Lecture: Highlights from the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Digitization Project

The Herreshoff Marine Museum’s Monthly Lecture Series and Evelyn Ansel will present “From 1 to 18,006: Highlights from the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Digitization Project at the MIT Museum,” Thursday, January 17. Reception begins at 6 p.m., lecture at 7 p.m. 

Over the past two and a half years, the collections team at the MIT Museum has been working to digitize the entirety of the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff collection. The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff holdings consist of more than 17,000 artifacts from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. These original plans, drawings, notebooks and correspondence date from the 1870s through the 1940s and represent the full breadth of HMCo.’s output during its years of operation. The material is in the process of being published through the museum’s new digital portal on their website to support the recently opened Herreshoff exhibit, “Lighter, Stronger, Faster: The Herreshoff Legacy.”

Many interesting and previously unpublished plans came to light over the course of the digitization project. In her lecture, digitization team member Evelyn Ansel will give a basic collection overview and share some of the familiar, iconic, and expected alongside some of the more unusual highlights—from swimming pools to dust collection systems, architectural plans to folding canvas duck boats, and beer barrels to bicycles—all examples of the impressive span of HMCo.’s capabilities as a vertically integrated manufacturing plant.

Advance registration is strongly suggested to ensure adequate seating for the lecture. Purchase tickets by phone, 401-253-5000, or online.