Maritime Archive and Library

Displays and online exhibitions

Temporary displays

Visitors to the museum can see special displays of topical and unusual archive material in the cabinets by the entrance to the Maritime Archives and Library on the second floor of the museum.

Here you can see web features about some of the recent displays:

• Liverpool - port of cultures
• The Age of Nelson - celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar
• Photographs of the ship CSS Alabama - a special display of rare photographs purchased in 2005
• Maritime records for family historians - part of the 2004 Archive Awareness Campaign

The first major exhibition of photographs from the Stewart Bale collection held in the archives, Metropolis - capturing modern Liverpool is being held at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool from 21 March to 10 August 2008.

Stewart Bale collection online exhibitions

A series of online exhibitions of photographs from the Stewart Bale collection has been added to the website to highlight the breadth of its subject matter. A new exhibition was added each month from April until September 2007, with an extra one in December. They cover the following themes in sequence:

• Waterfront, docks and shipping
• The Liverpool Blitz
• Entertainment (covering cinemas, theatres, leisure and outdoor pools)
• Work (covering engineering and construction, including the Queensway Mersey tunnel, shipbuilding and factories)
• Architecture (including both Liverpool cathedrals)
• Retail (including street scenes and vehicles)
• Christmas