Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Socialize at 6:30, Business at 7:00, Featured Presentation at 8:00
Zoom Only
Wednesday, April 28th @ 07:00 PM CST – Meeting of Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago
Featured Presenter: Dr. Amanda Evans at 8:00 – Presenting: Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Submerged Paleolandscapes: Results from Central Lake Erie
Short Presentation by: Kendra Kennedy at 7:40 – Talking about her Background, Experience and Interests in Shipwreck Archaeology
Meeting time table:
Social: 06:30 – 07:00 PM CST,
Business Meeting: 07:00 – 07:40 PM CST,
Presentations: 07:40 – 09:00 PM CST (or later)
Meeting Registration link (NOTE: MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE):
https://us02web.zoom.us/
Meetings are open to the public, so feel free to invite anyone who you think would be interested.
We are switching to a registration system to make sure we have enough Zoom licenses so everyone can join. All you need to do is enter your name and email address. There are two other advantages, 1) You will have the option to enter the event in your electronic calendar and 2) Zoom will send you an email with the actually link to the meeting. This makes it easier to remember when the meeting is and where the link to the meeting is located.
Great Lakes Shipwrecks and Submerged Paleolandscapes: Results from Central Lake Erie
Ohio’s northern border represents over 300 miles of Lake Erie’s southern shoreline. The maritime history of this Great Lake is evident across the region, and estimates suggest there are anywhere between 1,400 and 8,000 shipwrecks in Lake Erie alone. While archaeologists have investigated Ohio shipwrecks in the past, these surveys have been concentrated in the western and central portions of the state. Between 2017 and 2020 archaeological work sponsored by the Ohio History Connection focused explicitly on eastern Ohio, and the waters off of Ashtabula County. Located on the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania, the harbors at Conneaut and Ashtabula were important industrial and commercial ports in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The project included a review of existing literature and archaeological data that informed the design of survey grids to investigate high probability areas for shipwreck sites and potential areas for submerged paleolandscape features. Geophysical survey was conducted in 2018 over eleven separate survey grids, resulting in the documentation of five wreck sites, some already known to divers, and others previously unexplored. Diver investigation in 2019 was conducted to groundtruth the remote sensing survey results and collect additional baseline data. The final report submitted to the Ohio History Connection included an assessment of the archaeological resources as well as recommendations for conducting future archaeological remote sensing survey in Ohio waters and preparing archaeological reports.
Biographies:
Dr. Amanda Evans is an underwater archaeologist with over twenty years of experience and currently serves as the Maritime Services Practice Leader for cultural heritage consulting firm Gray & Pape, Inc. She began studying archaeology and underwater science while at Indiana University and went on to earn an MA from Florida State University and a PhD from Louisiana State University. Dr. Evans’s specialties include underwater archaeology, with a concentration in submerged paleolandscapes and marine geophysics; shipwreck archaeology; physical site formation processes; and historic preservation and best practices regarding underwater cultural heritage. Her maritime project experience includes geophysical remote sensing, geotechnical sampling, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) survey, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) survey, and diver investigations. She has conducted and directed paleolandscape research in the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes, and has investigated shipwrecks including an eighteenth-century British naval sloop, nineteenth-century schooners, USS Hatteras, WWII casualties, and twentieth-century dredge barges, tugboats, and fishing vessels. Her project experience includes successful completion and documentation of all phases of archaeological projects in the Southeast, Midwest, Great Lakes, and Gulf coast regions of the United States, as well as the Bahamas, Belize, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, and the Mediterranean.
Kendra Kennedy has over 19 years of experience as an archaeologist, both maritime and terrestrial, in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Gulf South. She is employed as a Cultural Resource Specialist with Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago. Ms. Kennedy has a B.A. in Anthropology and French from the University of Notre Dame and a M.A. in Historical Archaeology from the University of West Florida. She has previously worked as an archaeological consultant, SHPO reviewer, instructor, and grant writer for various organizations/agencies, including as a compliance reviewer and maritime archaeologist at the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office and a deepwater marine archaeologist for the oil and gas industry in Texas. She has worked on a sixteenth-century Spanish shipwreck, a possible War of 1812 gunboat, and several nineteenth- and twentieth-century shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, and inland rivers. Ms. Kennedy specializes in geophysical survey and interpretation and is passionate about public outreach and working with citizen scientists to advance the discipline. She currently serves as a board member of the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology and was previously on the board of the Ohio-based Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST).
Hello Everyone,
The next meeting of the Underwater Archaeology Society of Chicago will Wednesday, May 30th, at the Chicago Maritime Museum, 1200 W 35th St, Chicago, IL. This is in the Bridgeport Art Center Building. Enter at the door under the awning that says North Entrance off the north parking lot and go downstairs. We will start the meeting at 7:00pm.
