Events

On Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 5:30pm, the History Museum of Mobile will host a special lecture entitled "A Personal Tour of Four of History’s Most Important Shipwrecks" in conjunction with our exhibition, Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas: Artifacts from the Deep.

Join maritime archaeologist, explorer, author, and television host James Delgado for a personal tour of some of history's most significant and fascinating wrecks that he has explored, documented, and excavated in his five-decades long career. In this special presentation, he will focus on four shipwrecks: USS Conestoga, which disappeared in 1921, creating one of the top ten mysteries in the history of the US Navy. That mystery was solved when a  team led by Dr. Delgado discovered it, identified it, and brought closure to families who had waited nearly a century for answers. He will discuss the wreck of Titanic, which remains one of the most powerful, haunting sites he has visited, diving to the wreck in 2000 in a Russian submersible, and then co-directing the first detailed study of the wreck site in 2010. USS Nevada, a ship badly damaged at Pearl Harbor, lying next to USS Arizona but then repaired, returned to battle, surviving World War II, two atomic blasts, until sunk by bombs and torpedoes in the deep Pacific. He co-led the expedition that discovered it, miles deep, in 2020. He will also speak about Clotilda, the last slave ship. Dr. Delgado led the team that conducted the detailed forensic analysis that conclusively proved that the wreck was Clotilda, and also led subsequent excavations and studies of the slave ship.

TICKETS: This is a 21+ only event. Tickets are $10 for Members and $20 for Non-Members. Complimentary beverages will be served and guests may visit the Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas: Artifacts from the Deep exhibition following the lecture. No walkup tickets will be sold. 

PURCHASE ADVANCE TICKETS

BOOKS: Two of Dr. Delgado's books will be available in the museum gift shop (while supplies last): The Great Museum of the Sea: A Human History of Shipwrecks and Clotilda: The History and Archaeology of the Last Slave Ship. Dr. Delgado will be available to sign books.

ABOUT DR. DELGADO: James P. Delgado, Ph.D. is among the world’s leading experts in maritime archaeology and cultural heritage. Currently serving as Senior Advisor for Cultural Heritage for the Oceans Foundation in Washington, D.C., Dr. Delgado’s career spans five decades.  In 2025, Dr. Delgado retired from SEARCH, LLC, where he had served for over eight years as Senior Vice President of that cultural resources company. At SEARCH, he was responsible for ensuring operational and research excellence, implementing strategic initiatives, and expanding the firm’s international footprint. 

Dr. Delgado is a public speaker, international delegate, documentary host, and major project spokesperson. Prior to joining SEARCH, Dr. Delgado served as the Director of Maritime Heritage in the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries for NOAA for seven years, where he implemented heritage programs and active research in the nation’s waters, as well as promoted outreach and education on America’s underwater and marine heritage. Previously, he served a four-year term as President and CEO of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, the world’s leading scientific and educational organization dedicated to the understanding of humanity’s seafaring history through the excavation and scientific study of shipwrecks. Dr. Delgado was the Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum in British Columbia, Canada for 15 years, and he served as Maritime Historian and Head of the US Government’s Maritime Heritage Program for the US National Park Service for four years in Washington, DC. Dr. Delgado also served as the first historian for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the San Francisco Bay Area where he participated in the restoration and interpretation of Alcatraz.  One of his favorite projects was the rescue, reassembly and refurbishing of Jacques Piccard’s mesoscaphe Ben Franklin (PX-15).

Dr. Delgado is the author, co-author, or editor of thirty-four books, including Clotilda: The History and Archaeology of the Last Slave Ship (University of Alabama Press), War At Sea: A Shipwrecked History (Oxford University Press), The Lost Submarines of Pearl Harbor and The Misadventures of a Civil War Submarine: Iron, Guns and Pearls (Texas A&M University Press), The Maritime Landscape of the Isthmus of Panama (University Press of Florida), Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare (Osprey) and the Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archaeology (Yale University Press). His most recent book is The Great Museum of the Sea: A Human History of Shipwrecks (Oxford University Press). He is currently writing his next book.

Dr. Delgado has served as keynote speaker and presented to more than a hundred conferences and his work has reached hundreds of millions of viewers as host on six seasons of a National Geographic series, The Sea Hunters, as well as scientific programs on Discovery, The History Channel, A&E, and National Geographic.  He was a co-producer and series advisor for National Geographic’s series Drain the Oceans, where he made frequent appearances. On social media, his live expedition broadcasts at Pearl Harbor and at the wreck of the USS Independence were each telecast to over one million viewers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and The Explorers’ Club, and an Officer of the Order of Civil Merit, presented to him by His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain.