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1920s Save "Old Ironsides" CampaignPurser Thomas J. Chew National Cruise Commander William Bainbridge Gunner John Lord Battle with HMS Java Midshipman Pardon Mawney Whipple Arms and Armament Commander Charles Stewart Navigation Escaping a British Squadron Life at Sea Gunner George Sirian Medicine Ira Dye Collection on Early Seafarers Battle with HMS Guerriere James Sever Collection Souvenirs Captain John and Mrs. Caroline Gwinn War of 1812 U.S. Naval Academy School Ship Construction and Launch USS Constitution in Popular Culture Ship Portraits Apprentice Training Squadron Commander Isaac Hull Women in the Navy Marines 1920s Save "Old Ironsides" Campaign Battle with HMS Cyane and HMS Levant1920s Save "Old Ironsides" CampaignPurser Thomas J. Chew National Cruise Commander William Bainbridge Gunner John Lord Battle with HMS Java Midshipman Pardon Mawney Whipple Arms and Armament Commander Charles Stewart Navigation Escaping a British Squadron Life at Sea Gunner George Sirian Medicine Ira Dye Collection on Early Seafarers Battle with HMS Guerriere James Sever Collection Souvenirs Captain John and Mrs. Caroline Gwinn War of 1812 U.S. Naval Academy School Ship Construction and Launch USS Constitution in Popular Culture Ship Portraits Apprentice Training Squadron Commander Isaac Hull Women in the Navy Marines 1920s Save "Old Ironsides" Campaign Battle with HMS Cyane and HMS Levant
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1920s Save "Old Ironsides" Campaign
Despite having undergone repairs and restorations between 1906 and 1907, USS Constitution was in a dire state of disrepair by 1924. In November of that year, Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur assembled a committee to lead the National Save “Old Ironsides” campaign, with the goal of raising enough money to restore the ship.
A central component of the Save “Old Ironsides” efforts was a pennies campaign that asked students throughout the country to collect and donate pennies to fund the restoration efforts. Students at more than 800 schools across the United States participated in the campaign, raising around $154,000. The Elks Club helped organize this effort, and also held a national essay writing contest about “Old Ironsides.”
The money raised by the pennies campaign, the proceeds of sales of souvenirs and prints, and additional funds authorized by Congress were all used to fund the extensive restoration of Constitution that began in 1927.
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