We will not have a featured speaker this month, but we will have a business meeting. However, we might try something else as well.
Word came today that Bob Gadbois, one of our longest serving and most active members, died this morning of cancer. He has been a remarkable resource not just for the UASC, but to the many organizations he has been part of.
If you have ever attended Our World Underwater, Ghost Ships, or the many other dive events in the area, you have probably seen his work whether you knew it or not.
Bob Gadbois, retired from CBS television after 41 years, and had been diving since the mid-1970's. He and his wife Claire have dived the world but always came back to their roots, the Great Lakes. Bob specialized in underwater video and was an accomplished editor and producer. He produced numerous documentaries for the Underwater Archeological Society of Chicago, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates and other organizations.
Bob was also the recipient of the 2008 Humanitarian of the Year Award by the Illinois Council of Skin and Scuba Divers for his numerous contributions. In 2011 he also won the Middle Coast Award at Our World Underwater.
The UASC video library has numerous videos produced by Bob. This might be a good opportunity to view a few that may not have seen the light of day for awhile.
Please join us.
-Dean Nolan
Hello Everyone,
The next meeting of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago Will be Wednesday, April 25th. As always, we will be meeting at the Chicago Maritime Museum, 1200 W 35th St, Chicago, IL. This is in the Bridgeport Art Center Building. Enter at the door under the awning that says North Entrance off the north parking lot and go downstairs. We will start the meeting at 7:00.
Again, local dive season is approaching and we will be starting up our survey dives soon. We will be discussing that as well as other activities for the year.
We will also have a special presentation by Dan Tapia that you won't want to miss.
Mars the Magnificent!
Mars was a 197' Swedish warship constructed in 1563, at the time it was the largest ship of its kind ever built. Mars sank the following year in battle ending in a violent explosion taking nearly 800 souls to its watery grave in more than 250' of bone chilling 38F water. We'll discuss life onboard Mars along with the maritime warfare technics in place at the time. Some of the highlight will include the 107 canons onboard which took a tremendous amount of resources including the smelting of confiscated Catholic Church bells. We'll also discuss the unique resting place in the Baltic Sea that has preserved this war grave for over 450 years.
Dan Tapia is a technical rebreather diver and award winning underwater photographer. Dan is currently a member of the research, education, and conservation group Global Underwater Explorers. He has been invited to help document many challenging sites around the world including the HMHS Britannic, Mars the Magnificent, and various other projects.
Hope to see you all there!
-Dean Nolan
Hello Everyone,
The next meeting of the Underwater Archaeological Society of Chicago will be Wednesday, March 28th. As always, we will be meeting at the Chicago Maritime Museum, 1200 W 35th St, Chicago, IL. This is in the Bridgeport Art Center Building. Enter at the door under the awning that says North Entrance off the north parking lot and go downstairs. We will start the meeting at 7:00.
We will be discussing our upcoming projects and events, including our survey dives and classes being given during the year.
I would also like you to know that we will have a very special guest as our presenter this month. Many of us are familiar with the great work that Tamara Thomsen has been doing in the field of underwater archaeology and documentation in the Great Lakes. She is extremely accomplished, with a resume that goes on for pages. It is rare that she has an opportunity to talk to our group, so this will be a treat you won't want to miss.
Her topic will be "Listing Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places"
Thirty years of efforts by Wisconsin Historical Society's Maritime Preservation and Archaeology program have resulted in the listing of 68 of the State's shipwrecks to the National Register of Historic Places. Each addition to the register is a testament to the many facets of Great Lakes innovation and industry. Understand the process and nuances of turning wreck surveys and research into listings and landmarks.
Bio:
Tamara Thomsen is a Maritime Archaeologist with Wisconsin Historical Society's Maritime Preservation and Archaeology program. Her research has resulted in the nomination of forty-seven Great Lakes shipwrecks to the National Register of Historic Places. She has received awards from the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, and in 2014, she was inducted into the Women Diver's Hall of Fame. Tamara has worked as a photographer, researcher, and research diver on projects including the USS Monitor with NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries, and RMS Titanic with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
See you on the 28th!
-Dean Nolan
Presentations that are not to be missed!
Our very own, Steve Arnam is presenting multiple Seminars at Our World Underwater! Especially cool for us, is his talk on the Mystery Wreck! Come and hear about this unsolved mystery and learn how you can help us solve it!
Saturday, February 17th
4:45 - in the Shipwreck Room - Chicago G - THE MYSTERY WRECK
Sunday, February 18th
2:30 - Dive with a Pro Room – Salon 10 - CABO PULMO
3:15 - Wonders of the Sea Room – Salon 9 - JEWELS OF RHODE ISLAND