Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society

Formation	1948
Type	Historical society
Headquarters	Seattle, Washington
Website	http://www.pugetmaritime.org/

The Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society(PSMHS), located in Seattle, WA, is committed to enhancing lives by preserving and sharing the engaging maritime past of the Puget Sound region. Their vision is to make the maritime history of the Puget Sound accessible to all residents.

Publications

They provide pertinent information through publications such as:

• Sea Chest, a quarterly journal or newsletter that reaches over 700 members.
• Alaska Steam
• Glory of the Sea
• From the Bridge

Participation in maritime festivals and their work with the YMCA have also furthered their mission.

History and Organizational Structure

The Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, was founded in 1948 by Joe D. Williamson, James A. Gibbs, Jr., Austen D. Hemion, Thomas E. Sandry, and Robert Leithead.^[1] Since that time, the society has had forty Presidents. The PSMHS is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit run by volunteer support. The board, officers, and key staff are volunteer positions.

Partnership and Collections

The society has a partnership with the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), which they have maintained for over 50 years. They collaborate on both short and long term exhibits open to the public. They also collaborate on public programming oriented toward the PSMHS audience and share storage and exhibit space. They are currently involved in the planning for new exhibit galleries at the South Lake Union Armory Building, which is being renovated with a presumed opening date in 2012.

Puget Sound Maritime History Museum

The Puget Sound Maritime History Museum is located at Chandler’s Cove at South Lake Union. People interested in the maritime history of Puget Sound can also visit the PSMHS collection and library at MOHAI. The PSMHS collection includes more than 2500 objects, such as ship models and other artifacts; more than 70,000 negatives, prints, and slides. They also have more than 5000 entries in their library catalog and 6000 entries specifically of ship plans and ephemera. Specific photographic collections include the Williamson Historical, Austen D. Hemion, and the Lloyd Stadum collections.

Notes

References and external links

• http://www.pugetmaritime.org/, retrieved April 2009.
• http://www.seattlehistory.org/, retrieved April 2009.
• http://www.destinationheritage.org/maritime.html, retrieved April 2009.