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About the Conservancy
About Us
The SS United States Conservancy is an initiative of the SS United States Preservation Society, a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization incorporated in 1992. The Society is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the SS United States. Shortly after its founding, the Society helped secure Congressional attention to the plight of the SS United States and supported the introduction of the SS United States Preservation Act of 1992, legislation designed to protect the ship from destruction. The Society continued its public and media outreach and scored a huge victory in 1999 when it played a lead role in securing a spot for the SS United States on the National Register of Historic Places. The ship was added to the Register even though it was less than fifty years of age because the Society’s application made a convincing case that the ship had “compelling national significance,” a status earned by less than one percent of the Register’s 78,000 historic sites.
The SS United States Conservancy’s founding Board has compiled a long track record of accomplishments on behalf of the SS United States reaching back over twenty years. The Conservancy’s leadership has published books and articles on the SS United States, organized educational meetings on the ship’s history that have drawn hundreds of participants, produced award-winning websites, delivered lectures and presentations on the SS United States to diverse audiences throughout the nation, and engaged in ongoing outreach and advocacy on behalf of the ship’s preservation.
The SS United States Conservancy has initiated a strategic partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the current owner of the SS United States, which has formed the focus of its short-term work. In partnership with NCL, the Conservancy placed an informative at the ship’s current berth at Philadelphia’s Pier 82. The Conservancy also looks forward to advising NCL and others on preservation opportunities, both on board the revitalized liner and in museum collections and displays nationwide.
Additional projects include:
•Documenting oral histories of officers, crew, builders, and passengers of the SS United States;
•Completion of a major public television documentary film about the SS United States;
•Production of a series of “music video” presentations using original color footage and images of the SS United States for posting on sites such as Youtube to promote the ship and our mission;
•Promote media awareness and press coverage of the SS United States’ history and restoration;
•Conducting an inventory of SS United States artifacts and memorabilia in the nation’s leading maritime museums including the Smithsonian Institution, the Mariner’s Museum of Newport News, New York’s South Street Seaport Museum, Philadelphia’s Independence Seaport Museum, Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler, and the American Merchant Marine Museum of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. The Conservancy is also curating an exhibit aboard the RMS Queen Mary.
Endorsements
From The Steamship Historical Society of America:
We add our name to the organizations who support and applaud your efforts. The only thing as important as honoring and preserving our national maritime treasures is to honor and recognize the people involved in their design, operation, and preservation. We send our greetings and well wishes to the S/S United States Conservancy's celebration and reunion. Keep up the great work on behalf of America's greatest liner.
Robert Cleasby
President
From The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology:
On behalf of The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (London, UK), we of the Gulf Coast Branch (Houston, Texas) wish all concerned with the S.S. United States Conservancy best wishes for your ongoing and future efforts to secure a new life for the ocean liner, S.S. United States. By continuing to fight immense odds you have been instrumental in the purchase of the ship by Norwegian Cruise Line. With you working closely with them we are sure the ship will soon return to the oceans once more, where she rightly belongs. Well done to all of you and be proud of your achievement.
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