SUMMARY NOTES: MARITIME GATHERING
Dossin Great Lakes Museum & St. Clair Shores Public Library
September 5-6, 2001

After doing expanded self-introductions and receiving an overview of the CGLC purpose, history and goals, participants were guided (through facilitation by John Beck, MSU Department of Labor and Industrial Relations) through generation and prioritization of ideas in response to four questions:

• what Great Lakes maritime stories still need to be told?
• what existing websites should be linked to the CGLC website?
• what products, events, other projects could help to tell the Great Lakes maritime stories?
• what connections and linkages should be made with people, institutions, associations?

This document includes:

• agenda
• notes from the sessions
• preliminary "seed" list of maritime resource inventory

AGENDA

Wednesday, September 5

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Dossin Great Lakes Museum, Belle Isle, Detroit
Refreshments, informal conversation as people arrive
Welcome and "Housekeeping" chores
Brief self-introductions, initial sharing of types of interests,
Projects, etc.
Overview of schedule, general goals of gathering
Tour/overview of Dossin Great Lakes Museum & programs
Cont. listing of archives, collections, etc.
"What's missing?" discussion ("It would be nice if…")

4:00 - 4:45 driving north along river and lake waterfront, observing
various uses of waterfront (urban, industrial, residential/suburban,
parks and marinas)

4:45 - ~6:45 Dinner at Jack's Restaurant, an adaptive re-use of a waterfront
quonset hut located within a marina); meal developed around Great
Lakes agriculture, farm, and fish products

7:00 - 8:45 Meet at St. Clair Shores Public Library
More in-depth sharing of projects (AV equipment available)
Ideas: how should this "interest group" function? (not duplicate
functions of organizations, but facilitate programs,
projects, efforts)
potential projects
potential partnerships, cooperative efforts

Thursday, September 6

9:00 - ~2:00 St. Clair Shores Public Library
Introductions, sharing by new participants
Continue idea generation, sharing
Small group "action plan" discussions -- facilitated
Ideas for effective use of web (H-Net), archival and collections,
access, challenges of varied database formats, etc.
Where do we go from here? How do you want to be involved in
the future?
Who's missing that should be here?

Wednesday, September 5 Session

Introduction of CGLC & Expectations:

• The hope is that the maritime aspect of CGLC will become a pillar for other areas.
• Regardless of NEH funding, the center will exist.
• The center exists to add synergy and synthesis to the work and efforts of all of the various individuals - it is not intended to replace efforts, but to support them by providing a central "clearinghouse" for resources and networking.

Participant Expectations for the CGLC:

• Lee; he commented how his experience has shown that Michigan has a fundamental grasp on the Great Lakes that does not exist in other states (this is why he has focused most of his work in this state). He feels that he has a responsibility to share information and to let people know about other people as he performs - collaboration could be an important part of this.
• Dan; Most work has been done on shipwrecks, and he has noticed a lot of bad blood between shipwreck enthusiasts/hunters and the greater maritime community. Wants to see people learn about the larger picture of Great Lakes maritime culture, not just stories of shipwrecks.
• Dianne; As a teacher she understands the value of coming from a varied background and needing a way to pull everything together (this is s good function for the center). Sees her lab as a connection to the Historical Preservation Program at EMU, even though her focus is on maritime. She added that small maritime community museums with little funding and small budgets could benefit from this type of resource.
• Donn; "Culture's" root is "cultivation", which is not just the past but the present and future. We seem to be, as a region, just beginning to appreciate the great lakes as a resource and to cultivate it.
  
