The Historic Documents Department manages the Museum's collection of textual records, architectural drawings, photographs, and motion pictures. This collection, one of the finest on the West Coast, documents maritime trades, technology, traditions, and lifeways from the Gold Rush through the post-World War II era. The Department is responsible for the acquisition, preservation, processing, cataloging, and access of the Park's archival collections.
Textual Records
The textual records contain business records and personal papers measuring 1,500 linear feet documents local maritime business and industry, the Park history, historic vessels, and personal collections. Collections currently available to researchers include the Alaska Packers Association Records, 1876-1945; American President Lines Records, 1925-1944; Harry Dring (Ships Manager) Records, 1954-1988; and Ron Cleveland Papers, 1876-1987.
Architectural Drawings
The Department manages 120,000 vessel and shipyard architectural drawings, and about 5,000 charts and maps in the collection. Notable collections include the David W. Dickie Architectural Drawings, 1878-1966, containing drawings of ferryboats, lumber schooners, freighters, and tankers. This collection is complimented by the Irving Murray Scott Jr. Architectural Drawings, 1899-1943 and the John Thomas Scott Architectural Drawings, 1888-1921. In addition, the Park's historic vessels and structures are represented in the Museum Architectural Drawings, 1899-1994.
Photographs And Moving Images
The photographic collections consist of approximately 200,000 forms of images including some 30,000 glass plate negatives. Highlights of the photographic collection include the Wilhelm Hester Photographs, 1893-1905, documenting commercial sailing in Puget Sound; the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Photographs, 1889-1979, with over 14,000 images of this historic Bay Area shipyard; and the John W. Proctor Photographs, 1900-1937, recording the San Francisco waterfront and Bay Area shipping. The Alfred T. Palmer Motion Picture Films and Photographs, 1931-1979, consists of over 144,000 feet of motion picture film documenting west coast shipping and passenger lines.
Recent Acquisitions
Sallie K. Braun Papers, 1941-1993
Sallie Katherine Braun was born in Oakland, in 1913, and began a career with the U.S. Army as a junior typist in 1942. Ms. Braun retired in 1957 having attained the outstanding position of Marine Transportation Specialist. She was possibly the first woman to hold this position. During WWII the San Francisco Port was unofficially given the code name "Sallie" by American military men, illustrating Ms. Braun’s importance as their primary contact person. After her retirement from civil service, Ms. Braun continued to work in the non-transportation sector until 1970. She married Robert Emmett Kiler in 1973. Sallie Katherine Braun Kiler died in Pacific Grove, California on August 17, 1995. The Sallie K. Braun papers, 1941-1993 includes a variety of materials pertaining to Ms. Braun’s career as a Marine Transportation Specialist for the U.S. Army Transport Service, Fort Mason, and the Military SE Transportation Service, Pacific Area. The bulk of the collection spans 1944 to 1956. This collection includes 33 files of documents; photographs donated by the estate of Sally Katherine Braun Kiler are awaiting separate processing. 
The J. Ferrell Colton Papers, 1795-1999
This large collection documents the professional activity of the noted maritime historian and author J. Ferrell Colton (1914-1999). In 1936, Mr. Colton followed his passion to the sea, completing his only voyage around Cape Horn aboard the bark Passat. His first book, The Last of the Square-rigged Ships (1937) was inspired by this experience. In 1937 Colton sailed aboard the bark Moshulu of Mariehamn, Finland. In 1941 he passed his master's exam, and during the same year he incorporated J. F. Colton & Co. During World War II, Mr. Colton joined the U.S. Coast Guard. Following his discharge from the Coast Guard in 1945, Mr. Colton resumed his maritime career as a consultant, broker, and author. In 1954 he wrote Windjammers Significant, about the Moshulu and the Tango. Mr. Colton wrote numerous articles and manuscripts; many originals are in this collection. Mr. Colton moved frequently, living at various times in southern California, Arizona, Mexico, and Tahiti. Mr. Colton was a charter member of the Åland Section of the AICH (Amicale Internationale des Capitanes au Long-Cours Cap Horniers), and of the Square Rigger Club of San Francisco. He was the first member of the North American Section of the AICH. J. Ferrell Colton passed away in 1999 in Tucson, Arizona. The collection includes 20 boxes of correspondences, book and article manuscripts, research notes and material, catalogues, and business records. The collection also includes hundreds of photographs which are filed with their associated documents, and 64 marine architectural drawings. A number of fragile marine architectural drawings and oversize documents awaits conservation and remain unavailable to researchers.
American President Lines Archives
Researchers can access the archives of American President Lines (APL), a rich, 500 cubic feet collection including stereographs, photographs, oral histories, scrapbooks, vessel plans, films and logbooks at the Park's Maritime Library, or search (by subject, title or keywords) a detailed description of the material in The Guide to the American President Lines Records, 1871-1995. |
