By: Jay Moore

"In 1958 I read that book, Tin Can on a Shingle," says Jerry Lee Harlowe, referring to William Chapman White’s 1957 publication about the USS Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads. After that, Harlowe recalls, "I was hooked on that ship." It wasn’t long before Harlowe began collecting all things ironclad. Today, that collection containing his personal research papers, over 170 rare photos, plus dozens of 19th-century documents and artifacts is at its new home at The Mariners’ Museum Library, as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Monitor National Marine Sanctuary’s USS Monitor Collection Associated Records.

Harlowe’s passion for the heart-stopping story of the odd little ironclad that saved the Union at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, seems to be rivaled only by his zeal for collecting photos, medals, tokens, postcards, prints, anything at all related to Monitor and the other Union and Confederate ironclads. Impressed with the efforts of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to preserve the history of Monitor and its artifacts, Harlowe decided to donate his collection to NOAA. Harlowe now takes his place as one of several private donors to the Federal records of the Monitor Project.

The story of the Monitor Project is one of collaborations and partnerships between institutions and between private individuals and institutions. The Mariners’ Museum became part of that story when it was selected in 1987 to be the principal museum for excavation, conservation, curation, analysis, interpretation, and education on the Monitor artifacts and papers. Shortly thereafter, the Museum established the USS Monitor Collection and Associated Records, and NOAA began delivering to the Museum Library the papers, photos and films they created or received, documenting the history, search, discovery, recovery, and research on the wreck of the Monitor. A 2003 programmatic agreement further developed the relationships supporting the collection by adding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and Virginia’s State Historic Preservation Officer. Because the items are Federal records, NOAA and the Museum Library staff involved National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) staff in 2003, who brought to the table enormous expertise and advice on the organization, description and preservation of the materials. Plans are to further strengthen the Library’s ties with NARA by taking the steps necessary to become a NARA Affiliated Archives.

In 2007, facing an aging building that could no longer adequately house its holdings, the Museum decided to forge a new partnership with neighboring Christopher Newport University, bringing to the University campus in 2008 the Museum’s research Library, the largest maritime library in the Western Hemisphere. The Library, now housed within the walls of the university’s Paul and Rosemary Trible Library but owned and operated by the Museum, has more than tripled its space and was built in strict compliance with NARA requirements for housing Federal collections. With the new alliance, there now exists a unique, close-knit Federal-state-private collaboration that will introduce the story of the Monitor and the many Civil War ironclads modeled on it to a whole new community of scholars. Without question, private donations, such as Jerry Harlowe’s to the Federal records of the Monitor Project, are an important aspect of that public-private collaboration that has as its shared vision a more perfect understanding of naval history at a moment of crisis and opportunity.

Many individuals whose research and activities have been vital to documenting the Monitor story have donated their personal papers to the collection. Ernest W. Peterkin’s extensive research on the plans and drawings of both Monitor and the USS Tecumseh, an ironclad buried in the mud of Mobile Bay, were invaluable in helping both divers exploring Monitor’s hulk and conservators working with her recovered machinery. Edward M. Miller’s papers elucidate the contribution of Project Cheesebox, a US Naval Academy project to find Monitor in 1973. The Joseph Norcross family donated their ancestor’s materials describing his efforts to get partial credit for the design idea of a shot-proof ship with a gun turret. Yet even among these materials, Harlowe’s collection stands out.

Senior curator of photography, Tom Moore, thinks that the Harlowe photographs in particular are an outstanding complement to the Museum’s own Civil War collections. Moore calls them “a landmark addition to the Museum’s photography collection.” He adds, “This collection of rare and often unique material will become an immediate rich and vital resource for exhibitions, information and appreciation for researcher, scholars and visitors for years to come.”

Jeff Johnston of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary clearly agrees. He writes, “The Harlowe Collection is an excellent resource for individuals who are interested in not just the original Monitor, but all monitor-style warships as well. Harlowe has compiled a formidable array of wartime materials and items relating to monitor-style warships from the 1860s through the end of the Spanish American War. This is an impressive group of materials that any institution would be glad to have as part of their collection. Happily for us, it ended up in ours.”

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is committed to protecting and keeping this important piece of American history alive. Bringing these artifacts to the surface is only the beginning of a costly and time consuming conservation process.

Your support is critical to maintain the vital work of preservation. If we don’t act now, we risk losing these priceless treasures forever. With your generous contribution, we can secure the Monitor's future.

For more information about the Jerry Lee Harlowe Collection, contact Jay Moore, NOAA Project Archivist, at The Mariners’ Museum Library at Christopher Newport University at jmoore@MarinersMuseum.org.