Before mailing or dropping off any donation material, we ask that you please contact us in advance by submitting a contact form below or calling 401-463-3570.
SSHSA’s archives contain numerous resources and artifacts. These include ship logs, ship plans, models, textiles, paper ephemera, art, advertisements, photographs and other visual media, as well as a large maritime reference library.
SSHSA crew members posing with a “punkah louvre” donated to the Ship History Center by Peter Knego.
Taken during SSHSA’s Annual Meeting 2024 in Long Beach, California.
Learn more about this donation and how it works in our lesson plans!
We always appreciate those who wish to donate to us. But, while our Ship History Center is large, many factors play into what types of donations we can accept. Things such as storage needs, subject matter, and collection condition are all considered prior to taking donations.
Currently, our archivists are interested in collecting items focusing on subjects such as labor, containerization, working vessels, and cruise shipping. Learn more about what these subjects are below.
Our archivist team kindly asks that all donors submit the information below with their request where possible:
- General subject matter and the relevant date or era of items.
- Photographs of objects and physical items.
- Information on how these items were obtained.
- Information about the format or type of materials. Please be specific on photographic material such as film negatives and slides, along with items such as glass plates, paintings, plaques, and model ships.
Note: Book donations must be listed in a spreadsheet or document with title, author, publication date, and publisher.
Below is a list of items that we cannot accept at this time:
- Scrapbooks
- Newspaper Clippings
- Periodicals and back issues of Steamboat Bill and PowerShips
- Maps
- Charts
Because of limits on archive space and staff time, any unsolicited items that are dropped off at the Ship History Center without prior knowledge will be considered an unrestricted gift. This means that your items will be processed but may not be incorporated into our permanent archival collections.
If you would like to help preserve your donation at the Ship History Center, please consider a monetary donation to further our storage abilities and upkeep.
Please feel free to contact our archivist, Astrid Drew, with questions.
Subjects of interest:
Labor – including labor unions in shipping or shipbuilding, union organization, strikes, communications between owners and leaders, experience of workers in shipyards and aboard vessels of all kinds, stevedores, and longshoremen.
Containerization and Working Vessels – including material related to the shift to containerization in shipping, documentation of working vessels like tankers and large cargo ships, tugs, fishing, and other smaller industry vessels.
Cruise Shipping – including material that illustrates the change from passenger services to cruising, vessels being repurposed as cruise ships, and vessels that were built for cruising audiences. Circa 1960-1980.