• Lee; pointed out how there are greater numbers of people today who are interested in "alternative" music such as Great Lakes folk music (rather than the commercialized music that is economically viable).
• Dan; Not just an altruistic motive - wants to be able to use the resources and exploit them (it's a living!).
• Kate; She has had to answer the question "why Alpena?" many times the past 9 months. This center could provide a way for pointing people in the right direction. Her duties have included many aspects of education/outreach/PR/presentations, and this would help find the appropriate expert.
• John; Made the point again that this is a way to link people to resources they would not otherwise know about, and to give people/groups/institutions access to information that they would not otherwise have available to them.
• Donn; Points out that it should point people towards needs that exist as well - for example, linking volunteers to a lighthouse preservation effort.
• Janet; in Wisconsin, the capital city is inland, the biggest university has an agricultural heritage and archaeologists have focused on inland sites (maritime not seen as a priority). People's familiarity with urban sprawl, agricultural issues, land use planning is mirrored by their lack of knowledge about maritime issues (which have a long history).
• Donn; people have been programmed to think that the Great Lakes are dirty/polluted and nasty - they want to live in their little air conditioned box and not be a part of the ecosystem, or help to preserve or restore it. The successful clean-ups are still met with surprise - Rouge River, Chicago's North Channel.
• Lee; related to this, technology has made life easier - don't have to leave the cities to get away from heat and disease (like Chicago to western shore of Michigan). Use of the lakes has diminished in this respect.
• John; we need to distinguish sweetwater from saltwater maritime experiences. An example from Escanaba is the Friday night Catholic experience of going down to the shops and buying all you can eat perch and "a thousand pounds of fries" - there are memories/oral histories that need to be tapped. These places no longer exist.
• Lee; someone he worked with that had a saltwater perspective had no concept of GL maritime experience - laughed about the "Chicago Maritime Society" t-shirt Lee was wearing. In general, the west coast is more accepting of great lakes music than the east coast.
• Donn; Need to make a good showing at the National Maritime Conference in N.C. this fall.
• Craig; Added that in his search for Ph.D. programs, East Carolina's list of theses lacked a Great Lakes perspective (a couple in more recent years), but they also now have a field school in Wisconsin (Door Co.), so maybe this is changing?
• Kate; Germans are interested in Nordmeer - a growing international audience/interest
• Lee; there could be other outcomes for this - GL cruises, genealogy
• Gail; remember that perceptions of Michigan as a destination are higher in natural resources than cultural resources
• Janet; People have come from other places to Michigan and other maritime environments; example is "where did this fishing gear come from?" ongoing migratory cultural connections

Evening Session

• John reiterated that CGLC is not taking the approach "what can we do for people" but rather, "what can we do with people."
• Gail added that MSU people do not have to be involved, but the CGLC can help to coordinate or bring people together

Individual Sharing

• Dan; shared his work with elementary/middle school kids researching and writing new songs together. Takes them through the entire writing/editing/performing/recording CDs for students to buy. Concepts are driven by the school/curriculum. Has also received a grant from UM Flint to document this process.
• Dianne; thoughts on partnerships - as a university they can do some interdisciplinary stuff, using equipment from other groups/corporations/clients. Their lab is a "field lab" that will include grad. students in preservation program. Also potential for collaboration between universities (to fill in gaps in needs/resources). Lab will be on campus once Titanic is done.
• Kate; shared pictures about Pewabic (a good story/shipwreck). Also shared examples of some local outreach - Alpena News did a reprint of historical shipwreck/maritime articles, on Ballard/IFE's visit and work this summer

Thursday, September 6 Session

Presentations/Sharing (Continued):

• LuAnne/Janet; folklore. Includes different genres and traditions - foodways, songs, customs, rituals, community groups, family groups. Have published a "how to" guide to documenting folklife (for individuals and museums/associations). The state humanities and arts councils, as well as NEH have been very supportive of maritime folklife projects (for past couple of decades). Experience has included exhibit development and production, programming, and marketing of results. There is a network of folklorists through American Folklore Society with conferences, as well as in public agencies (NEH, NEA). Maritime folklorist are generally linked to anthropologists which is an international network.
• John; Works on labor history/ the world of the waterfront worker. Brownbag series from daily life and daily work - he will add everyone to his distribution list for call for papers, etc. on labor issues that could be tailored to the maritime experience.
• Ellen; Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary & Underwater Preserve - looking to create a maritime curriculum (not sure of age group). This is a national audience (being a federal agency), so whatever happens it will be broadcast/marketed to a national/international audience. Their events this summer drew large crowds with a wide range of ages. NOAA wants to be a major factor in GL maritime development - land-based/non-diving public is essential.
• Ken; CMURM reorganized as a non-profit to assist governments/communities with resource management decisions and coastal tourism development. Have a mix of people from across disciplines - sees an interdisciplinary approach as important, but also a way to combine all of the divergent interests together. Some work includes, a comprehensive site plan for RMS Titanic, survey project between Jamaica and Honduras in Pedro Bank (most comprehensive survey in history using NASA technology), as well as Port Washington, WI (small community with a large collection of shipwreck artifacts).
• Donn; 30 years with lighthouses. Own a lighthouse which the nature conservancy is buying the entire 250 acres as well. Sweetwater Journey musical group was formed to celebrate the lakes in 1975. Maritime Heritage Educational Guide provides guide to curriculum/activities for educators.
• Lee; Points out that folk music was popular music at one point in time. The Cassels (sp.?) pointed him towards the Bentley Historical Library where he found a lot of original material that had not been explored previously. His interest in this area just sort of happened - he didn't set out to be a Great Lakes singer, but it became a passion (6 of 10 CDs deal with it exclusively). He commented on some experience with other work from other disciplines that helped him to create as well (again, the term/concept of synergy) - an upcoming publication exemplifies this (being able to explore the human aspects of the history and expressing them through song).
• Scott; A historian with the State of Michigan in various capacities, including the Governor's new council. At the Michigan Historical Museum, there are thousands of artifacts and they have had many exhibits (with one upcoming as well). The archaeological office has many artifacts and collections as well. SHPO; Lighthouse Program, national register program, state historic markers. State Archives also at this facility, that contains state government records primarily. Michigan History magazine (45,000 subscribers) also runs maritime articles from time to time - nationwide audience. He pointed out that they create, but also collaborate to help support other efforts.
• Bob; There is an effort at the BGSU collection to make the material accessible to researchers more readily (grant dollars not there as much now). Most collections are catalogued for efficiency, but ship drawings collection (about 200,000), photograph collection of ships/ports (40,000+), newspaper clippings (600 3-ring binders) are not.

