The Mariners’ Corporate Leadership Council is a platform for companies that aspire to build, broaden, and strengthen their commitment to social responsibility and community engagement. We help you connect with an important constituency—your customers and prospective customers.
As a member of the Mariners’ Corporate Leadership Council, your company will help ensure that The Mariners’ Museum and Park can continue its efforts to provide transformative experiences of engagement and discovery for everyone within our city, our region, our nation and our world—as together, we are one.
Partner with us to help fulfill our role as America’s National Maritime Museum and:
The mission of The Mariners’ Museum and Park is to connect people to the world’s waters, because that is how we are connected to one another.
Across our nation and the world, we see daily reminders of the forces at work pulling communities apart. During these times, we believe our Museum has a powerful narrative to tell about community and what binds us together.
We strive to provide an intellectual and emotional experience that is shared by generations, across cultures, and without barriers or judgement. It’s not just about displaying artifacts, but having our visitors learn and feel something, while awakening and introducing them to their maritime roots. It is through exploration of our collection and engaging experiences that we connect people to the world’s waterways.
A steward of one of the world’s most extensive maritime collections, The Mariners’ Museum and Park is committed to the preservation and conservation of more than 32,000 objects and several million library and archive materials. We provide access to the collection through exhibitions, loans, publications, educational programs and online media. The Museum is proud to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and follows its standards of care to ensure the survival of the collection for generations yet-to-come.
Howard H. Hoege III, President and CEO
Rooted in the maritime industry, The Mariners’ Museum and Park was founded during the Great Depression by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company owner Archer M. Huntington and company president Homer L. Ferguson. Together, the two men decided to create a museum in Newport News to keep shipyard workers employed and to ensure the Newport News community prospered during this difficult time. Shipyard workers cleared the land and constructed the dam to create The Mariners’ Lake, assembled the Lions Bridge and built the first Museum buildings while buying agents were dispatched worldwide to begin the task of acquiring the collection. Huntington himself began the collecting of small craft by sending five boats from Spain and Portugal to the Museum, and the maritime publications in his personal library formed the core of the library’s collection.
The Museum opened its doors on October 29, 1933, and admitted visitors to see the exhibits, which were displayed on simple sawhorse-type tables. Much has changed in the decades that have followed, and today, the Museum boasts one of the finest and most comprehensive collections of maritime art, artifacts, library and archives in the world. The Museum maintains more than 90,000 square feet of gallery space, including the award-winning USS Monitor Center. The park is comprised of 550 beautifully landscaped acres that includes the Noland Trail, a five-mile loop around The Mariners’ Lake.
For more than 85 years, The Mariners’ Museum and Park has been a cornerstone of Hampton Roads and is a major attraction for visitors from around the world. The Museum is a place of exploration for thousands of visitors annually—from families, to students, to history enthusiasts, to serious scholars and researchers. It is also the repository of many maritime companies’ archives and artifacts—including Chris Craft, Newport News Shipbuilding, USS Monitor, Pi-Craft, Newick Nautical Design and Hacker-Craft.
Writer and researcher S.B. Besse, at the Museum, circa 1930s
Born of industry and the community we serve, we are committed to providing value to our visitors. The Mariners’ Museum and Park reflects quality and excellence across our campus and organization. Among the museum’s distinctive collections and programs:
We execute against our four core functions—Exhibits, Programs, Research, and Conservation—with particular attention to our core values: Respect, Excellence, Integrity, Action, Relevance, and Teamwork.
The Lions Bridge, at The Mariners’ Park
Please join us in thanking the current members of our Corporate Leadership Council:
August F. and Winnifred Crabtree’s Venetian Galleass miniature ship
For gifts starting at $5,000, your company is entitled to benefits that can include free admission, invitations, recognition, discounts, tours, and employee team building opportunities.
Specific benefits can include:
USS Monitor replica, outside the USS Monitor Center
For more information and to support The Mariners’ Museum and Park, please contact
Sabrina Jones, Director of Strategic Partnerships, at (757) 591-7708 or email sjones@MarinersMuseum.org.
