EXHIBITIONS

For Lilac’s 90th birthday in 2023, we launched exhibits about our ship’s history and restoration. We continue to add to and edit these permanent displays. The newest addition to our collections is the officer’s sword of Charles L. Lewis, Lilac’s second captain and first Commanding Officer under the Coast Guard. The sword was donated to us by Lewis’ great-grandson in August 2026 and is now on display in our main gallery.

On display in the Petty Officers’ Quarters is an exhibit highlighting the lighthouses and lightship tended by LILAC. Beacons of the Delaware was previously exhibited at the National Lighthouse Museum in late 2023.

*Remembering the 9/11 Boatlift* is a small display in our main gallery with links to many online resources commemorating the 25th anniversary. The U.S. Coast Guard put out the call for "all available boats" to help. And they came. Vessels surged to the waterfront of lower Manhattan to rescue people fleeing the attacks and the falling towers. People jumped and scrambled to get on board the ferries, tugs, and fishing boats that responded and approximately 500,000 people were rescued by mariners that day. It became the biggest maritime evacuation in American history, rivaling WWII evacuations at Dunkirk and at the Russian front. Let us not forget that in a city of islands, mariners and their vessels are our lifelines.

For past exhibitions, see our online gallery.