Navigating the Past: Histories of the US Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-2025

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies and Rutgers University-Camden are delighted to be co-hosting a conference on US Navy and Marine Corps history, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the founding of both branches in Philadelphia (see Homecoming 250), on October 10-11, 2025. The two-day conference will be open to members of the public. View the program here.

If you wish to attend the conference, please read the following instructions about ticketing carefully. Separate registrations are required for each day of this event.

To attend the first day of the conference, on Friday, October 10, hosted by the McNeil Center at Penn’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, you must register for a ticket here, on EventBrite. The ticket is free but required as space is limited, and does not cover meals.

To attend the second day of the conference, on Saturday, October 11, hosted by Rutgers-Camden aboard the battleship USS New Jersey, you must purchase a ticket from the battleship, here. The ticket costs $15 and will allow you to tour the battleship as well as attend the conference. The battleship does not permit outside food. If you wish to purchase a brown-bag lunch with your ticket, you will have the option to do so for an additional $15.

Photo credit: USS Alfred by W. Nowland Van Powell at the U.S. Naval Art Gallery

Host or Publisher McNeil Center for Early American Studies