Faculty:
- Coordinator and Instructor: Pamela J. Vittorio, MA, PLCGS
- Other Instructors: Pam Anderson, CG; Jenifer Kahn Bakkala; Kerri Tannenbaum
Tuition:
- Regular Price: $585.00
- NGS Member Price: $550.00
Description:
This course provides a comprehensive overview of North American waterways and the vessels that traversed them from the 19th to early 20th centuries. Each session builds upon the previous one, starting with transatlantic immigration paths and culminating in using images to enhance the narrative. Sessions cover how people made travel arrangements, such as booking accommodations on the Erie Canal, connecting to the Great Lakes, or getting from a port of entry to a Mississippi Riverboat. The course includes practical, hands-on sessions using records related to waterways, the analysis of records, and sessions on integrating new findings into a well-crafted narrative.
Student Prerequisites:
Institute courses related to Advanced Methodology, Maps, Land Records, or Immigration. Students must have familiarity with repositories in their target areas and have conducted basic research on the families whom they plan to use for their narratives. Having a draft of a narrative that has gaps or lack of records regarding migration will be a good starting point.
Level of Instruction:
High Intermediate to Advanced
All times are listed in Eastern Time.
Live Sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.
|
Day |
Session |
Time |
Session Title |
Description |
Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 14 July |
Intro |
8:30 – 9 AM | Welcome to class and Intros |
Tell us who you are and why you are here |
Vittorio |
|
1 |
9 – 10:15 AM | Charting New Beginnings: Ocean Immigration in the Nineteenth Century | • Overview of North American immigration patterns via the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the early nineteenth century. • Emigrant guidebooks and their uses; agents. • Major European ports of departure and merchant shipping companies. • How our ancestors traveled from port to port: oceanic vessels (Packet ships, brigs, steamships). Cabin/Salon vs. steerage and accommodations. • Records: Early manifests, captains’ logs, memoirs, diaries. |
Vittorio |
|
|
2 |
10:45 – 12 PM | Atlantic Crossings: Packet Ships and the Rise of Steam Power | • Evolution from sail to steam: 1838 • Packet ship routes and schedules • Types of ships and their conditions • Innovations in steamship design; technology and its impact on travel • Ships’ logs and records (archives) |
Vittorio |
|
|
3 |
1:30 – 2:45 PM | Harbor Life: Ports, Dockworkers, and Maritime Communities | • Ports of Entry & their roles in trade and immigration • Customs houses (Castle Garden) & ports for quarantine. • Types of maritime employees (dockworkers, customs officials, ship crew). • Daily life and communities in port cities. • Piers & Destinations – making connections. • Key archives and records for researching waterway history (U.S. and Canada) & Intro to Records. |
Vittorio |
|
|
4 |
3:15 – 4:30 PM | Setting the Course: Filling in Gaps by Letting the Records Tell the Story | • Overview of online documents (manifests, logs, diaries, employment records • Using timelines to find gaps • Extracting information and analyzing records • Research Strategies and tips for cross-referencing and correlating info; Crafting, citations, and keeping a research log. |
Tannenbaum |
|
|
Extra |
4:30 – 5 PM | Homework Session | Hands-on Records I. Various manifests, log books, and newspaper articles. |
Vittorio |
|
| Tuesday 15 July |
5 |
9 – 10:15 AM | The Grand Ol’ Erie: America’s Artificial River | • Early Construction and historical significance of the Erie Canal. • Early Construction and historical significance of the Erie Canal. • Types of boats, passenger travel, accommodations. • Impact on trade and westward expansion “Gateway to the West.” • Routes. • Canal Records: 1817 to 1834. |
Vittorio |
|
6 |
10:45 – 12 PM | North American Canals: Canada & The Northeast | • New England Canals. • New England Canals • Migration paths between the U.S. and Canada. • Canadian ports of entry (Quebec) and the St. Lawrence River. •.Major Canadian canals (Lachine, Rideau, Welland) and connections w/New England • South East canals: Dismal Swamp, James River & Kanawha, etc. • More canal records: 1835 to 1862. |
Vittorio |
|
|
7 |
1:30 – 2:45 PM | Canal Mania: 1830s and Beyond | • The Enlargement of the Erie Canal and its Effect on Migration. • NJ & PA: Morris Canal; Schuylkill, Nor. PA canals. • Canals of Maryland. • The Fever – Midwest Canals: (Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin). • Canal Travel, Enlargement, and RR/Stagecoach Connections. • The Records Beyond NY |
Vittorio |
|
|
8 |
3:15 – 4:30 PM | Launching into the Narrative: Integrating Records to Build a Case Study | • Which record sets to integrate? • Using multiple resources / the mosaic. • Case Study as a model: using various record types to enhance an ancestral story |
Vittorio |
|
|
Extra |
4:30 – 5 PM | Homework Session | Hands-on records II. (Maps and other resources): Integrating records and choosing the right information to enrich your story & drafting or outlining. |
Vittorio |
|
| Wednesday 16 July |
9 |
9 – 10:15 AM | Crossing the Great Lakes: Commerce and Travel | • Key routes and major ports on the Great Lakes • Key routes and major ports on the Great Lakes. • Types of vessels (schooners, steamers, ferries). • The Records: Using maps, timetables, companies, and newspapers to find a launching point; connections with canals, coaches, & railways. • Maps, Routes, Records (Employees). |
Vittorio |
|
10 |
10:45 – 12 PM | Passenger Transport: Travel by Lakes & Canals | • Development of passenger services on lakes and canals and the rise of hotels, inns, & resorts. • Making connections from stagecoaches and railroads. • Making connections from stagecoaches and railroads • Types of passenger vessels (ferries, steamboats). • The experience of lake travel for passengers Passenger receipts and other records |
Vittorio |
|
|
11 |
1:30 – 2:45 PM | Crafting Historical Accounts: Writing about the People | • Developing a thesis and structuring a narrative. • Using sources effectively. • Drafting the Narrative. |
Bakkala |
|
|
12 |
3:15 – 4:30 PM | Dangerous Waters: Survivors’ Experiences (Canals, Lakes, Rivers) | • First-person accounts of difficult trips, canal, river, & lake boat wrecks and survivors –to Canada & US. • Using newspapers and integrating anecdotal evidence. • Routes & Records. • Case Study |
Vittorio |
|
|
Extra |
4:30 – 5 PM | Homework Session | Hands-on Writing I. Peer Review of Outline and Structure |
Vittorio |
|
| Thursday 17 July |
13 |
9 – 10:15 AM | Mighty Rivers: Emigrants, Migrants & Tourists | • Rivers of the NE and early migration routes (1850s to 1870s). • Making connections & passenger travel (canals, stagecoaches, RR). • Steamboats (Fulton) and the Great Rivers. • Vessels and Passenger Schedules. • Receipts & Records of Riverboats. |
Vittorio |
|
14 |
10:45 – 12 PM | Voyages to the Fields of Gold: Late 19th Century Migrations | • Planning a westward migration—cross-country passenger travel by land & shipping by sea • Challenges of ocean voyages around Cape Horn; • Time schedules (sea, vs Isthmus of Panama, vs. Panama RR); • Case studies – Transoceanic travel & shipping vs. overland routes |
Vittorio |
|
|
15 |
1:30 – 2:45 PM | Mighty Seas: Sailing into the Twentieth Century | • From the Titanic to the Lusitania; how news stories impacted travel • Construction and impact of significant ship canals (Panama Canal) • Innovations for sea travel in the early twentieth century & passenger manifests • Immigration Ports: From Ellis Island to Angel Island • Recordsets |
Vittorio |
|
|
16 |
3:15 – 4:30 PM | Steering the Story in the Right Direction: Self-Editing | • Word Choice; • Punctuation, syntax. • Self-editing tools •Peer review and feedback on writing |
Anderson |
|
|
Extra |
4:30 – 5 PM | Homework Session | Hands-on Writing II; Self-editing |
Vittorio |
|
| Friday 18 July |
17 |
9 – 10:15 AM | Coming into Port: Finalizing your Narrative | • Feedback (Continued)• Determining what makes the story compelling • Tips for revising the final draft |
Bakkala |
|
18 |
10:45 – 12 PM | “…Launch a Thousand Ships”: Using Photos and Finding Maritime Images to Enhance Your Narrative | • Writing captions and including images of records in your story; • royalty-free images; images of ships, boats, and scenery; • postcard collections & Images in archives; • Using AI (Adobe Firefly, DALL-E, and other image-generating resources) • Integrating Images, Photographs, and other visuals into your narrative, polishing the story. |
Vittorio |