Mariner's Museum, The

Highlights & Collections:

International in scope, the Museum's collections include more than 35,000 maritime items such as ship models, scrimshaw, navigationa instruments, maritime paintings, decorative arts, small craft from five continents, working steam engines,historical photographs, and more.

Exhibits & Special Events:

Close Combat.

• June 20 through December 31.
• The second half of the Museum's Collections Gallery opens with an exhibition that traces the evolution of naval and Marine Corps weapons from the Revolutionary War to the present day. The exhibition focuses on close-range weapons including small arms, knives, swords, and early naval cannons.

Under the Black Flag-Life Among the Pirates.

• August 30, 1997, through January 4, 1998.
• Discover the history of theft on the high seas as interpreted through a fascinating collection of artifacts that tell the cultural history of piracy. The exhibition, which features the paintings of William Gilkerson, will tell the true story of the lives and times of pirates and explore the myths of piracy that have flourished in literature, film, and journalism. The exhibition is curated by David Cordingly and is organized by New York's South Street Seaport Museum.

A Maritime Album: One Hundred Photographs from The Mariners' Museum.

• December 6, 1997, through May 31, 1998.
• An exhibition of 100 photographs from the Museum's collection, chosen by eminent photographic historian John Szarkowski, director emeritus of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art. Szarkowski, hailed by The New Yorker magazine as "the most influential figure in the field of modern photography," has selected the photographs from approximately 640,000 maritime images in the Museum's collection. The exhibition is accompanied by the publication of "The Culture of the Sea," a joint project between Szarkowski and Richard Benson, dean of Yale University's School of Art.

Hours:

• Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
• Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Admission & Directions:

• $6.50, adults;
• $3.25, students of any age (ID required for age 18 and older); and
• free for children age 5 and under.
• Group rates are available.
• Discounts are available for AAA, active duty military, and persons age 60 and over.