[T]he Society is moving ahead with a vital first step which has long been called for by leaders in the field of maritime heritage. This is a bi-weekly newsletter to be called Sea History Gazette which will report in a timely fashion on exhibits, symposia, funding efforts, and news of general interest to the community and giving sources of further information.

An early edition of the Gazette continued that mission statement, to “[fulfill] a need felt by the community for a clearinghouse of information about what is going on in the wide world of maritime history and preservation—exhibits, legislation, new publications, annual meetings, traditional crafts—in short, the entire spectrum of our world.”

Just one year later, the Gazette was adopted as the official newsletter of the National Maritime Alliance, to be a “conduit for lively comment, opinion, and debate, for news and announcements, for the official call to mobilize in support of our legislation or other initiatives that advance our cause.”

The biweekly newsletter, a scant four typewritten pages, evolved to a monthly, then bi-monthly, publication with an attractive design, all the while reporting on the news and events of the maritime heritage community. The final issue appeared in 2002, as developments in internet communication changed how the community obtained its news.

Today it provides an interesting perspective on that chapter in the history of our maritime heritage institutions.