As Commandant of the First Naval District in the late 1960s, Rear Admiral Joseph C. “Bill” Wylie’s flagship was the USS Constitution—the fabled sailing frigate Old Ironsides. Since he lived in the Commandant’s House in the Boston Navy Yard, Admiral Wylie saw the ship every day and eventually developed several concerns for the ship, one of which was the way she was presented to the public. The preservation of the ship was based on a jury-rigged arrangement that depended on the good will and resources occasionally provided by interested parties. As the opportunity presented itself, Admiral Wylie aroused similar concern among civic and business leaders in the Boston area.
Not long after the admiral retired to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1972, a group of interested citizens incorporated a private non-profit foundation to create and operate a museum dedicated to telling the Constitution’s story and to preserving her artifacts and records. The group elected Bill Wylie as the foundation’s first president to guide the difficult course from concept, through bureaucratic and financial mazes, until the museum was a reality.
The first exhibits of the Constitution were assembled on the second floor of what had been the “Battery Building” of the Boston Naval Shipyard. At that level, visitors could see the Constitution in dry dock, where she was in 1973-74. An old donated trailer served as a gift shop, and some of the first items on sale were mementos still around the yard from the 1927-31 restoration of the ship.
Noted historian Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison opened the present USS Constitution Museum in April 1976, amidst the national bicentennial. The museum was established in a building originally designed by Alexander Parris to be the machinery house for the adjacent dry dock—which the Constitution herself first used in 1833. It took the USS Constitution Museum Foundation nearly four years to secure tenancy in the building and to raise the funds to refurbish it. The three-story 16,500- square-foot building included four galleries, a library, artifact storage, administrative offices, and a gift shop. Today, it houses some 3,000 artifacts and 10,000 volumes related to the ship and is staffed by 20 full-time and 24 seasonal employees. Their work is supported by a board of trustees, a panel of advisory overseers, and about 100 volunteers.
When the Constitution began an extended dry docking and inspection period in summer 1992, the museum underwent a six-month large-scale revamping of its exhibits, reopening in May 1992 with several new major presentations. One is entitled “A Century of Service” and encapsulates the ship’s activities from her launch in 1797 to the end of her regular service in 1881. The exhibit details her participation in the Quasi-War with France, the Barbary War, and the War of 1812, as well as her evolution into the national symbol she is today. Another exhibit is entitled “A Look Below The Waterline,” and explores her previous restorations, beginning with her first dry docking in the adjacent dock in 1833 through the best- remembered dry docking of 1927-31 to that of 1974-76, for and during the national bicentennial. A ship modeler’s shop and an artifacts gallery are included in this exhibit area, where visitors can watch craftsmen at work. A portion of this exhibit details activities of the current effort, with frequent updates of information and graphics.
The “Life at Sea” exhibit details sailors’ routines in the early 19th century. In this area, visitors can hoist a sail, man a ship’s wheel on a rolling deck, and climb in a hammock like those used in Old Ironsides (the deck beneath is padded, should one get “thrown”). Visitors can observe the way the tars ate and consider the daily routines of the ship’s personnel, from officer to ship’s boy. The “Great Chase” exhibit is an interactive computer presentation through which visitors can become members of the Constitution’s crew as she struggles to escape a pursuing British squadron—just as the ship did in July 1812.
Beginning in fall 1993, the museum embarked on a major expansion to link the present facility with the two other nearby buildings and to renovate the gift shop and main entrance. The revamped shop opened in March 1994 and the new lobby a month later.
An exhibit that opened in May 1994 in the special exhibit gallery celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Constitution’s ’round the world cruise under Captain John “Mad Jack” Percival. The exhibit recalls the 852-day voyage and highlights events such as crossing the line, visiting Borneo, an incident in Vietnam, inspection of Pearl Harbor as a possible future base, and a stay in Mexico just before the outbreak of the Mexican- American War. This exhibit includes sketches made along the way by one of the Constitution’s officers.
In June, the 200-seat Harry E. Figgy, Jr., Theater and Education Center opened in one of the newly acquired buildings. The first film shown is a video tour of the Constitution prepared especially to permit tourists to view the ship below decks— even though she is in dry dock and not available for tours.
“The Old Ironsides Experience Gallery” also opened in June in the structure connecting the old and new portions of the museum. There, visitors can fire a cannon from the deck of a rolling ship, or steer the Constitution on a voyage into one of her famous engagements—through a computerized presentation.
The world cruise exhibit is expected to be superseded by one relating to the ship’s bicentennial, which begins in 1997. At about that same time, a series of exhibits is expected to be completed that will provide a detailed time line of all of the Constitution’s service.
In addition to the exhibits, the museum offers a number of educational programs. A student apprenticeship program involves high-school-age students in projects that teach the history of the Federal Period, train them to use maritime hand tools of the period, teach marketable vocational skills, and provide them fulltime summer jobs and part-time positions during the school year. Graduates of the program are assisted in finding similar jobs away from the museum. The “People and Places” program provides arts activities and readings in several languages to Boston fourth graders. Adult interest is addressed by a fall and winter lecture series, which presents a variety of speakers on different topics within an overall historical theme. In the spring, the Samuel Eliot Morison Lecture Series addresses subjects relating to Old Ironsides.
A recent expansion to the museum includes two outdoor-demonstration courtyards. They will be paved with individually crafted bricks bearing the names or commemorative messages of paying subscribers.
Weekend family events occur frequently during the year and are made more attractive by the free admission of all children under 17 when in the company of a parent. On such occasions, story tellers and chantey singers recount the lore of the sea. The Marine Detachment 1797, a 25-man volunteer unit that recreates the ship’s Marine Guard, often demonstrates activities once practiced in the ship.
Special annual events include the observance of the ship’s birthday on 21 October, a holiday open house during the Christmas season, school vacation week activities for youngsters during the February school break, and the springtime Constitution Ball.