online catalog

Online Catalog

Welcome to the online catalog for the J. Welles Henderson Research Center at Independence Seaport Museum.

Our catalog is an online resource for visitors to explore the Museum’s rich collections and to gain a better understanding of the Delaware River watershed. Our collections are organized under ten general categories, under which are more specific subcategories. For instance, one will be able to find an individual shipyard such as the New York Shipbuilding Corp. under the Maritime Industries Category.

On the catalog search page, subjects can be searched by:

Catalog entries provide detailed descriptions of a collection’s parts, provide an overall scope of the content, convey details about the individuals or organizations involved, and list the location of an item. special service conditions are noted, including terms under which the collection may be accessed or copied. Links are provided to digitized content, when available. To begin a category search, please use the links below.

Collections Categories

Additional Resources

This category comprises of material from local historians and chroniclers as well as folios of modelers. Our collection of dissertation material is also located here.

COMMERCE

This category contains the collections that relate to business operations of the ports of the Delaware River Region. Within this category are the business transactions of local companies, individuals and trade families, ship owners, and operators. Also within this category are collections material on Philadelphia’s role inn trade with China in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Trade Associations such as the Philadelphia merchant Exchange and Commercial Museum can be found within this category. Also included are collections on operations of steamship companies.

ENVIRONMENT

INFRASTRUCTURE

This category contains government and private organizations that developed and expanded commercial potential of the Port of Philadelphia and the waterfront and waterways. Charts and maps of the region also comprise a large section of this category. Other subcategories also contain collections that focus on immigration to Philadelphia and settlement in the area. Collections on regional labor are also included here.

MARITIME INDUSTRIES

This category contains the industrial production that supported the region’s maritime operations. Subcategories that contain material on the local shipbuilders ranging from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries can be found here. Also found within this category are builders and suppliers of smaller work/commercial boats and watercraft of the region. Maritime industries that manufactured equipment or parts for vessels are also contained within this category.

MILITARY

Collections contained within this category focus on military operations of sea services and diplomatic relationships from the Barbary Wars to World War II. Material on the operations of the United States Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and non-United States navies (British pre-Civil War) are also contained within this category. Collection material on the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard can be found within this category. Collection material on leading Naval figures, such as John Barry or Stephan Decatur, are also included here. Similarly, material on officers are located here as well.

OLYMPIA

This category contains all materials relating to Cruiser Olympia. Material contained here include plans and drawings, professional and amateur photographs, performance data, and construction documents. Crew information, logbooks, personnel records for both officers and enlisted sailors aboard, memorabilia, ephemera, and scrapbooks of individuals are also here. Additional category highlights include materials related to Olympia‘s history during the Spanish-American War, Olympia in World War I, the Unknown Soldier, and also images and ephemera of contemporary vessels Non-archival material such as ship fittings, furniture, uniforms, and flags are also included in this category.

BECUNA

This category contains all materials relating to Submarine Becuna. the subcategories contained within this collection are blue prints, drawings, manuals, and catalogs. Officer and enlisted service records, crew records, Cruiser Olympia Association material, and Independence Seaport Museum records are included in this category. Oral histories are also a part as well.

RECREATION

Subjects contained within this category concern recreational and sporting activities of the Philadelphia area region and its close connection to the New Jersey shore. Activities covered in this category include recreational fishing and hunting. Records of Boathouse Row and rowing on the Schuylkill can also be found here. Records of yachting and non-commercial boating can be found within this category. Also contained here are ephemera and materials related to resort towns along the New Jersey shore.

MARITIME CULTURE

Contained within this collection are materials related to the experience of individuals in the military and civilian merchant sailors both aboard ship and ashore. records for enlisted sailors of the United States Navy not related to Olympia and Becuna can be found here. As part of sailor’s life, there are collections of sailor’s culture such as crafts as well as drawings of tattoo designs by local artists. Also contained within this category are benevolent societies that supported the local maritime community such as the Seaman’s Church Institute. Recollections and memorabilia of travelers are part of this category.

visit the seaport museum

Immerse yourself in award-winning exhibitions and climb aboard the Olympia, a nineteenth-century cruiser, and the Becuna, a World War II-era submarine.