Research and Conservation of Waterlogged Rubber Gaskets from USS Monitor (1862)

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In many ways, USS Monitor, the first iron vessel built by the Union during the American Civil War and commissioned in 1862, was the first mass-produced ship; component parts were bought straight off showroom floors, or were built at various industrial facilities throughout the U.S. Northeast. This led to varied rubber gaskets being used, potentially interchangeably, in different contexts. The conservation department at The Mariners’ Museum and Park is using a multidisciplinary approach to rubber artifacts recovered from Monitor’s wrecksite. This is accomplished by combining analytical finds, historical research in rubber production and use, and protocols for the batch treatment of marine archaeological rubber and its long term storage. Together, this work provides a better understanding of rubber manufacture and trade in the Union, the aging of rubber when exposed to a marine environment, and the effects of treatment on rubber artifacts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2021 SHA Poster Submissions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology