small boats, Lyle guns, armaments, plaques, cutter name boards, brow dodgers, uniforms, medals, patches, and model aircraft and vessels. You can also find navigational equipment such as binnacles, compasses, radio beacon clocks, sextants and artifacts of the long-range navigation (LORAN), radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. The bulk of the collection dates to the 20th century, but there are some 19th- and 21st-century artifacts as well. The Exhibit Center and the current, smaller Coast Guard Museum on the Coast Guard Academy campus in New London operate under the purview of the Coast Guard Historian’s Office, the official history program of the service. The Historian’s Office collects, preserves and promotes the history and heritage of the U.S. Coast Guard and its five predecessor services: the Revenue Cutter Service, the Life-Saving Service, the Bureau of Navigation, the Steamboat Inspection Service and the Lighthouse Service. It maintains, manages and preserves an extensive collection of archival material and personal papers of Coast Guard service members for research and interpretation in its Special Collections Archive and Library. The photograph collection, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, is especially significant. Other artifacts designated for transfer to the planned museum are held at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., or at the current museum at the Academy. The new museum’s cornerstone was laid in August, and critical land acquisitions to facilitate construction are underway. “Construction on the building is expected to begin in the spring,” said Chief Petty Officer Emaia Rise, the museum’s director of public affairs. The Coast Guard also operates an artifact loan program, with approximately 260 heritage asset loan agreements with Coast Guard units and offices, public museums and educational organizations throughout the United States. . A bell from the U.S. Lighthouse Service’s Lightship Nantucket (LV-117), which sank on May 15, 1934, costing the lives of seven crew members. Photo courtesy of Martin Berman-Gorvine Artist rendering of the future National Coast Guard Museum in New London, Connecticut, slated for opening in 2025. Photo courtesy of National Coast Guard Museum Issue 1 • 2023 . ReseRvist 31 CELEBRATING CELEBRATING 70 70 YEARS OF THE RESERVIST YEARS OF THE RESERVIST
