Smithsonian Underwater Archaeology Film Collection
name: label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Armed Forces
label: Creator
content: Explorers Club
label: Names
content: Peterson, Mendel
topic: label: Topic
content: Underwater archaeology -- 1960's
label: Topic
content: Shipwrecks
label: Topic
content: Smithsonian Institution
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
creator: label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Armed Forces
label: Creator
content: Explorers Club
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Underwater Archaeology Film Collection
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 49 Film reels
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1960s
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: This collection was transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Armed Forces History (now Division of Political and Military History), May 1987.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0262
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Analiese Oetting in 2025
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Footage comprises 49 film reels, mostly consisting of production elements of various film projects relating to undersea expeditions in Bermuda in the 1960s, under then-curator of Underwater Archaeology Mendel Peterson. The film corresponds to different projects that appear to have been produced in conjunction with NBC, The National Geographic Society, and The Explorers Research Corporation (an affliate of The Explorers Club). There are a few exceptions where the film relates more broadly to Armed Forces History that were mislabled and likely transferred as part of this collection in error. 

The Archives Center does not hold prints of the finished works.