Introduction | Biographical Sketch | Scope and Content | Series Description | Inventory

Introduction

The Fraley Collection was transferred to the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes on May 30, 1980.

Literary and property rights have been dedicated to the public and duplication is permitted for the purpose of preservation and research. Final processing was completed in August 1991 with the assistance of a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant by Monica Manny and Mark J. Barnes.

Biographical Sketch

Alberta M. Fraley compiled the material in this collection while employed by the Wilson Marine Transit Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Fraley's long association with the Wilson operations and members of the Lake Carriers' Association allowed her to acquire materials documenting the personal side of the Great Lakes shipping industry. Company picnics and gatherings are heavily represented in photographic form.

Scope and Content

The Fraley Collection offers two types of information to researchers interested in the history of the Great Lakes region. Fleet logs for the Great Lakes Steamship Company and the Wilson Marine Transit Company provide lists of officers for these companies serving on their vessels. Names, positions held, vessel assignments, dates of employment and performance evaluations are included for 1937-1966. The other principal resource for examination in this one cubic foot collection is a series of course materials used by students at the U. S. Maritime Service Officers' School, the Lake Carriers' Association Engineers' School and the West Side Institute for Technology. Lesson assignments, course materials and notes are included for scattered dates from 1941 to 1967.

Also included is a broadside memorializing the crew of the EDMUND FITZGERALD from ca. 1975. Other printed materials have been separated for cataloging in the main HCGL publications collection. Photographic materials (511 items) have been filed with the HCGL's photograph files.

Series Description

PROCEEDINGS

FLEET LOGS
Box 1 (0.5 cubic feet)
1937-1950, 1951-1966
Series includes 16 volumes containing personnel logs of the Great Lakes Steamship Company, Oswego, New York for the period 1937 through 1950. Logs list the names of officers employed by the company, the position each officer held, the vessel to which they were assigned, dates of employment, and notes on their performance. A duplicate copy for the year 1947 is included in the 16 volumes. Also included is a listing of the unlicensed deck personnel which details the dates of continuous service and departmental seniority for Wilson Marine Transit Company from 1951 through 1966.

SUBJECT FILES

COURSEWORK
Boxes 1-2 (0.5 cubic feet)
1941, 1943-1945, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1966-1967, n.d.
Series contains handwritten notes, pencil drawings, sketches, technical data bulletins, lesson assignments, tests, and study questions on marine systems as part of the coursework required by the U. S. Maritime Service Officers School, the Lake Carriers' Association Engineering School, and the West Side Institute of Technology of Cleveland. Specific subjects include turbine, steam and reciprocating engines, boilers, auxiliary machinery, and electrical and fire protection systems. Also included are secondary source pamphlets on marine equipment.

PRINTED MATERIALS

BROADSIDE
Box 2 (1 item)
ca. 1975
Series contains a memoriam to the crew of the S. S. EDMUND FITZGERALD.

Inventory

Box 1

Folders

1. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1936
2. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1937
3. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1938
4. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1939
5. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1940
6. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1941
7. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1942
8. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1943
9. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1944
10. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1945
11. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1946
12. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1947
13. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1947 (copy 2)
14. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1948
15. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1949
16. Fleet Logs, Great Lakes Steamship Company, 1950
17. Fleet Log, Wilson Marine Transit Company, 1951-1966
18. Coursework US Maritime Service Officers' School, Part 1, Auxiliary Machinery, 1944-1945
19. Coursework US Maritime Service Officers' School, Part 2, Boilers, 1944-1945
20. Coursework US Maritime Service Officers' School, Part 3, Boilers, ca. 1945-1944, [1947]
21. Coursework US Maritime Service Officers' School, Part 4, Reciprocating Engines, 1941, 1943-1944

Box 2

Folders

1. Coursework Lake Carriers' Association School, 1953, 1960, 1962, 1966-1967
2. Coursework Lake Carriers' Association Engineering School, n.d.
3. Coursework Lake Carriers' Association Summer Correspondence Course for Original Engineering Students, n.d.
4. Coursework West Side Institute of Technology, Steam Plant Operations, n.d.
5. Broadside Memoriam to crew of SS EDMUND FITZGERALD, ca. 1975

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