Trade - Steamship Historical Society

Using exclusive oral histories and primary resources straight from our extensive archives, we focus on the vessels, crew, and passengers that revolutionized the way that we traveled, traded, and immigrated. Steam ahead with us as we navigate the waters of America’s rich maritime heritage.

This program is generously funded by Ted Scull who also helps source interviews, research, and provides visual materials.You can view films, podcasts, primary sources, and accompanying lessons below. You can see videos for all three themes here.

Film: Women Pilots on the Houston Ship Channel with Holly Cooper and Howard Middleton

Across the US, pilotage remained a profession for white men until the late twentieth century. In 1983, Captain Paul Brown became the first Black Houston Pilot and the second in the nation. By 2001, the Houston Pilots led the way in hiring minorities and women, and a few years later it formed a nonprofit called Anchor Watch, to offer scholarships to maritime students in need and boost opportunities for minority and women candidates. Captain Holly Cooper joined the Houston Pilots in 1994 as the group’s 151st pilot and the first woman to begin training as a deputy. You’ll hear excerpts from two oral history interviews with the first Black Port Commissioner in Houston, Howard Middleton, who served from 1978 to 1996 and passed away in 2023 and the first female Houston pilot, Holly Cooper, now retired. Both interviews were conducted for the Welcome Wilson Houston History Collaborative, a project of the University of Houston’s Center for Public History. You can watch more from Holly’s interview here.

Film: The 50th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Join SSHSA Education Director Aimee Bachari and the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes Archivist Mark Sprang to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The two discuss what makes this shipwreck so popular, the changes that came about after, and the material related to “Big Fitz” that you can find in Mark’s archive and collections at Bowling Green State University. Most importantly, SSHSA remembers the 29 men that were lost that fateful day when the “Big Fitz” went down on November 10, 1975, just 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan. You will see historic images, video, and documents from both Mark’s archive and the SSHSA archive along with materials in the public domain.

Film: The Deadliest American Hurricane – Ships Impacted in the Caribbean, Galveston, and Great Lakes

Learn about the worst natural disaster in American history when a Category 4 storm surge hit Galveston killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people. You’ll hear a clip from an interview with survivor Katharine Vedder Pauls from the Rosenberg Library detailing the horrors experienced in Galveston. Then Education Director Aimee Bachari talks with PowerShips author Eric Pearson to discuss the ships impacted by the storm from its beginning, in the Caribbean, in Galveston, and to the Great Lakes and beyond. You can hear the full interview on our podcast Ship History Radio.

Film: Manhattan’s Changing Waterfront and Harbor

Following on our episodes with Doug Tilden about the move from breakbulk cargo to the container revolution, now you’ll hear from Ted Scull. You will learn about his time working for Holland America Line from 1964 – 1966 in Sales Promotion. It was here that he witnessed the major changes to Manhattan’s waterfront. The Container Revolution was taking over from the breakbulk ships that were loaded and unloaded along the city’s waterfront. Increases in air travel took over from point-to-point passenger ship travel and ocean liners were replaced by leisure travel aboard cruise ships. You will also hear from Stuart Gewirtzman who shares photographs he took of Manhattan’s waterfront and the ships you may see in the harbor today.

You can read the transcript of the film here.

Film: Ocean Shipping and the Rise of Containerization with Doug Tilden

Join us for a chat with Doug Tilden, former VP of United States Lines, South America, and later CEO of Marine Terminals. Doug spent the last five decades in the shipping industry, working his way up from being a dock clerk to serving as the top executive within a Global Fortune 100 corporation.

In Part I of this series, you will learn about the move from breakbulk cargo to the rise of containerization. In Part II of this series, you will learn about cost reduction in ocean shipping because of containerization and the evolution of container ships.

Lesson Plan: Climate Change and Great Lakes Shipping Lesson Plan

Students will learn how to describe the historical context around ocean shipping. They will then explain how Great Lakes shipping differs and how climate change affects how much cargo a ship can carry. (Grades 5 – 8 and 9 -12)

Film: Women in Commercial Fishing: Perspectives from Point Judith, RI

Join us on this segment of SHIPS where we team up with Rhode Island-based documentarian Mark Starr whose interviews and film help us learn women in the commercial fishing industry at Point Judith. Background about the port is provided by Dan Costa. You’ll hear from Jenn Fish, Mary O’Rourke, and Stesha Campbell about their experiences working in the fishing industry. This film was produced by the Steamship Historical Society of America and edited by Education Director Aimee Bachari.

You can read the transcript of the film here.