Skin Deep: Sailors' Tattoos in Norfolk

We're preparing for our next big special event (on September 22), which is about sailors' tattoos. To do this, though, we need your help! As part of the evening event, we would like to create a photo exhibit of sailors' tattoos and their stories. Thus, we're looking for you to submit photos of your own. If you are (or were) a Navy sailor and have tattoos from your time in the Navy, please send photos of those tattoos to me at laura.l.orr@navy.mil. Also include your name, when you served, and the story behind your tattoo. If you want us to keep your photo anonymous in our exhibit, we're more than happy to do so--we just need your name for our records. You can also mail any photos and information to me at: Hampton Roads Naval Museum; Attn: Laura Orr; One Waterside Drive, Suite 248; Norfolk, VA 23510.

The tattoo below is from one of our docents, Doc Shoop, a retired Navy corpsman. You'll learn its story at the event on Sept 22!



Along with the tattoo exhibit, we're planning to have a variety of activities for the evening. Tom Moore, Photo Curator at the Mariners' Museum, will be here to talk about the history of tattooing in Norfolk. In addition to Tom's talk, we'll be holding some hands-on tattooing fun activities throughout the museum. Finally, we're looking for a local tattoo artist who would be willing to bring along some tools of the trade to talk about what he/she does in Hampton Roads. If you know of anyone who would be interested in doing this, please contact me.

The event is on Thursday, September 22, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at HRNM in downtown Norfolk. Best of all, it's FREE and we'll have food and drinks for everyone! All you have to do is RSVP to 757-322-3108 before September 19 (don't worry, you'll get more reminders closer to that date).

Contact me if you have any questions. We're hoping to have a lot of people send in their tattoo photos and stories so we can display them in the museum. Thanks in advance for your help, and we hope to see you there!