Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago
March 28, 2018
Meeting Minutes
President Dean Nolan welcomed 18 members and 2 guests.
The minutes written by Colin Bertling were approved.
Officer’s Reports
John Bell was not present to make the treasurers report.
New/Continuing Business & Upcoming Events
Chicago Maritime Museum – Jim Jarecki reports that the third Friday events are getting great attendance. The Museum would like to see more visitors during the day. Tell your friends about CMM and send them more guests! This upcoming third Friday event, on April 20th, will have Dick Lanyon presenting on his new book about the Stickney Water Treatment Plant.
Website Update – Colin Bertling will add the David Dows to the local shipwrecks page of our website. Colin is working to detail the significant shipwrecks of Chicago on uaschicago.org. Please send him any wrecks you would like added and if you would like to write a description for a wreck, he would greatly appreciate your contribution.
Newsletter – John Gerty has gotten our newsletter back up and running! Our first issue is available on the side table at tonight’s meeting and can be found online as well. We are almost ready for our next issue, but we could use a couple more articles. Please send anything that you can contribute to Gerty.
MSRA (Michigan Shipwreck Research Association) – Tom Palmisano, John Bell & John Gerty attended this year’s MSRA show, “Mysteries & Histories Beneath the Inland Seas”. Ghost Ships Festival – Will not be happening this year. May return next year.
ICSSD (Illinois Council of Skin & Scuba Divers) – the Underwater Competition had representatives from the UASC & Chicago Scuba Meetup in attendance. Dean Nolan and John Bell helped lead us to victory yet again! The date may change next year as to allow groups that are usually on dive trips to attend.
Upcoming Events
Haigh Quarry – Opening day is April 7th. This is a great way to test gear and ‘hit the water diving’. Get out there and Dive! President Dean Nolan and new members Chris & Cindy Dombrowski will be there along with a group from Chicago Scuba Meetup.
Dave Thompson – Class to be rescheduled.
Dive Right In Scuba - Keith Pearson is presenting at Dive Right in Scuba in Plainfield, Il. On April 11 at 6:30pm. He will be discussing Lake Michigan Shipwrecks.
Camp Douglas – there will be a terrestrial archaeology dig April 19–26 at the former POW site in Bronzeville. Volunteers are needed. Jim Jarecki has further details.
MAST (Maritime Archaeological Survey Team) – will have a nautical archaeology workshop course on April 28 & 29.
Meteor cleanup project will be held on the last weekend in April with WUAA. Come help scrape paint, and cleanup this whaleback beauty. Volunteers get together for dinner and socializing afterwards.
Tritons will have their intro to scuba discount class on May 2. Great way to get certified at a discount!
Wisconsin Historical Society – Will have a NAS two course in Door County this July. Tamara Thomsen announced that 1 spot remains in the second week of July on their application of survey methods course. The work will focus on surveying a lighter barge named Advanced in five to seven feet of water. Email Tamara if you are interested in attending. Information can also be found on the WUAA website.
Other Business
Sam Polonetzky has done some research on the Galena to Chicago Railway to determine if the mystery wreck could be associated with shipping of their railroad materials. His findings have led him to believe that the mystery wreck may not have been hauling rail for Galena. The railway used strap rail and not T rail. It is still undetermined if this wreck may have origins in the railway shipping industry.
Reminders
We are in need of member presentations. Please volunteer a short discussion of any topic of interest to our group. These can be as short as five minutes and you do not have to have visual aids.
There is also a need for speakers at our main presentations. Jim Jarecki has done an amazing job for us by working to get great speakers. Please let us know who you would like to see at UASC meetings in the future.
Presentation
Tamara Thomsen
Jim Jarecki introduced our Main presenter, Tamara Thomsen. Tamara is one of the most premier speakers around the great lakes. Her work on underwater archaeology is very productive and professional. She has had to do a lot of her own grant writing to pay for her work in surveying and research. In doing so, she has brought an immense amount of Wisconsin and great lakes maritime history to light. When Tamara presents at shows and conferences, her presentations are not to be missed. They are very educational and inspiring.
Tonight she will speak to us on her work to get shipwrecks onto the national register of historic places. Her efforts have helped place 68 shipwrecks on the national register of historic places. Four more are pending and three have been turned in for review. She is paid for by the state of Wisconsin to do her work, much of which comes from her own grant writing.
Currently there are Preservation laws to protect shipwrecks at the state level with the State Archaeology Act of 1968 and at the federal level with the Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987. These help protect shipwrecks from looters and damaging activities of divers.
The process of listing a shipwreck on the list, goes like this; A form is downloaded and filled out. This is said to take 8 hours, but Tamara says it is more like a week. > It is then filed with the State Historic Office for review > Next, it goes to a review board that is appointed by the governor > Then it is onto the state level > After review, it goes to the National Park Service > Finally, it is decided by the keeper, a person that works for the NPS. To be placed on this list, a wreck must be of historic significance with regards to people or places. It may even be considered if it can add future contributions of archaeological interest. Placing shipwrecks on the national register of historic places gives them as much help as the law can provide.
There is a tip line and conservation warden to enforce the law but a lot of protection comes from the divers understanding of the importance to leave the wrecks as they found them. This attitude has come
a long way from the wreckers of the early days of recreational wreck diving.
According to historic records, there are 747 shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters and of those only 193 have been located. The Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Preservation and Archaeology program has surveyed just over 100 so far. There is no artifact recovery in this work, but 1 item was accidentally recovered from the Annie Doll. This was the mast step coin, a seated liberty dime from 1843. Today it is in the state archaeologist’s office. The Wisconsin state flag features an anchor, a sailor and a shipbuilders arm & caulking mallet. Maritime heritage is clearly part of Wisconsin’s fabric. Milwaukee was the largest port in the great lakes until the railroad came to Chicago!
Not all of the shipwrecks of Wisconsin are located by professional shipwreck hunters. One wreck, the Major Anderson, sits in 10 feet of water off of the point beach state forest shoreline. Built in 1861, she is named after the commander of the union forces that held Fort Sumter. This wreck was first discovered by a pilot on one of her daily coastal powered parachute flights. This wreck is regularly covered and uncovered by shifting sands. The sand here is so fine, that it acts like quicksand. This was evident when the Major Anderson wrecked here in 1871 and was covered by the lake bottom. She was lost after becoming disoriented by smoke from the Peshtigo regional fire. Sometimes whole districts or areas are nominated to the list. These bigger areas of significance hold
multiple wrecks. In Wisconsin, the Jacksonport Wharf Archaeological District contains three; the Annie Doll, Perry Hannah, and Cecelia.
What we think is important is not always significant to the registry. Tamara had a difficult time getting the Rousse Simmons (aka the Christmas schooner) added to the list. It was finally accepted because of its 40 year career as a lumber schooner and its contribution to the wealth and economy of the Muskegon and Manitowoc areas.
Also of interest is the Wisconsin Sea Grant Institutes work on the history of North American sport diving. It is said that the 90 mile radius around Racine, Wisconsin is the birthplace of sport diving. The Desco Diving Co., Scuba Pro, Dacor Diving, PADI, and the recompression chamber all have origins in this area.
Learn more about the work of Tamara and the Wisconsin Historical Society at wisconsinshipwrecks.org & wisconsinhistory.org