Researchers
with interests in American, maritime, and
economic history may now access an important
portion of the Elwin M. Eldredge Collection
at The Mariners' Museum. This voluminous
collection of images, artifacts, and archival
material about the rise of steamship transportation
includes extensive documentation of the
history of American steamship companies.
With thousands of photographs, extensive
notes, ephemera, and clippings from nautical
publications, newspapers, and other media,
this collection chronicles an important
era in our maritime and economic history.
The extensive documentation and primary
source material will be valuable to researchers
pursuing many different interests, from
the histories of seaside communities to
the development of the nation's industry
and commerce. |
|
The database includes a record for each of the
352 American steamship companies documented in
the collection. Each record describes the contents
of the file on that company and captures essential
information, such as:
• Company
name, headquarters, and dates of operation
• Other affiliated companies
• Ports touched
• Regions served
• Types of cargo and passenger service,
including cargoes carried and involvement
in immigration, commuting, and leisure travel
• Types of materials contained in the
file of the company, such as advertisements,
newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence,
and account books.
In addition, brief records have been created
for each of the vessels operated by these
companies. Records describe the information
on the vessels in the collection and include: |
|
• Vessel name
• Use in military service
• Highlights of the vessel's history,
including name changes and involvement in
disasters
Users may search the database by company
name, vessel name, or any word or phrase
in any field. |
 |
Researchers may obtain access to the material
in the collection either by visiting the Library
or by contacting us at library@mariner.org.
Creation of this database was made possible
by a generous grant from the National
Maritime Heritage Grants Program, a
federal program to preserve our nation's maritime
resources. The program is administered by the
National Maritime Initiative of the National Park
Service.
This material is based upon work assisted by
a grant from the Department of the Interior, National
Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this material
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.
Photographs from the Elwin M. Eldredge Collection
(MS91), the Library at The Mariners' Museum.
|
