The Sound Archives at Mystic Seaport, part of the holdings of the G.W. Blunt White Library, are an important and unique body of primary source material. The bulk of the collection consists of oral history interviews, and along with the other lectures and recorded events, the Sound Archives contains extensive documentation pertaining to maritime history, with a subject range which includes many of the Museum's primary themes and specific areas of interest. The recordings complement the Museum's collections of more traditional materials such as books, manuscripts, photographs, artifacts, and vessels, and they preserve information which might not otherwise be recorded for posterity.


Mystic Seaport's uses and applications of oral history are varied, and this is reflected in the subjects represented in the collection. The vast majority of the interviews, however, serve to document maritime activity, and the people and artifacts associated with that activity. The activity may be whaling or fishing, recreational sailing, boatbuilding, or a maritime trade such as sailmaking. Additionally, the interviews may include information about groups or individuals involved with an activity. The material culture associated with a given activity is also frequently an interview subject. Thus, tools, gear, boat fabrication materials, or the vessels themselves are often documented.

Among the specific subjects represented in the collection are boat and ship design and construction, whaling, oystering, the New England fisheries, sailmaking and other maritime trades, yachting, recreational sailing and boating, the U.S. Life-Saving Service, lighthouses, the history of Mystic Seaport, and local history. The collection's greatest strengths are in the areas of the fisheries, vessel design and construction, and yachting history.