Brainstorming Session - What's Missing?

NOTE: After personal generation of ideas, each person placed ideas on flipcharts posted around the room, one at a time, reading the items already written on each list. After group presentation, clarification, discussion of each item on each list, participants were provided three "sticky stars" each to "vote" for the items they felt most strongly about (prioritized by criteria of personal choice, such as strength of importance, what could be done most easily and quickly to make progress, greatest need by the most people, etc.) Following is a list of all items written on the flip charts, plus an indication of the "votes" cast. Participants could use their stars any way they chose (one star for each of three items, three stars on one item, or a mix).

Missing stories that need to be told:

• Recreation and leisure, 1880+; particularly maritime related tourism, such as the western shore of Michigan (commercial as well as "household").
  
  Recreation and leisure development/use based on water/coastal resources, household and commercial-based tourism and recreation (1800s, 1900s)…what did coast-based people do for recreation? Maritime workers do for leisure?
  
  Cottages (camp), lakeshore resorts, amusement parks, pleasure boating, fishing camps
  
  Keith Muckelroy defined recreation right out of the definition (maritime "commerce and warfare" only)…
  
  
• Adequate use of existing documentary sources to tell various stories of maritime history bridged to modern scene; rather than just new stuff, using existing collections and materials that have not been fully explored - finding a place for materials that need a home also.
  
  Adequate use of existing documentary sources to tell various stories of maritime endeavor of history/bridged to contemporary life??? Don't re-invent the wheel. Therefore important to USE the resources that exist
  THEREFORE, DO GOOD JOB AT PROMOTING AVAILABILITY
  
  (e.g., tapes are logged, but not transcribed)
  $$$ to digitize archives, or parts of archives, to encourage people to go to archives, libraries, collections, etc. (need informed people do the transcriptions so don't get false transcriptions)
  (what about intellectual property? Permission to convert to digital collections with wider access?)
  
  Keeping collections converted to "current technology" tape
  (e.g., provide equipment such as CD burners to make CDs of archival information, tapes, recordings, etc.)
  
  Provide opportunity for researchers to provide their transcriptions (or whatever) part of the archival record for previously done work. Tit for tat, if you're using X resource or collection, "give back" by leaving your new work.
  
  
• Union activities of sailors;
  
  Union activities, sailors (no single monograph on Great Lakes union sailors); there is one on Norwegian sailors.
  
  
• Midwest Fish Fry; these traditions are especially distinctive to the region (don't have a definitive history of this foodway)
  
  The Midwest fish fry, the fish boil, planked fish, muskrat, foodways fish tradition; Need definitive history about foodways and procedures; connection to prohibition, pre-contact Indian fishing foodways, early contact period and sharing of techniques and preparation.
  
  Great Lakes fish cookbook (handle and prepare various GL fish)
  
  
• Port city taverns/red light districts; Escanaba, for example, all the longshoremen stayed in the same taverns waiting for the next ship to come in. A sometimes ignored/neglected story (for obvious reasons).
  
  Port City Tavern/red light districts (recreation and leisure)-Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight
  
  Red light districts and disease and death (graeyards; interactive programs)
  
  New plays for Spoon River Anthology based on maritime
  
  
• History of Great Lakes Longshore/Pre-ILA era (bosses);
  
  
• Admiralty & Maritime Law - Marine salvage; one of the oldest international laws, but it has been given much bad publicity/sentiment lately. Ex: in 1800s, the Great Lakes were considered the same as the oceans in this context.
  
