Mystic Seaport Museum is dedicated to the collection and preservation of American maritime history and culture. The collections include an array of materials such as fine, folk, and decorative arts, navigating instruments, tools, ship’s plans, printed and manuscript material, photography, ship models, ship carvings, and small craft. These collections are used for public exhibition, education, publication, and enjoyment; they are accessible for scholarly research, and for the overall general documentation of historical themes.
Offers of donations to the permanent collection are welcome. Given the already wide breadth and scope of the institution’s holdings a rigorous selection process on the part of the museum’s professional staff is in place to ensure that the highest quality items, and those with historical significance or unique contributions to the institutional mission, are accepted into the permanent collection.
How To Donate
To donate to the collection, please submit information about your materials using this DONATE TO THE COLLECTIONS form. Upon submitting information via the form, you should be directed to a web page with the following information:
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- confirmation that your information was received,
- instructions on how to send photographs,
- when you should expect to hear from us,
- who to contact if the donation is urgent.
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We receive numerous donation offers each week, and our staff dedicates significant time to evaluating each one. This process involves researching the provenance of items, comparing them to objects already in our collection, and assessing their relevance and need. If we have any questions regarding your donation, a staff member will reach out to you. Our Staff Acquisitions Team and Trustee Collections Committee meets monthly to review all offers, so potential donors should expect to hear from us within approximately one to two months.
2025 Schedule
For objects to be considered in the November Acquisitions Meetings, the donation form and any additional requested information must be provided to the Museum by October 30, 2025.
For objects to be considered in the December Acquisitions Meetings, the donation form and any additional requested information must be provided to the Museum by November 24, 2025.
Unsolicited Donations
We kindly request that potential donors refrain from dropping off items at the Museum unless specifically instructed to do so by a Collections staff member. The Museum cannot accept unsolicited donations. Any unsolicited materials dropped off or sent to the Museum will be considered abandoned property. Mystic Seaport Museum reserves the right to dispose of the materials as it sees fit.