Points of Connection –
USS Constitution’s Past and its Relevance Today
The USS Constitution Museum strives not only to preserve the stories of Old Ironsides,
but also to help make them meaningful and relevant to visitors today. Part of this process
includes encouraging guests to draw parallels between the realities of life on board
Constitution and life today. Following are just a few topics for discussion that are useful
in helping people today understand how our past connects to today and tomorrow.
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Piracy, Trade and a Global Economy
Protecting American merchants at sea was one of the primary roles of the
early US Navy, including Constitution – a topic still relevant to the
Navy and our nation today.
Challenging Economies and the Effect on Recruitment
For many, enlisting to serve at sea was a guarantee of a steady wage at a
time when the country’s economy was faltering and options were limited. Is the
same pursuit for a steady income motivating men and women to enlist today?
Families Apart – The Impact of Service on Family Economies and Ties
What are the greatest emotional and psychological challenges for the enlisted?
What are the challenges for spouses and children left behind? What is the impact
on communities with large numbers choosing to serve?
Crime and Punishment at Sea – Shipboard Justice
How does the isolation and danger on board a ship at sea impact rules and
subsequent penalties for failing to follow them?
Enlisting for an Education
Compare literacy and education levels of the ordinary seaman serving
on Constitution in 1812 to those in the communities they came
from and against those who enlist today. What forms of education or job
training were available on board then? Now?
Other Points of Interest
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In the 1800’s, parents often sent boys as young as 8 to join Constitution’s
crew. At sea, they learned a trade, earned a salary and relieved some
financial pressures at home with their absence.

Constitution was state-of-the-art technology in the late eighteenth
century.
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7-14% of her crew was made up of free black men at a time when race
was still very much a divider in the country. The race relations were
different at sea, with black men earning equal wages for equal work at
sea.
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Health and sanitation – The Navy understood the importance of
personal hygiene in an era when the average American rarely bathed or
changed clothes. Without frequent scrubbing and disinfecting of the ship,
diseases like dysentery and typhus could decimate the crew and
neutralize Constitution’s fighting capabilities.
A National Model for Teaching History
All Hands On Deck: A Sailor’s Life in 1812 has been recognized as a national model
for engaging families in conversation as they explore layers of our history
together.
Funding from the IMLS (Institute for Museum and Library Sciences) is
supporting an ongoing outreach program called Family Learning Across the
Nation or FLAN. This program allows USS Constitution Museum staff to share
the results of ten years of research with history museum professionals across the
country in no-cost workshops.
Exhibit design is based upon extensive prototyping. More than 2500 families
helped test each component, with revisions made throughout the process in
response to their feedback.
Adapted interactive design techniques already tested and proven in science
museums and children’s museums to relay information effectively to all ages and
all learning styles.
Content and delivery are effective with a broad range of museum users – from
schoolchildren to scholars.
FamilyLearningForum.org – an online resource for history museum
professionals sharing research, documentation, and resources for history
museum professionals on effective methods for sharing history with a family
audience. The website, an offshoot of an investigative project led by the USS
Constitution Museum, shares the research that forms the foundation for the
design of All hands On Deck.