South Street Seaport Museum

Upcoming Events

South Street Seaport Museum: Valentine Like a Sailor

South Street Seaport Museum announces Valentine Like a Sailor on February 11 & 12, 2023, from 1-5pm, at 12 Fulton Street, NYC. Bring 19th-century maritime craft tradition to your handmade Valentine's Day cards. Attendees will create their own special trinket for the holiday and learn about the uniqu... [ + ]e history of Sailors' Valentines—tokens of love and friendship. For more information and to register for this free, all-ages event, visit seaportmuseum.org/valentine-like-sailor.

Historically, these small wooden boxes were given by seafarers to their wives, sweethearts, daughters, and loved ones when they returned from a long voyage. The small boxes open to reveal sentimental messages surrounded with intricate mosaics of shells and found objects arranged in exquisite geometric patterns and motifs such as hearts, anchors, and flowers.

Using beads, buttons, and shells, families and friends of all ages are invited to the Seaport Museum's introductory galleries where we'll continue the creative tradition together.

Be sure to review the latest COVID-19 protocols before attending.

A History of Sailors' Valentines
Sailors' Valentines were popular mementos for sailors aboard navy and whaling ships from 1830–1880 and are relatively rare today. Long considered fascinating examples of 19th century maritime craft tradition, wooden boxes open to reveal intricate mosaics created from shells of various shapes and colors. These boxes were often given by sailors as tokens of love and friendship to their wives, mothers, sisters, and friends upon a seafarer's return from a long voyage.
Though these sentimental treasures are referred to as "Sailors' Valentines," many historians now believe most of these works originated in Barbados and the West Indies. Modern scholarship suggests that local women made these works, which were then purchased by seamen as souvenirs. As is the case with many works of art, correct attribution and historical understanding of these objects is evolving so that historians and institutions can shine light on historically under-recognized artists. 
 
"Sailors' Valentines" remain a beautiful and romantic part of New England maritime heritage and cultural exchange.

About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of "Where New York Begins." seaportmuseum.org

#SouthStreetSeaportMuseum #WhereNewYorkBegins
@SouthStreetSeaportMuseum - Facebook
@seaportmuseum - Instagram
@seaportmuseum - Twitter
@seaportmuseum - TikTok

South Street Seaport Museum: Valentine Like a Sailor

South Street Seaport Museum announces Valentine Like a Sailor on February 11 & 12, 2023, from 1-5pm, at 12 Fulton Street, NYC. Bring 19th-century maritime craft tradition to your handmade Valentine's Day cards. Attendees will create their own special trinket for the holiday and learn about the uniqu... [ + ]e history of Sailors' Valentines—tokens of love and friendship. For more information and to register for this free, all-ages event, visit seaportmuseum.org/valentine-like-sailor.

Historically, these small wooden boxes were given by seafarers to their wives, sweethearts, daughters, and loved ones when they returned from a long voyage. The small boxes open to reveal sentimental messages surrounded with intricate mosaics of shells and found objects arranged in exquisite geometric patterns and motifs such as hearts, anchors, and flowers.

Using beads, buttons, and shells, families and friends of all ages are invited to the Seaport Museum's introductory galleries where we'll continue the creative tradition together.

Be sure to review the latest COVID-19 protocols before attending.

A History of Sailors' Valentines
Sailors' Valentines were popular mementos for sailors aboard navy and whaling ships from 1830–1880 and are relatively rare today. Long considered fascinating examples of 19th century maritime craft tradition, wooden boxes open to reveal intricate mosaics created from shells of various shapes and colors. These boxes were often given by sailors as tokens of love and friendship to their wives, mothers, sisters, and friends upon a seafarer's return from a long voyage.
Though these sentimental treasures are referred to as "Sailors' Valentines," many historians now believe most of these works originated in Barbados and the West Indies. Modern scholarship suggests that local women made these works, which were then purchased by seamen as souvenirs. As is the case with many works of art, correct attribution and historical understanding of these objects is evolving so that historians and institutions can shine light on historically under-recognized artists. 
 
"Sailors' Valentines" remain a beautiful and romantic part of New England maritime heritage and cultural exchange.

About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working 19th century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of "Where New York Begins." seaportmuseum.org

#SouthStreetSeaportMuseum #WhereNewYorkBegins
@SouthStreetSeaportMuseum - Facebook
@seaportmuseum - Instagram
@seaportmuseum - Twitter
@seaportmuseum - TikTok

South Street Seaport Museum presents Queer History

South Street Seaport Museum presents Queer History: Drag and the Waterfront, featuring author and drag legend Linda Simpson on February 17, 2023, at 7pm at The Green Room at Pier 17, 89 South Street, NYC. This event is free, and advanced registration is required. For more information and to register... [ + ] for this all-ages event, visit seaportmuseum.org/queer-history-drag.

Why are queer communities often found at geographic peripheries like the waterfront? What is the connection between drag and the seaport? Join the Seaport Museum for a conversation with drag performer and documentarian Linda Simpson, who will answer these questions while illuminating the "herstory" of drag on the waterfront.

In this lively presentation, Linda Simpson explores the relationships between queer community and geographic periphery and drag and New York's seaport. She will share personal photos and memories (including the annual Wigstock and a drag-themed boat cruise that embarked from the South Street Seaport) curated for this event—a firsthand archive of the rise and evolution of drag and queer activism in New York City during the 1980s and 90s.

Linda's lookback on nightlife, queer activism, and pop-culture moments, not to mention colorful characters such as Lady Bunny, Lypsinka, Mona Foot, RuPaul, and Leigh Bowery, will educate, entertain, and provide a deeper understanding of those who laid the foundation for today's drag renaissance.

A complimentary toast will follow the presentation.

Be sure to review the latest COVID-19 protocols before attending.

About Linda Simpson
After more than 30 years as a drag queen, Linda Simpson continues to dazzle her fans with her witty demeanor, fine-tuned camp sensibility and unique blend of sass and class. Since emerging from the East Village drag scene in the late 1980s, the multi-faced queen has racked up a mile-long list of creative endeavors, including nightlife work galore as a hostess and party promoter; publishing the "revolutionary gay magazine" My Comrade; writing and starring in four different plays; and extensive work as a journalist, often in cahoots with her male alter ego, Les Simpson. Another of Linda's roles is drag her-storian who has been featured in oodles of articles, videos and documentaries. The New York Times has called her "A worldly wit... A kind of mother superior of the New York drag scene," while Paper considers her "The thinking woman's drag queen."

About The Green Room
The Green Room is located inside the Pier 17 complex, at 89 South Street, offering a panoramic view of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. Look for elevators or escalators to take you to this event on the third floor. The use of this space has been kindly donated by The Howard Hughes Corporation.