Washington Navy Yard
805 Kidder Breese St., SE
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5060
(202) 433-2210; Fax: (202) 433-3593
RADM Samuel Cox, USN (Ret.), Director and Curator of the Navy
Samuel.cox@navy.mil
https://www.history.navy.mil
Mission: Collect, preserve, protect, present, and make relevant the artifacts, art, and documents that best capture the Navy’s history and heritage.
Vision: Make the Navy and its history relevant to the American people and their leaders.
Provide the knowledge foundation for the Navy by maintaining historically relevant resources and products that identify what the Navy is and what it stands for.
Overview: The Naval History and Heritage Command traces its lineage to 1800 when President John Adams asked Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, to prepare a catalog of professional books for the secretary’s office. Today, the NHHC is the central resource for today’s operational Navy and acts as the services institutional memory.
Headquartered on the historic Washington Navy Yard, D.C., the Command includes ten official Navy museums nationwide as well as a detachment that maintains the Navy’s oldest commissioned warship, USS Constitution, in Boston, Mass.
The NHHC manages the official history program of the United States Navy, fulfilling its mission to strengthen the Navy’s effectiveness by preserving, analyzing, and interpreting the service’s hard-earned experience. A professional staff of historians, archivists, librarians, museum specialists, and naval personnel carries out historical activities and supports the fleet.
The Command oversees Navy programs and instructions related to history; advances knowledge of naval history and heritage through professional research, analysis, and interpretation, delivering a range of knowledge products and services; advises the Navy, other agencies, and the public on issues related to Navy ship and aircraft wrecks; and administers grants, fellowships, scholarships, and internships related to naval history.
Archives Branch—Operational Records and Personal Papers
Bldg. 108, 3rd Floor
202.433.3224
archives@navy.mil
Archives Branch—Ship and Aviation Unit Records
Bldg. 200, 1st Floor
202.433.3224
archives@navy.mil
Archives Branch—Photographic Section
Bldg. 108, 2nd Floor
202.433.2765
nhhcphotoarchives@navy.mil
Curator Branch
Bldg. 108, 2nd Floor
202.433.7873 or 202.433.2220
nhhccurator@navy.mil
Navy Department Library
Reference 433.7833; Circulation 433.4132
Underwater Archaeology
Bldg. 70, 1st Floor
nhhcunderwaterarchaeology@navy.mil
Navy Art Collection
Bldg. 67 (office)
202.433.3815
navyart@navy.mil
Gail Munro, Branch Head: gail.munro@navy.mil
USS Constitution “Old Ironsides,” Boston, Massachusetts
U.S. Naval Museums:
Great Lakes Naval Museum, Naval Station Great Lakes, IL http://www.history.navy.mil/glnm
Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Norfolk, VA http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/
National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/Naval Museum of Armament and Technology, China Lake, CA http://www.chinalakemuseum.org/
Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, WA
Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI http://www.usnwc.edu/About/NWC-Museum.aspx
Patuxtent River Naval Air Museum, Patuxtent River, MD http://paxmuseum.com/
Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA http://www.seabeehf.org/museum/
Submarine Force Museum & Historic Ship Nautilus, Groton, CT
U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD http://www.usna.edu/Museum/
National Museum of the United States Navy, Washington, D.C.
The Center’s mission is to collect, preserve, display and interpret naval collections and to write and publish a variety of histories, reference works, and documentary volumes covering over 200 years of American naval history.
U.S. Naval Museums: