GLMS-5 Great Lakes Towing Company
Buffalo, New York
In 1899 the Great Lakes Towing Co. was organized to provide tug service at important harbors on the Great Lakes. By combining the fleets of several smaller tug operators, the company assembled a fleet approaching two hundred tugs and became the largest tug operator on the Great Lakes. The bulk of the materials in this collection pertain to the Port of Buffalo from 1902-1966. Types of records include: winter storage and mooring, vessel arrivals and departures, vessels in port, winter storage cargoes, and winter moorings throughout the Great Lakes. 7.5 c.f.

GLMS-9 Sault Sainte Marie Collection - Port Mackinac Papers
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
This collection is composed of shipping documents from the Sault Ste. Marie area and nearby ports from 1802-1866. Among these documents are shipping manifests, clearance documents, bills of sale, enrolment bonds, Treasury Department circulars to custom collectors at the Port of Sault Ste. Marie and nearby ports, and personal and business correspondence. Early documentation includes significant material dealing with the American Fur Company. 11 rolls of microfilm.

GLMS-12 Tanker M/V POLARIS
Bethlehem Ship Building Co. built the POLARIS in 1945 as LST 1063 for the U.S. Navy at Hingham, Massachusetts. Cleveland Tankers acquired the vessel in 1949 and rebuilt the ship as a tanker. The collection spans the years from 1958 to 1977 when the POLARIS was scrapped and includes correspondence, injury reports, vessel casualty reports, wage scales, and individual trip records. there is no information for the years 1945-1957. 1.0 c.f.

GLMS-13 Steamer PAUL J. TIETJEN
The PAUL J. TIETJEN was built by the American Ship Building Company and was launched at Cleveland, Ohio on January 12, 1907. The vessel was originally the MATTHEW ANDREWS (1907-1933) and later sailed as the HARRY L. FINDLAY (1933-1965). Most of the material in the collection dates from the 1970's and includes service reports, chief engineer's instructions, engine room workbook and log, inspections, and crew members' information cards. 3.0 c.f.

GLMS-14 G. A. TOMLINSON
The records for the G. A. TOMLINSON date from 1968, however the bulk of the collection consists of material generated in 1979, the last year the TOMLINSON was in service. The collection contains records left by the ship's chief engineer, bills of lading, deck logs, crew lists, and labor contracts. The TOMLINSON was built in 1907 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan and was originally the D. O. MILLS. 1.5 c.f.

GLMS-15 John E. Poole
This collection documents vessels used in Great Lakes and ocean commerce. Clippings files, research notes, vessel log books, and a 60,000-item card file contain information on marine transportation in the United States and Canada. Events from the period 1814-1958 receive coverage. Scrapbooks form an illustrated record of vessels from c. 1890-1930. Loose clippings are drawn extensively from published articles dated c. 1930-1958. Research notes extracted from a variety of sources describe events for the years 1814-1853. Captain's, Deck, and Engineer's logs offer insights into daily activities on lake vessels for the years 1912-1950. The alphabetically arranged card index is a frequently consulted reference source for vessel history information. 24.5 c.f.

GLMS-16 Arthur C. Frederickson Collection
The Arthur C. Frederickson Collection contains information dating from 1872 through 1969 pertaining to the history of various vessels on the Great Lakes and, in particular, Lake Michigan. Included in the collection are: daily logs, shipwreck logs, crew lists, correspondence, photographs, research notes, articles and other publications, speeches, and subject files. The Frederickson Collection is especially valuable because of his experience in saltwater, the Mississippi River, the Erie Canal, the St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as all of the Great Lakes. 13 c.f.

GLMS-24 Marine Board of Investigation: Sinking of the EDMUND FITZGERALD
The collection contains transcripts, exhibits, and supplementary items from the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation convened on November 18, 1975, eight days after the EDMUND FITZGERALD sank in Lake Superior with her entire crew of twenty-nine men. The purpose of the inquiry was to determine the causes of the tragedy and to examine safety procedures. Indexes are available for exhibits and testimony in addition to an index for each of the seven volumes of the transcript. 5 reels of microfilm.

GLMS-30 Delmar R. Webster Collection
This collection contains material compiled by Captain Delmar R. Webster during his career on the Great Lakes. The largest series in the collection contains deck logs from the J. BURTON AYERS for 1945-1973. A log for loading information from the EDMUND FITZGERALD is also included for 1972-1973, as well as meeting information for the 1982 and 1983 conventions of Columbia Transportation Company fleet officers and a subject file on the vessels ARMCO and J. BURTON AYERS for 1976-1987 A loading manual for the ARMCO presents the guidelines used by Captain Webster when monitoring how cargo was stored in the holds of a Great Lakes vessel. 2 cubic feet.

