Sharing the Stories: Research and Interpretation at the USS Constitution Museum

FAIN: CH-51126-13

USS Constitution Museum, Inc. (Boston, MA 02129-0215)
Sarah Watkins (Project Director: May 2012 to October 2016)

Endowment to enhance interpretive opportunities for all ages by providing partial support for two humanities positions and related activities.

The USS Constitution Museum requests $200,000 and commits to raise $600,000 to create a humanities endowment of $800,000, to expand and enhance research-based interpretive opportunities for all ages by supporting the salaries and key activities of two core humanities positions. By funding a Research Historian position in the curatorial department the Museum will be able to conduct ground breaking humanities research into the lives and experiences of sailors who served on board Constitution and the people who shaped her history. Through a Manager of Academic and Family Programs position in the museum learning department, the Museum will disseminate the stories of diverse individuals connected to CONSTITUTION to deepen the public’s understanding of the humanities, to reinvigorate the interpretation of a national monument, and to foster personal connections with the past. Salary support for a research historian will enhance the Museum’s ability to preserve the memory of “Old Ironsides.”