Underwater archeology

From The Evening News


C. Patrick Labadie, Historian for the NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, will speak at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on June 18, at 7 p.m.

The presentation will explore the evolution and importance of underwater archeology, while focusing on the numerous shipwrecks in the vicinity of Whitefish Point.

Labadie served as the Principle Investigator for the 2008 Shipwreck Society Ghosts of the Shipwreck Coast underwater documentation project.

Labadie’s role during the project involved a balancing act of precision site mapping, organization of images, video, and the maintenance of archaeological records.

A native of Michigan, Labadie has served as Director of the museum ship SS Keewatin in Saugatuck, and also was Director of Duluth’s Canal Park Marine Museum for over 30 years. During his museum work, Labadie amassed over 60,000 paper documents in one of the largest collections of Great Lakes maritime history ephemera in the country.

Bruce Lynn, Operations Manager for the Shipwreck Society explained, “This is the second in our series of maritime history educational programs, and we are honored to have Pat Labadie on the schedule. Pat is renowned as an expert on 19th century Great Lakes’ sailing vessels, and was instrumental in the mapping of many of the more interesting shipwrecks near Whitefish Point.

This program will be a great opportunity to learn more about the wrecks, while getting an excellent introduction to the field of nautical archeology.”

The program will be in the Shipwreck Museum gallery; there is a fee to attend.



NOAA museum

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