#blackshiphistory

[steamship-historical-society]

Did you know that on the Ocklawaha River in Florida in the late 19th century, river steamers of the Hart Line employed black men as pilots and captains? In a 1947 article from American Neptune that SSHSA’s C. Bradford Mitchell compiled and re-published in booklet form in 1983, details are told regarding the history of black men working on steamboats. The publication is entitled "Paddle Wheel Inboard." According to the footnoted entry, “Since the deckhands and wheelmen were under the director of "the pilot on watch," that meant that there must have been many times when the full responsibility of the steamer's guidance rested upon one (black) pilot or wheelman. This practice was uncommon on Western Rivers and remarkable given the time and place. In other waters, black men were confined to the status of roustabout, waiter, or fuel passer.” Learn more #BlackShipHistory at https://shiphistory.org/tag/black-history/. #blackhistorymonth2023 We have a copy of this out of print book for just $5 plus shipping on our eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/itm/385119831878. Images: Passengers and boat workers pose for the camera on the Ocklawaha River steamer Okahumkee. C. Bradford Mitchell Collection, SSHSA Archives. Ocklawaha River steamer with passengers posing on the decks for the camera, likely Osceola. SSHSA Archives. (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNleo4svuf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[steamship-historical-society]

The SS George Washington Carver was a Liberty ship built during World War II and named in honor of George Washington Carver, the second Liberty ship named for an African American. George Washington Carver was born into slavery sometime in the mid-1860s. Carver became an agricultural scientist and inventor. In 1896, Booker T. Washington, the president of the Tuskegee Institute (now University), invited Carter to head its Agricultural Department. He taught there for 47 years. Carver was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century. Images: SS George Washington Carver slides down the shipway after launching. Anna Bland is shown at work on George Washington Carver in April 1943. This photo was one of a series taken on behalf of the Office of War Information documenting the work of African Americans for the war effort. George Washington Carver, the Liberty ship's namesake, c. 1902. Restored by Adam Cuerden, courtesy of the Tuskegee University Archives. Photos by E. F. Joseph, courtesy of the Library of Congress. #blackshiphistory #BlackHistoryMonth https://www.instagram.com/p/CLphskpnAbv/?igshid=1qei7996kb4a7

[steamship-historical-society]

Learn about racial tensions in Detroit, the fight to desegregate the SS Columbia, and how this episode in history paves the way for Thurgood Marshall’s victory in Brown vs. Board of Education: https://shiphistory.org/2020/06/19/desegregating-the-ss-columbia/ Image: The SS Columbia logbook for the day Ms. Sarah Elizabeth Ray was asked to leave the boat because of the color of her skin, SSHSA Archives. #ArchivesBlackEducation #BlackHistoryMonth #blackshiphistory (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7BxpDHHOD/?igshid=1gg0nagn85eir

[steamship-historical-society]

Learn about the difference between primary and secondary sources using the case study of the first black owned and operated steamship company the Black Star Line. This lesson, for grades 6-12 and college level, can be used in the classroom or at home for remote learning. Check it out here: https://shiphistory.org/2020/01/20/the-black-star-line/ or click the link in our bio for lessons. This lesson was written in conjunction with North Central Texas College History Professor Brittany Hancock based on her article, “Marcus Garvey’s The Black Star Line: Hopes, Dreams, and The S.S. Yarmouth,” which appeared in the Journal of Caribbean History 52, vol. 1. Images: The S.S. Yarmouth, renamed Frederick Douglass, was the Black Star Line’s first ship. From the R. Loren Graham Collection, SSHSA Archives. Scrapbook entry, dated May 12, 1920, Lochhead Collection, SSHSA Archives. #ArchivesBlackEducation #BlackHistoryMonth #blackhistory #blackshiphistory (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLFc9NNHRMW/?igshid=edysq57cysxp

[steamship-historical-society]

William Wells Brown was born a slave around 1814 near Lexington, Kentucky. He moved around with his master before settling in St. Louis in 1827, where he was frequently hired out to local merchants and steamboat captains, including slave traders. Brown attempted escape three times, failing twice. A riverboat captain named Enoch Price bought Brown. In 1834, while docked in Cincinnati, Ohio, he finally escaped with the help of a Quaker man named Wells Brown. He took his name as a free man. He spent some years working on Lake Erie steamboats helping others escape into Canada. William Wells Brown became an avid abolitionist working with Frederick Douglass. He toured England lecturing. While there, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850. British abolitionists purchased his freedom in 1854 to ensure his safety when he returned to America. Upon his return, he published the first novel written by an African American, Clotel. Learn more about how steamships contributed to internal slave trade in America and how, at the same time, working on the river allowed for more autonomy and in some cases, freedom: https://shiphistory.org/2021/02/26/steamboats-enslavement-and-freedom/ or click the link in our Instagram bio to see more #blackshiphistory lessons. #BlackHistoryMonth (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CaU7HCXMhFW/?utm_medium=tumblr

[steamship-historical-society]

It's officially #BlackHistoryMonth! Check out these #blackshiphistory lessons by clicking the link in our Instagram bio or visiting https://shiphistory.org/tag/black-history/. All of our lessons feature #primarysources from the Ship History Center, are standards-based, and are 100% free to use. Image: Steamer Natchez at dock, SSHSA Archives. (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZcRdLdsfu3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[steamship-historical-society]

Our final #BlackHistoryMonth lesson is live! In Mississippi Steamboats: Enslavement and Freedom, students will learn the ways in which steamboats facilitated the enslavement of people and the ways in which they allowed for freedom of movement and, for some, escape to the Northern states. Check it out here or click the link in our bio to see all our #BlackShipHistory lessons: https://shiphistory.org/2021/02/26/steamboats-enslavement-and-freedom/ Image: The steamer Natchez at dock, SSHSA Archives. (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLxIcs9HW3P/?igshid=17txrw9x8njdb

[steamship-historical-society]

The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, nicknamed the Old Bay Line, was an American steamship line from 1840 to 1962 that provided overnight steamboat service on the Chesapeake Bay, primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia. When the line went out of business in 1962 after 122 years of existence, it was the last surviving overnight steamship passenger service in the United States. In addition to regularly calling on Baltimore and Norfolk, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company at various times provided freight, passenger and vehicle transport to Washington, D.C., Old Point Comfort, and Richmond, Virginia. Images: Longshoremen working for the Old Bay Line, c. 1947, SSHSA Archives. #BlackHistoryMonth #ArchivesBlackEducation #blackshiphistory (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLMvG3KnDeq/?igshid=1tpo218saait9