SCI. Seamen's Church Institute

Scope and Contents The collection consists of materials collected from cruise ships and vacations during the years 1948-1974. Materials include menus, tourism pamphlets, luggage name tags (eight attributing to Edward G. Clark Jr.), and other ephemeral materials. Many of the items were produced for first-class passengers.Menus are written in various languages including English, French, Italian, and Portuguese, and contain information such as dates, the names of the ship and of the ship captain, and...

Scope and Contents The collection consists of the records of the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York from 1849-2008. Records include LSBA’s acts of incorporation, charter, and bylaws. Materials also include correspondence, financial ledgers, meeting minutes, and a subscriber list. Much of the material consists of lists of LSBA award winners that document maritime rescues and the amount of LSBA awards. Other records include LSBA Annual Statements, historical pamphlets, and statements of...

Scope and Content note The collection consists of the records of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey from 1808-2010. Records include minutes, correspondence, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs, journals, registers, reports and ephemera related to the day-to-day operation of the Institute. Minutes for the Board of Managers date from 1854 and include entries for meetings involving Franklin D. Roosevelt and J. Pierpont Morgan, who were both members. Also included are the minutes of the...

Scope and Content Board of Managers records consist of meeting minutes, agendas, correspondence and materials related to various committees. Minutes document meetings held from 1834-1843 by the Institute’s founding members, meetings of the Committee of the Floating Church of Our Saviour (1843-1874) and minutes from the Board of Managers (1854-1950) of which Franklin D. Roosevelt and J. Pierpont Morgan were members. Of particular note are discussions detailing the initial formation of a mission for seamen in...

Scope and Content

Includes correspondence, blue prints, contracts and minutes related to SCI’s buildings and art and artifacts collection. Of particular note are materials related to the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, once displayed on the roof of 25 South Street and now at the Titanic Memorial Park in the South Street Seaport.

Scope and Content

Chapels and Chaplain’s Files include correspondence, registers, journals and visitors’ books related to SCI’s missionary and pastoral services.

Scope and Content Includes materials related to SCI’s Christmas at Sea knitting program and its predecessors, the Women’s Council and the Seamen’s Benefit Society. Of particular note in this series are knitting patterns issued by the Red Cross during both World Wars with instructions for knitting items specifically for soldiers and seamen at war. Also of note are letters seafarers sent back to the Institute expressing their gratitude for receiving packages while at sea. Additionally, the early reports of the...

Scope and Content

Development files include correspondence and reports related to SCI's fundraising and special events activities.

Scope and Content Director’s / Superintendent’s Files consist of correspondence and reports related to the offices of the Superintendent of the Institute (1897-1933) and the Director of the Institute (1934-1992). The change in title corresponds with the death and end of service of Rev. Archibald R. Mansfield, who served as Superintendent from 1898-1934. Also included in this series are the records of Rev. Harold H. Kelley, Director from 1934-1948; Rev. Raymond S. Hall, Director from 1948-1960; Rev. John M....

Abstract

At the beginning of the 1940s Seamen's Church Institute introduced their ongoing series of first day covers, which were available to collectors and donors. A first day cover is a stamp adhered to an envelope which has been issued, post-marked, and canceled on the day of its initial release. The envelope will sometimes have a hand-drawn image on it of which its subject matter would be the same as on the stamp. These drawings were used to enhance the collectibility of the first day cover.