Naval & Maritime Museum debuts exhibit of fragile artifacts
“It’s our job as a museum to connect
people to history, and this exhibit will create a deeper understanding of American experiences during times of conflict.”
— Rorie Cartier, executive director of
the museum
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum has no shortage of historic artifacts. But, until now, the maritime museum didn’t have a set home for its rarer, fragile items that require storage in a carefully climate-controlled setting.
For a museum based on a historic aircraft carrier, options are limited for such a space, but in the museum’s new Fragile Collections exhibit, located in a room off the aircraft carrier Yorktown Hangar Deck, those artifacts now have a home.
The new exhibit, which opened to the public Dec. 17, displays a selection of primarily World War II-related rare and fragile artifacts that have either not been displayed at the museum or have only been on view for a very limited period of time.
Having a climate-controlled exhibit space on the aircraft carrier means more access for visitors to pieces from Patriots Point’s archive, executive director Rorie Cartier, who took the helm at the museum this past summer, said in an announcement of the exhibit. “It’s our job as a museum to connect people to history, and this exhibit will create a deeper understanding of American experiences during times of conflict,” he said.
This exhibit space is intended to be long-term, with artifacts cycling in and out periodically. The pieces on display now are just a portion of what the museum can put in that space.
“There are plenty of things in our storage that we could use,” said museum curator Melissa Buchanan, who handpicked the exhibited items.
The Fragile Collections exhibit’s first iteration could
“pretty much be called ‘Melissa’s favorites,’” she joked.
Every selection in the room has a story behind it, Buchanan said.
It’s hard to say which of the artifacts will catch visitors’ attention the most, Buchanan said. Deep sea diving helmets displayed near the exhibit’s entrance are sure to attract interest, she said.
And fans of Eleanor Roosevelt will note the champagne bottle fragment and celebratory ribbons the first lady used in the christening of the Yorktown. An enlarged black-and-white photo shows her posed with the as-yet-unbroken bottle and ribbons — an obvious match for the artifacts in the adjacent case.
Many of the items on display were donated, including an American flag that was flown aboard the USS Laffey during D-Day operations.
One wall features iconic World War II-era propaganda posters, a donation to Patriots Point from Charleston’s Gibbes Museum of Art.
A couple of the rarer items on display are flight suits worn by Japanese airmen in World War II, Buchanan said. One is lined with rabbit fur, and the other, which would be worn under that suit, is made of silk. An attached electric cord could be plugged in to heat the garments.
Along with a collection of donated artifacts, the Yorktown itself is something of a treasure trove of historic items. A few of the items on display — like a box, displayed near the beginning of the exhibit containing a 5-inch gun mount boresight — were found on the Yorktown. Another, a certificate commemorating when sailors crossed the Arctic Circle, was found while cleaning the ship’s print shop, Buchanan said.
The Fragile Collections exhibit is included in the regular price of admission to Patriots Point. It’s open daily, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.