GLMS-34 E.B. "Skip" Gillham
This collection contains items pertaining to waterborne commerce on the Great Lakes and the history of the Welland Canal. The collection includes articles written by Skip Gillham, author and coauthor of numerous books on Great Lakes history, for his weekly column "Ships that Ply the Lakes" in 1991. The column, appearing in the St. Catharines, ONT Standard, details a specific vessel, providing information about recent events and past incidents from its years of service. A file of correspondence concerning the Welland Canal compiles information on its history for readers. The collection also contains a file of cargo reports from the Quebec and Ontario Transportation Company fleet for 1968-1983, recording cargo data and loading and discharge ports for individual vessel trips. .5 c.f.

GLMS-38 ERNEST T. WEIR Collection
Pilot house log books for the vessel ERNEST T. WEIR from 1954-1969, Assignment of Officers Reports (1958, 1968-9), and weather reports, 1968. 2 c.f.

GLMS-40 THOMAS E. MILLSOP Collection
Daily engine room activities and general vessel inspection, as well as general equipment and its condition, 1953-1975. 1.5 c.f.

GLMS-41 C. Patrick Labadie
This collection contains information on the operation of Great Lakes vessels from 1848 to 1980. Enrollment data for 40 vessels registered between 1848 and 1942 reflects efforts to standardize licensing procedures. Log books for the WILLIAM P. PALMER, the HENRY PHIPPS and other vessels record daily activities during voyages. Meeting minutes are present for the annual meeting of the Masters and Chief Engineers of the Pittsburgh Steamship Division of the United States Steel Corporation for 1956 and 1957. 4.0 c.f.

GLMS-43 Alberta M. Fraley
This collection contains fleet logs from the Great Lakes Steamship Company and the Wilson Marine Transit Company for the years 1937-1966. These logs include fleet officers' names, positions held, vessel assignments, dates of employment, and performance evaluations. Also present are course materials used by students at the U.S. Maritime Service Officers' School, the Lake Carriers' Association Engineers' School, and the West Side Institute of Technology. 1.0 c.f.

GLMS-49 COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS Collection
This collection documents daily activities on the COLONEL JAMES PICKANDS (US 225394) from 1952 to 1974. There are 26 log books of chief engineers and deck officers, recording daily events for each trip sailed in the shipping season lasting from April to December.

GLMS-61 LEON FALK, JR. (U.S. 247576)
The Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company built the LEON FALK, JR. as the WINTER HILL in 1945. The Skar-Ore Steamship Corp. of Cleveland, OH purchased the vessel from Ships, Inc. in 1960 and renamed it the FALK the following year. This company maintained ownership until the FALK's scrapping in 1985. The collection records daily operational information for the years 1961-1981 and includes ship safety committee minutes, damage report logs, loading logs, miscellaneous cargo logs, trip logs, and a lightbulb order book. The collection also includes a loading manual for the FALK and a 1964 Canadian publication concerning pilotage rules on the Great Lakes. .5 c.f.

GLMS-62 Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company
Cleveland, Ohio
This collection contains files of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company that are primarily concerned with discussions of extending the length of the navigation season occurring from 1935-1981. Subject files, log books, symposia papers, and news clippings offer a number of perspectives on the movement among shipping companies toward implementing longer navigation seasons. The logbooks are from the S.S. CADILLAC for 1944-1948, 1972-1973, and 1976-1981. 2.0 c.f.

GLMS-79 Tug EDNA G. - Logbooks
Two Harbors, Minnesota
The tug EDNA G. served at Two Harbors, MN from 1896 to 1981. Included in this microfilmed collection are logbooks for the years 1917-1981. Logs for 1936-1940 are missing. Accompanying the logs are ledgers for tug charges covering 1947-1956. Recorded information includes names of assisted vessels, date and type of assistance provided, and tug charges. This collection is available only on microfilm. 4 reels of microfilm.

GLMS-87 JOSEPH H. THOMPSON (U.S. 245496)
The Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. launched the MARINE ROBIN in 1944 at Chester, PA. In 1950 the vessel was added to the M.A. Hanna Co. fleet and renamed JOSEPH H. THOMPSON. This collection contains vessel records for the years 1976-1982. Correspondence describes maintenance and personnel matters, while various logs record operating details of individual trips during the sailing season. Also included is a 1980 incident report which illustrates the company's accident-reporting process. .5 c.f.

GLMS-92 WILLIAM P. SNYDER, JR. (U.S. 209662)
The WILLIAM P. SNYDER, JR. was built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, MI and launched in 1912. The items compiled here were acquired by the SNYDER's chief engineers between 1932 and 1980. A series of catalogs and one of briefer sales brochures illustrate the choices available to engineers purchasing equipment and parts, and a series of manuals provide the information needed to operate the purchased equipment. A final series containing log books provides information on the daily operations of the engines and boilers the engineers were responsible for maintaining. 7 c.f.

GLMS-108 John H. Gilbert Collection
The collection contains captain logs and account books for the tugboat TOURIST for 1921-1939, including business affairs, ports of arrivals, passenger lists, crew lists, cargo lists and prices, maintenance entries, cash accounts, newspaper clippings and a 1952 end log entry of the transfer of the TOURIST to Standard Towing Corp.  An account book for the tugboat SCHNODEN begins on September 15, 1921 and continues to November 26, 1921.