The Theodore G. and Eleanor S. Congdon Maritime Collection contains 190 items that pertain to commercial, naval, and recreational maritime-related activities primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. Materials date from approximately 1700 to 1990, with the bulk dating from 1800-1935. The collection consists of prints (engravings, etchings, aquatints, and lithographs), photographs, manuscript materials, publications, portfolios and bound volumes, and a single painting. The items deal primarily with whaling, yachting, and naval battles, and the vessels and people involved in these activities.

Theodore G. Congdon (1929-2012) lived in the Pasadena area of southern California with his wife Eleanor, where he worked as an accountant. He grew up in New England, one of five sons of the socially prominent Congdon family that founded Congdon & Carpenter Co. in 1790. The firm dealt in iron, steel, hardware, carriage and saddlery goods, and paints and oils, and was one of the oldest family-owned and operated businesses in the United States until it was sold in 1977.

190 items

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