  Admiralty/mairimnte law, and maritime salvage: lots of stories (perseverance, ingenuity, technology, creativity); early admiralty law declares Great Lakes treated same as oceans
  Reed Brothers, Falcone (out of Waukegan)
  Dr. in Bay City is working on story of Reed Bros (?)
  
  
• Maritime personnel, not captains; land-based as well as deckhands;
  
  Maritime personnel - chandleries, shore-based, longshoremen, ships' store operators, caulkers, trimmers, bridge operators, welders, marine equipment manufacturers
  
  Development of marinas, (rise of upper Upper UPPER class).
  
  
• Bring sailors into the classroom (career day?); links to curriculum possible. 3 VOTES
  
  Career Days: how to become a sailor; sailors talk with school kids about life of sailors, tell stories about their experiences (part of career day); song writing; how do you navigate? Bring in survivors (e.g., Dennis Hale)
  
  TRY TO IDENTIFY RESOURCES? WHO ARE THE ELDER LAKE SAILORS WILLING TO GO INTO SCHOOLS? DIRECTORY IF THEY DON'T MIND PUBLIC BOTHERING THEM. SPEAKERS LIST. (DOCUMENT PROPERLY, HELP THIM KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN GO INTO CLASSROOM.) Contact the shipping companies (they have good PR system; link them into this process.) Not necessarily elders, but current sailors, etc. Get kids to know local artists, workers, etc. (Artists in the Schools Program book, by LuAnne Kozma)
  
  
• 19th century entertainment & how sailors interacted; focus on music that had been adapted - how did it influence their culture
  
  19th century entertainment in port towns and how sailors interacted. Music; songs adapted from previous songs; what role did entertainment play for sailors coming in for short amounts of time?
  
  
• The link between lumberjacks and lumberports, and farmers/grain trade
  
  The link between lumberjacks and lumber ports; farmers/grain ports/shipping - links between coastal and interior areas (some worked lumber in winter, sailed in summers)
  
  
• Pattern boat building in Saginaw Valley, 1900-1950
  
  Pattern boat building in Saginaw Valley, 1903-1970. Pioneer Boat an Mfg. Evolved out of this.
  
  Folk artists in the schools grant programs.
  
  
• Pewabic - a song to write
  
  

Webs to weave and things to click:

• International Guild of Knot Tyers;
  
  International Guild of Maritimers website
  
  
• Canadian connection; make the link to the other side of the lake
  
  
• Network through the center of who to contact about different topics; 2 VOTES
  
  Human Resource information (dedicated webmaster) to bring together all info in one place…
  Link to sites of others
  
  H-net links
  
  Build links with AGLMH (private, nonprofit)
  
  Downward bound website (Scott Peters)
  
  
• Link to avocational sites/maritime buffs (ex.: Baillod's site); there are good collections of links out there.
  
  
• What range of organizations and networks already exist, functions they serve, resources they offer; cataloging and not duplicating 4 VOTES
  
  
• Hear a maritime song on the CGLC site;
  
  
• MSUE Great Lakes area of Expertise website/listserv; an interdisciplinary collection of people with this common link
  
  
• Tourism-related organizations (especially heritage/cultural tourism) - including the social and economic impacts; the application side of maritime heritage - get materials into the hands of museums/groups (scientific literature that help with planning).
  
  
• Monthly lesson plan (K-12), including music/visual arts, on the CGLC website; 2 VOTES

Connections to be made:

• Inland lake experiences, such as Houghton Lake
  
  
• Better heritage resource maps; lighthouses on the maps, for example.
  
  Better heritage maps (print and GIS electronic, e.g. at info center kiosks
  
  Antique & classic boat society (re; classic boats, shows)
  
  
• Web ring for Great Lakes-related topics;
  
  
• Assist efforts of AGLMH as a regional clearinghouse; meetings, job postings, etc.
  
