The Infamous Convict Museum Ship Success : an Archaeological Investigation of Material Culture and Identity Formation Processes

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between material culture and the formation of cultural identity through an analysis of the artifact assemblage from the former traveling museum ship, Success. Before sinking near Port Clinton, Ohio in 1946, Success served many roles at different stages of its past, functioning as an immigration vessel, a prison hulk, and a naval storage hulk. Lastly, it became a museum that showcased and inflated Success's supposed connection to the breadth of Australian convict transportation and hulk history, despite records suggesting otherwise. This largely-contrived history, richly documented in archival sources, mirrors Success's artifact assemblage that exaggerates the true horrors of convict shipboard experiences. As a museum, Success displayed Spanish Inquisition torture devices, such as torture-racks, spiked iron collars, and even an iron maiden. This project compiles and archaeologically analyzes a catalog of artifacts associated with Success, before and after its depositional event. It evaluates how Success's assemblage expresses the dialogue engaged by the multiple and diverse associated cultural agents in light of the contemporary social metanarrative.