Ships and Seafarers in World History
A symposium co-sponsored by
the New England Regional World History Association and Tall Ships America
and hosted by
the Northeast Maritime Institute, Fairhaven, MA
28 OCTOBER 2023
8:00-9:00 Registration and continental breakfast, Brigantine Hall, 15 Center Street
9:10-9:30 Welcome, Lonsdale Room, Founders Hall, 32 Washington St.: Eric R. Dawicki, President, Northeast Maritime Institute; David Kalivas, President, NERWHA; Nicolas Hardisty, Tall Ships America
9:30-9:40 Introduction of the keynote speaker, Janine da Silva, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
9:40-10:30 Keynote Address, Timothy Walker, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, "Assessing Historic Changes to Weather over Global Oceans Using Age-of-Sail Logbooks from Yankee Whalers and the Portuguese Navy (c. 1760-1920)"
10:30-11:00 Coffee and discussion of the keynote address
11:15-12:45 Session 1
Panel A, Fritha Room, Integrity Hall, 29 Center Street
Along Africa's Shores
Chair: Christoph Strobel, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Lamont D. Thomas, University of Bridgeport, “By His Own Hand: The Story of Paul Cuffe as an Abolitionist”
Nicholas P. Roberts, Norwich University, "Re-imagining Modern World History from the Deck of the Sultana"
Edward Guimont, Bristol Community College, "Sailing Alone Around the World: Joshua Slocum and the Flat Earthers"
Panel B, Navigation Room, Integrity Hall, 29 Center Street
To Sea or Not to Sea? That Is the Question
Chair and discussant: Violetta Ravagnoli, Emmanuel College
Annie Costello, Emmanuel College, “Who is Building the Ship? The Thematic Plan to Introduce Soviet Women to the Workforce through Art”
Kenneth Laurent, Emmanuel College, “Trujillo El Marino: The United States Marines’ Role in the Rise of Rafael Trujillo”
Caroline Tempesta, Emmanuel College, “The St. Louis: Immigration Policy as Life or Death”
Panel C,
Asian and American Maritime Commerce and Law, Lonsdale Room, Founders Hall, 32 Washington St.
Chair: Heather Streets-Salter, Northeastern University
Nolan Bensen, City College of New York, “The Ming Dynasty Treasure Fleet as a Different Kind of East India Company”
Brandon Thomas Lindsey Tacho, George Mason University, “Expanding on the ‘Maritime World’ with the Empire of Teak: Sailing Ships, Political Ecology, and Business Empire in Southeast Asia during the Nineteenth Century”
Lincoln Paine, Maine Maritime Museum, “Legal Perspectives on American Maritime History in
Global Context”
12:45-1:30 Lunch, Brigantine Hall, 15 Center Street
1:30-2:00 Special Presentation: Michael Dyer, New Bedford Whaling Museum, “ A New Exhibition, All Hands: Yankee Whaling and the U.S. Navy” Introduction by A. J. Andrea, NERWHA Secretary
2:15-3:45 Session 2
Panel D, Lonsdale Room, Founders Hall, 32 Washington St.
Crosscurrents in the World’s Oceans: a Roundtable
Chair: Dane Morrison, Salem State University
Daniel Finamore, Peabody Essex Museum, “Secrets of the Sea: Imagining the Global Ocean in a Museum Exhibit”
Robert Allison, Suffolk University, “The Global Voyage of the USS Constitution, 1844-1846”
Michael A. Verney, Drury University, “Texturing Maritime Empire: The US Navy and Antebellum Expansionism”
Jason Smith, Southern Connecticut University, “Performing Circumnavigations: Some Thoughts on Nature, and American Empire in Two Global Voyages”
Dane A. Morrison, Salem State University, “A Bridge to China: American Observations of Asian Vessels in the China Trade”
Discussion
Panel E, Fritha Room, Integrity Hall, 29 Center Street
Lost in the Mists of History: Unknown Maritime Expeditions
Chair: Shawn C. Driscoll, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
David Northrup, Boston College, “West Africans’ Transatlantic Voyages and Trade, 1000-1800”
Anastasiia Shmidt, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Thomas Pyke Johnson, University of Massachusetts, Boston, “River Pirates and Kozak Corsairs of Ukraine: The Surprising Maritime History of a Landlocked Country”
Panel F, Navigation Room, Integrity Hall, 29 Center Street
Religious Traditions and Practices across the High Seas
Chair: Nicolas Hardisty
Alfred J. Andrea, University of Vermont, “Maritime Crusading, 1096-1291”
Brooke Grasberger, Boston College, “Environment and Faith on Nineteenth-century British, Dutch, and American Ships”
Janika I. Dillon, Northeastern University, “Unraveling the World History of Two Children’s Mother Hubbard Dresses Made of Tapa”