Maritime Heritage Collection

As part of the Department of Transportation, the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) History Program handles historical documentation, preservation, and interpretation of its heritage assets to promote an understanding and appreciation of America’s merchant marine and maritime past. The current History Program is responsible for the care and documentation of the objects with historical value removed from the MARAD’s merchant vessels. The collection includes a wide variety of artifacts, including navigational instruments, barometers, ship’s bells, binnacles, builder’s plates, sextants, and name boards, among others. Many different types of material are represented from finished and unfinished brass, rubber, painted surfaces, and wood.

EverGreene was contracted by MARAD to carry out a multi-year project for the documentation and treatment of over 1,500 20th century military artifacts from the collection of the History Program. The goal of the project was to perform cleaning, stabilization, repairs, and in the case of the builder’s plates increase legibility of the artifacts to the specifications set out by the client for future potential museum display. The artifacts were transported to EverGreene’s DC-based studio for treatment.

Prior to treatment, EverGreene conducted condition assessments of each artifact to document existing conditions and determine appropriate treatment approaches. Proposed treatments were tested in advance to evaluate their effectiveness before full conservation efforts began. Each object was photographed and documented before, during, and after treatment. Treatment methods were customized depending on the materials and level of deterioration present in each artifact. They included:

• Dry cleaning with vacuums, brushes, wipes/swabs, and soot sponges to remove soiling and other surface grime
• Wet cleaning with various aqueous, solvents, and industrial cleaners to remove felt marker ink, pencil writing, active corrosion, active mold, and other surface deficiencies
• Mechanical cleaning to remove soiling/accretions, corrosion, stickers/labels/tapes/other adhesives
• Repair and stabilization of objects
• Application of protective lacquer and wax coatings

After the treatment competion, the artifacts were returned to MARAD’s storage for future display at the museum.