USS Constitution books in the Frank L. McGuire Maritime Library

All Hands on Deck: Learning Adventures Aboard USS Constitution was published in 1997 by the USS Constitution Museum, at Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard, as a study guide for teachers and students in grades K-12.  It was written by Penny Parsekian, at that time a free-lance writer and, until 2017, a resident of New London, Connecticut.  Ms. Parsekian has long been an active advocate for responsible urban planning and history tourism and is currently (2018) a consultant in nonprofit organizational development and what she calls "downtown matters."   

The Museum intended that All Hands on Deck would provide teachers with "innovative ways to work with students as critical thinkers" while establishing "a solid understanding of the ship's history, her role as an American symbol, and her connection to the principles of democracy and the document for which she was named."   

Left:  These two works are indispensable sources for naval history of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and cover the service chronology of the USS Constitution. Both are published by the Naval Historical and Heritage Command (formerly the Naval Historical Division) of the Department of the Navy, and are readable and searchable online in the HathiTrust Digital Library.  

The Naval War of 1812 fills three print volumes. The most recent print volume of Naval Documents of the American Revolution (11), appeared in 2005, and the work is ongoing.  Print volumes are no longer published, but some may be available online in the used book market. Volume 12 appeared in digital format only, in 2014, and Volume 13 was published digitally in 2019.