Collections & Research

AIMS – Preserving the Past for Research and Scholarship

The American Institute for Maritime Studies (AIMS) is the nation’s leading maritime research facility. Located in the Collections Research Center (CRC) across the street from the main Mystic Seaport Museum site, the former J. Rossie Velvet Mill houses the Museum’s collections and offers safe and easy access to maritime researchers and scholars. Artifacts maintained in AIMS include more than two million examples of maritime art, artifacts, tools, buildings, imprints and other documents, photographs, 1,000 ships registers, 600 audiotaped oral history interviews, 200 videotaped interviews, and 1.5 million feet of historic and contemporary maritime-related footage. The CRC opened in the fall of 2002 and was designed to exceed national museum standards for conservation, preservation, accessibility, and safety. The research center provides temperature and humidity control for the Museum’s artifacts and also boasts audio/video production suites and extensive photo processing and digitizing labs.

Charles Hervey Townshend’s Double Reflecting and Repeating CircleMarch 1, 2025
In a recently completed review of over 3,000 Curatorial accession files, funded by a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Museum staff discovered that we have a rare navigation instrument, a "Townshend Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle." A reflecting circle is a device for measuring longitude that was more accurate than the sextant. It was developed in the 18th century in England and refined by French and German instrument makers in the first half of the 19th century. Henri-Prudence Gambey (1787-1847) was the foremost precision instrument maker in France and made devices for physicists, astronomers, surveyors and navigators, among others. While the reflecting circle was not generally favored in England, on the Continent (and French navy) it was used well into the 1800s to measure large angles with great accuracy. In the reflecting circle, mirrors were used to measure simultaneously the angular distance between two objects to establish longitude. Our instrument was made by Charles Hervey Townshend (1833-1904), both a ships’ captain and an inventor. His “Townshend Double Reflecting and Repeating Circle”, for which he was granted a patent in 1888, was a valuable aid to maritime navigation with respect to longitude and latitude. With it one can sight three objects and measure two angular separations simultaneously, for example, two bright stars from the moon for the lunar longitude method, or three coastal landmarks for triangulation in coastal navigation. His experiments with oyster culture after he retired from the sea were of singular importance in the development of that industry. Written by Dr. Paul Goodwin, IMLS Project Volunteer, 2024
Pop-Up Exhibit in the G.W. Blunt White Library: The Snow Baby’s MotherFebruary 28, 2025
In a recently completed review of over 3,000 Curatorial accession files, funded by a grant awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, materials related to Josephine Diebitsch Peary (1863 – 1955) have been revealed. Josephine Diebitsch Peary, the focus of these cases, had previously been referenced in files and records as the wife of Admiral Robert E. Peary, a well-known American explorer whose Arctic accomplishments, including being the first to reach the North Pole (contested by some), are well documented and supported by Museum collection objects and manuscript materials. The information in the files recognizes Peary as a mother, author, and Arctic adventurer in her own right. Objects in this pop-up exhibit are presented as examples of Arctic and Greenlandic culture. Most have never before been exhibited. All are examples of objects mentioned in Diebitsch Peary’s books. Curated by Dr. Paul Goodwin, Project Volunteer, and Nancy Seager, Project Archivist, 2024
An Ocean Liner SamplerMay 31, 2023
We have posted a number of items over the last two years pertaining to an extraordinary collection that was given to the Museum a few years ago. This collection of ocean liner ephemera entails nearly 10,000 items and will be a great source of exhibit and research material for the Museum for years to come. A number of people have been involved in cataloging and digitizing the collection, and one member of the staff has created descriptions for a sampling of what appears in the collection. You can see that sampling through this link.