Sailors Speak: Life Aboard Constitution in 1812

FAIN: MI-50056-07

USS Constitution Museum, Inc. (Boston, MA 02129-0215)
Anne Grimes Rand (Project Director: January 2007 to December 2010)

Implementation of a permanent exhibition about the lives of crew members and how their service during the War of 1812 affected them and helped to create an American national symbol.

"Sailors Speak: Life Aboard CONSTITUTION in 1812" will examine the self-contained world of a warship at sea from the perspective of the Ship's officers and crew. The 3,500 square foot exhibit will give voice to the Ship's company, exploring who served aboard and how their experience affected them and their families ashore. This long-term exhibit at the USS Constitution Museum will serve a family audience, blending hands-on and minds-on exhibit elements to facilitate family learning and inter-generational conversations. Scheduled to open in 2009, the "Sailors Speak" exhibit brings new research to the public, reinvigorating interpretation of the famed War of 1812 frigate, "Old Ironsides." The exhibit explores the disciplined world at sea and how ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances achieved surprising victories and contributed to Americans' sense of national identity.