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The Sun Ship Historical Society was invited to display an exhibit of Sun Ship memorabilia complete with a lecture series at the Delaware County County Historical Society's Walter Garrison Museum, Library and Research Center at 408 Ave. of the States, in Chester, PA.

The exhibit officially opened on Sept. 15, 2007 and was on display until January 26 of 2008. During this period a number of exhibit tours and lectures were conducted by the Sun Ship Historical Society with total attendance exceeding 600. The exhibit featured a Sun Ship time line from 1916 through the sale of the yard on Feb. 8, 1982, a display of many artifacts acquired by the Sun Ship Historical Society and scheduled lectures and exhibit tours.

The following is a selection of pictures of the exhibit, lectures and exhibit tours.

The Walter Garrison Museum, Library and Research Center was the South East National Bank building with a long and interesting history. Stop by the Research Center to find out more on the history of Delaware County, Chester and Sun Ship. Contact them at 610.359.0832 and the Center's hours are:

Tuesday: 1PM to 8PM

Wed:

9AM to 4PM

Sat:

9Am to 2PM

Lower Left: This is the original 'Builder's Plate' from Sun's S.S. American Apollo launched on July 22, 1970

(On loan from the collection of Dave Kavanagh)

Lower Right: Pattern of Sun logo from 10/26/31 (On loan from the collection of Dave Kavanagh)

Left: The artifact in the wooden frame is a 'cut' from the first welded angle from Sun's hull 138, the 'White Flash' , the first all-welded ocean-going vessel which was launched 9/10/31. (Donated to the SSHS by Ed and Toni McCarrron )

Middle: Ship's coat-of-arms from the U.S.S. Widgeon, AM-22. She was Sun hull No. 22, one of 3 wooden mine sweepers built by Sun Ship between 1917 & 1918 (On loan from the collection of D. Kavanagh)

Right: Model of the hospital ship S.S.Hope (Health Opportunity for People Everywhere'). This ship traveled around the world from 1960 to 1974 supplying medical services to the underprivileged. She was originally laid down as one of Sun's 6 troopships, the S.S. Marine Walrus (Hull 351) and launched as the U.S.S Consolation and transferred to another Yard for conversion to a hospital ship. The model was built by William 'Bill' McGonigle of 95 Department and donated to the SSHS by Richard 'Dick' Carr of 81 Dept.

Left: This hardhat belonged to Arthur Holzbaur, who was a General Superintendent. Each division in the yard had their own color hardhat. The Machinery Dept would be blue, Outfiting was yellow, Hull was Red, Maintenance was green, Office and Engineering was white and Executives were brown. (This hardhat was on loan from the Delaware County Historical Society).

Middle: The artifacts in the middle are; cigarette lighters that were given to guests at the ships launching of various U.S. Lines ships of the 'Racer' Class. (Artifacts are on loan from D. Kavanagh and J. Costello), Gauge that measured air .pressure used for starting diesel engines. Hull unknown. (On loan from the collection of D.Kavanagh), Cups and glasses that show two of the logos used at Sun Ship (From the collection of D.Kavanagh)

Right: This hardhat belonged to George Howarth who was a Foreman of the Welding Dept (59) on 2nd Shift. George had over 45 years working at Sun Ship. (This artifact is loan from the SSHS).

Top Left: This is a poster that displays the covers of Our Yard magazine during WWII. (Courtesy of the SSHS).

Bottom Left: These are the various magazines that were printed by Sun Ship for their employees. The first Sun Ship 'magazine' from the early 1920's was the Sun Dial, Our Yard was printed from 1941 thru 1965 and finally, the Sun Log was printed until the sale of the Yard in Feb. of 1982. (From the collection of D.Kavanagh)

Top Right: These artifacts are from the Yard's 'Time Alley' The green board with department numbers was used to direct employees to the proper 'aisle' where they could pick up their 'time cards' from smaller 'time card racks' like the one to the far right. (From the collection of D. Kavanagh).

Bottom Right: These are instruction manuals that were written in conjunction with the State of Pennsylvania, Chester School District and Sun Ship and were published in the thousands to train new employees in the craft of shipbuilding during WWII (From the collection of D. Kavanagh)

Left: This is a launching plaque that was given to the person who christens the ship (Sponsor). The plaque is placed in a wooden box along with the mesh sheath that covered the bottle of champagne. (From the collection of D.Kavanagh)

Center: This a bottle of champagne specifically designed for christening ships or boats. The body of the bottle is grooved around the diameter to make breaking the bottle easier. This is one of three bottles that were purchased for the 'christening' of the Sun historic marker at Harrah's Racetrack and Casino. (From the collection of D. Kavanagh).

Top Right: These are samples of Chelsea clocks that were purchased and installed on Sun ships. (From the collection of SSHS and D. Kavanagh)

Bottom Right: This is a scale model of a Sun Doxford-Junkers engine that was in the Main Lobby of the Yard's Main Office, circa mid-1920's (From the collection of D. Kavanagh)

This is a half-hull model of Sun Ship's Hull 679, the John B. Waterman and is a 1/10" scale model of a cargo ship that was 640' long and 105' wide (breadth) and 68' high (depth). The Hull Engineering Department would use this model to trace the actual steel plates that would be require to build the ship.

(This half-hull model was donated to the SSHS by the Sun Oil Company through the efforts of Don Verdiani.

This is a banner from the Sun Ship's Masonic Square Club. One of the fraternal organizations at the Yard

(This banner was donated to the Sun Ship Historical Society by Bud Austin (59 Dept and Boilermaker's Local 802 Officer)

L to R: Unkown (If any one can indentify this person, please use email address on "Home Page"), Bud Austin, Dave Kavanagh and Frank Burkee.