online exhibits

The Posner
Maritime
Art Museum

SEE THE SPECIAL Exhibits on display now in the SSHSA Maritime Virtual Art Museum
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publications

PowerShips

The authoritative magazine of the history of engine-powered vessels and the legacy of man's journey on the world's seas and waterways.

• Lives of the Liners: Holland America’s Ryndam of 1951
• The Hudson River Day Line

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Featured in the SSHSA Bookstore

Visit the SSHSA Bookstore to see the Extraordinary Historical Books Now Available... MORE >
 

SSHSA Research Center

The Steamship Historical Society owns thousands of historical artifacts, fine arts, and ship-related ephemera as part of our vast collections. Our photo collection continues to evolve and grow as many benefactors over the last 75+ years have donated their private images and established legacy sub-collections. These include several hundred thousand images, negatives, and motion pictures. A research library with over 5,500 reference volumes and several thousand additional periodicals formerly housed at the University of Baltimore is now in storage, but scheduled to re-open in the near future.

Research requests and inquiries are encouraged. Members of SSHSA receive special discounts and member requests receive priority attention. Click here to request research or a photo search, or to request more information.

A Cumulative Index of Steamboat Bill and PowerShips, 1940-2012

SSHSA Dibner Intern, Jillian Fulda, has completed the extraordinary task of reindexing past Steamboat Bill and PowerShips issues and articles, covering 1940 through 2012. This 213-page PDF document is keyword searchable and available below.

Steamboat Bill & PowerShips Index

Passenger Records

If you are seeking passenger records transcribed from ship manifests, contact us as the National Archives and Records Administration has made over 5.2 million records available! These immigration records pertain to passengers from several European countries during the mid to late 19th century.

Traveling Exhibits

The Steamship Historical Society also has experience producing traveling exhibits, such as those onboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, and at Ellis Island, NY.

Our collections are made available for display to museums around the country, however the greatest way to share information quickly is through our rapidly growing digital archives consisting of more than 60,000 items. Many of our collections will be presented online as virtual museum exhibits, which is currently being developed.  If you are interested in information on what life was like on vessels such as the infamous RMS Titanic, then please let us know.  We are here to help!