The National Maritime Historical Society is pushing to get a new federal appropriation of $10 million per year for the national Maritime Heritage Grant Program. This funding is crucial for the maritime heritage community. Historic ships such as USS Olympia, Star of India, the fishing schooner LA Dunton, the Bugeye Edna Lockwood, and the Liberty ship John W. Brown are just a few examples of the many important vessels from coast to coast that have received vital funding. And the support doesn’t just go to ships—maritime museums, lighthouses, libraries, websites, digitization projects and more have all been funded through this program.

Especially now we need to increase awareness that saving our maritime heritage is a mandate for our society and that funding must be a part of the federal budget. To convince our representatives in Washington, we need to increase our advocacy efforts and for that, we need your help! Our request for $10 million was made to members of the House and Senate. They need to hear from constituents that this is a worthy use of federal dollars.  Join us in this effort by signing the petition and writing to your members of Congress!