  Build on/assist efforts of AGLMH as regional clearinghouse' RFPs/job positions/hearings/meetings/resource materials
  
  
• National significance of maritime history; again the perception that the Great Lakes do not fit into maritime experience vs. east/west coast marine environment
  
  National significance of GL maritime history (perceptual bias bleeds over into the political efforts); we also have our own social amnesia about the Great Lakes
  
  
• Great Lakes education; multi-state conference? 2 VOTES
  
  Great Lakes education people (mullti-state conference (K-12), out of school, camps, etc.): museums, ship schools, school groups, NEA curricula, teacher unions, etc. develop their own curricula (duplicate, overlap); MEA
  
  
• Inter-university program or summer institute or other joint program (to take advantage of varied expertise); 7 VOTES
  
  Inter-university "program" or summer institute or other joint program/training in maritime studies (to take advantage of varied expertise)
  
  
• Cultural/Historical links of maritime to other "sectors" (ex; Ted Karamanski's section in Schooner Passage on development of wooden schooners in relation to grain trade/elevators in Chicago and Lake Michigan); agriculture seems to be underrepresented linkage (vs. lumber, mineral resources) - could help with national significance issue as well (fruit, sugar beets?)
  
  
• Geneological groups;
  
  
• Amateur/local historians;
  
  With amateur/local historians, people who "self-publish" historians
  
  
• Communities should have a "gateway" to extend themselves/connect to GL culture; 2 VOTES
  
  Communities should have a "gateway" into starting or extending their relation to maritime culture

Products to touch/Events to attend:

• Maritime-themed stage at the Great Lakes Folk Festival; 4 VOTES
  
  
• Trans-lake ferry service (like Badger); related to this is programming/exhibits on board that are designed and marketed for public service
  
  Trans-lake ferry services (Alpena to Ontario; Canada didn't allocate $$$)
  
  Program and exhibits on board vessel: rotate and update (exhibits, photos, etc….get more entities involved in providing events, rotating exhibits, etc.)
  
  Put something on Mackinac Island boat, Beaver Island boat
  Muskegon to Milwaukee: Spartan may come back on line
  
  
• Regional maritime "council" - a white paper on current issues/needs;
  
  Regional maritime council and white paper on maritime needs (continue with this format, continue as annual event; target having white paper evolve out of each, for different audiences)-
  
  
• Great Lakes culture symposium/conference; scholars, business interests
  
  Great Lakes Cultural Symposium and Conference (work with AGLMH); add proceedings/published piece (broad-based maritime theme) - history plus contemporary scene
  (something every 2 or 3 years)
  AGLMH does not have a public access piece (opportunity for public to interact: food, music, diving displays, more like a festival)
  
  (AGLMH: hard to accomplish "big ideas"… has wanted a reward for quality research, or historical, or…) Developing email list
  
  CGLC work with AGLMH to do conference PROCEEDINGS
  
  
• A more widely known way for general public to find products and events - advertised website? 6 VOTES
  
  Way for people to FIND websites, get access to resources
  
  On-line inventory to existing websites, databases
  
  
• List of curricula available; 3 VOTES
  
  
• International Guild of Knot Tiers meeting held here
  
  
• Develop a video for educating the general public as well as divers about artifact conservation and protection; and promoting the Great Lakes to a wider audience (NOAA & Thunder Bay?) - national/international. 1 VOTE
  
  Develop video for educating divers about need for conservation…
  
  
• Comprehensive historical bibliography of maritime books, publications and where they might reside;
  
  Info about where to access out-of-print books (rare book collections)
  
  Lee Murdock: working on biblio….
  
  If you're about to research maritime history, here's a good place to start: which is quality, which is not… (historians e.g., Swayze, has determined which are books and which authors to trust, not trust); check his website (ask Kate)
  
  
• Guide to traditional Great Lakes port food and eateries
  
  
• Feature Film on a Great Lakes story

Who is missing from this gathering?

• Sea Grant agents
• International Joint Commission
• Detroit River National Heritage River folks
• Mississippi River Heritage Corridor
• School ship people (Inland Seas)
• National Lakeshores and Parks
• Maritime academies; sankore in Detroit
• Specialists in DNR (fisheries, attorneys, fisheries biologists)
• Merchant Mariners reps
• Seamen's Union rep
• GL Commission
• Traditional boat builders
• Tribal museums/ cultural centers
• Commercial fisherman's associations
• Sweetwater Trail?

John summarized the prioritization as being the need for inventories and dissemination on the one hand and the need to get involved in K-12 curriculum outreach. Are there other people that need to be in the room to talk about this issue (teachers/administrators, etc.)? Ken suggested that there is a lot of existing information under the tag "Great Lakes" - the strategy may need to be systematically analyzing what is there that could fit into the maritime (and then filling in where there are needs - don't reinvent the wheel). Janet pointed out that teachers who already use this have an interest that should be tapped.