Historical Database Research Project

The USS Constitution Museum’s crew database contains biographical and service information for approximately 15,000 crew members and has tremendous potential for interpretive programming and scholarly research about individual sailors and the collective crew. Each individual crew record contains fields for service records, biographical information, local and federal records, artifacts and images, and descendants. However, a great deal more research must be conducted to uncover much of this information.

Working with the Public Historian and reporting to the Manager of Curatorial Affairs, the student will research the biographical and service records of USS Constitution crew members using information sourced from: Navy registers; city directories; census, tax and probate records; town histories; logs, journals, and letters; and pension and naval asylum records. Through this research, the student will create a more complete portrait of Constitution’s crew, and also use this information to identify and document data patterns and draw out historical narratives.

As part of this project, the student will develop a series of approximately 3-4 lunchtime presentations to share their findings with museum staff. These presentations will be a reflection of the discoveries made throughout the project, with the goal of helping other departments incorporate the findings into their respective fields (including exhibits, visitor services, and educational programming). Deliverables for these events will include research notes, a PowerPoint presentation (if items such as photographs of the crew are discovered or historical background and context are needed), and potential reflection questions for further research or program development. The internship will be around 15-20 hours a week, for the duration of the Fall 2024 semester.