000 images are listed on computer. Inquiries are handled by a staff researcher via letter or scheduled office appointment. Most inquiries involve a research fee because the Collection is so vast. The fee depends on the length of time authorized and includes when available, video disc printouts or copies from prints. If no images are available to copy, a list of negatives with a brief description of image content will be sent to you.

   

• Film and Video Archives: These archives contain over 1.5 million feet of film and over 4000 video tapes. Subjects include sailing, square-rigged ships, storm scenes, boating, crews working, racing, ocean passages, boat restoration, J boats, yachting, onboard shots, ports of call, boat building, lighthouses, whaling, rowing, Gold Cup racers, sailmaking, iceboating, oystering, fishing oceans, waves, marshes, islands and Mystic Seaport location shots. The collection includes the most comprehensive film and video library on The America's Cup from 1899 to 1988. Transfer of the Johnson Collection films provides a time capsule of seven round-the-world voyages and many South Pacific island stops. Irving Johnson's world voyages span the years 1933 to 1958, and his European trips were taken between 1960 to 1964. Many shots of cultural ceremonies, unusual watercraft, native peoples of Oceania, wildlife and breathtaking scenery originally shot on 16mm film and now on digital Betacam masters. Mystic Seaport hopes to publish a catalog of this collection in the next few years.

  This collection is housed in very close quarters and there is no room for individual researchers. Please call or fax with your specific request. Details such as researching your request, duplication, licensing and fullment along with rates will be provided. The research rate is $40.00 per hour.

   

• Paintings - Mystic Seaport has a continually expanding painting and drawing collection with 700 items having been added since 1982. The collection consists of mainly vessels, seascapes and portraits. Eighty-three items are displayed, 18 are on loan and 1078 are stored. Highlights of Mystic Seaport's (and twelve other American maritime museums) artwork is described in Maritime America: Art and Artifacts from America's Great Nautical Collections by Peter Neil and published by Balsam/Abrams.

   

• Models and Half Models: Because of the size of the collection, models are currently acquired on a very limited basis, and the collection is periodically culled. Presently there are 228 models displayed, 18 on loan and 1078 in storage. Some of the more significant modelers represented are Charles G. Davis, Robert Innis, Alexander Law, Lloyd McCaffery, Erik Ronnberg, Raymond Pendleton, William F. Quincy and Carl Ray Sawyer. The Seaport has acquired the Charles Davis archives (manuscripts and photos), but they are not yet available for use.

  Models are cataloged in the general collection by type, vessel name, owner, model builder, etc. A sampling of some of the models on display and the modelers represented are:

  • Miniature model collection, by Alexander G. Law
  • Whaler Viola, by Lloyd McCaffery
  • Raleigh, by C. G. Davis
  • Issac Webb, by C. G. Davis
  • Whaleship Sunbeam, by C. G. Davis
  • Ship Helena, by C. G. Davis
  • Amy Knight, by Eric Ronnberg, Jr.
  • Pinky Essex, by Eric Ronnberg, Jr.
  • Sloop Boat Vesta, by Eric Ronnberg, Jr.
  • Steam Trawler Surf, by Eric Ronnberg, Jr.
  • Thomas Hoyne schooner models, by Eric Ronnberg, Jr.
  • GJOA, by Ralph Pendleton
  • Charles W. Morgan, by Ralph Pendleton
  • David Crockett, by William Quincy
  • Noank Lobster Sloop Breeze, by William Quincy
  • L. A. Dunton, by Roger Hambidge
  • Annie, by George Bullitt
  • Charles W. Morgan, by Robert Innis
  • Yacht Varina, Builders model

  The half-hull collection totals 1000 and is possibly the best in the country, although only a few are on display. Builders represented in the half-hull collection are R.I. Saunders family, William Cramp & Sons, George Greenman & Company and the Mallory yard.

   

• In-the-water vessels: The larger vessels in the Seaport's collection as well as some of the restored small craft are kept in the water. Among these are:
  • ANNIE (1880) - 29' racing sandbagger
  • BRILLIANT (1932) - 61' schooner yacht (may be boarded)
  • CHARLES W. MORGAN (1841) - 113' whaling bark (may be boarded)
  • EMMA C. BERRY (1866) - Noank fishing smack
  • ESTELLA A. (1904) - Friendship sloop
  • GLORY ANNA II - Block Island Cowhorn
  • JOSEPH CONRAD - Allan Villier's ship, originally a Danish training ship, now a seaport training vessel.
  • L.A. DUNTON - Grand banks fishing schooner (may be boarded)
  • REGINA M - carry away sloop
  • ROANN (1947) - wooden eastern-rig dragger
  • SABINO - Coastal river steamer (offers rides down the Mystic River)

   

• Small Craft Collection: Mystic Seaport houses a very large collection of small craft which, when added to the in-the-water fleet total up to over 480 vessels in the Seaport collection. Included are catboats, sailing dinghies, sharpies, skiffs, sloop rigged yachts and working craft and ketch rigged craft. In the rowing category are punts, skiffs, dories, whitehalls, double-ended pulling boats, tenders, dinghies, St. Lawrence River skiffs, peapods, surf boats, shells, salmon wherries, Sea Bright skiffs, Yankee skiffs, and waterfowl boats. Paddling and sailing canoes are in the collection along with dugouts and kayaks. Powered craft include steam, naphtha and gasoline powered boats, both inboard and outboard. A small number of the watercraft collection are on display in the small boat building. The rest are currently in storage in the Rosie Mill. Future public access to these craft will be available upon completion of the reconstruction of the Rosie Mill Building, which is being turned into the American Maritime Education and Research Center. The watercraft collection (acquisitions through 1985) is cataloged in the book Mystic Seaport Museum Watercraft by Maynard Bray published by Mystic Seaport Museum. An appendix shows plans for fifty-seven of the vessels.

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