NATIONAL SHIP HISTORY GROUP TO DOCK IN NKY

Contact: Matthew Schulte or Rebecca Torsell
(401) 274-0805 (m)
Email: info@sshsa.org

NATIONAL SHIP HISTORY GROUP TO DOCK IN NKY

Covington, KY/June 4, 2008—The Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA) is in the midst of setting a new course as it prepares to hold its 73rd National Conference June 19-22 in Covington.

The SSHSA was founded in 1935, and its mission is to "record, preserve, and disseminate the history of engine powered vessels," says President Robert Cleasby. SSHSA is based in Providence, Rhode Island with chapters located in Philadelphia, PA, Tampa, Florida, San Francisco, CA, Newport News, VA, Albany, NY, Long Island, NY, Long Beach, CA, and Seekonk, MA. In a more recent effort to assist with implementing the mission of the society, last year SSHSA hired its first Executive Director, Matthew Schulte. Schulte says the organization is looking forward, in more ways than one, as the society sets its course of sail and pulls its crew, members, and supporters on board.

While the meeting is based at the Holiday Inn Riverfront, Covington, it shouldn't be surprising that attendees will spend much of their time on the Ohio River. They will tour the Delta Queen and see a show at the permanently moored Showboat Majestic, a National Historic Landmark.

Other outings include a bus tour to nearby River towns, Maysville and Augusta and a cruise aboard BB Riverboats. The national awards ceremony will take place at the Radisson Hotel, and the keynote speaker will be Captain Alan L. Bates of "The Waterways Journal Weekly." Bates will speak about the U.S. Coast Guard and its territorial boundaries.

Awards will also be presented at the dinner, including The C. Bradford Mitchell Award for an individual, institution or agency for completing a recognized achievement such as publishing a book or founding an institution that contributes the preservation of maritime history. Other awards include The Samuel Ward Stanton Award for Lifetime Achievement, The H. Graham Wood Award for Distinguished Service to SSHSA, and one of the more popular awards, The National Ship of the Year Award.

The Steamship Historical Society of America has opened an invitation to members and non members to attend. Interested participants can attend the entire conference or attend only the awards ceremony.

One of the SSHSA's more recent efforts to move forward included a consolidation of library/museum/archives from Baltimore, New York and Providence into one central location. The society hopes to successfully implement a campaign to make its collections and exhibits even more accessible to the public, unveiling vast amounts of maritime history, some of which exists no where else in the world. "It's a very interesting time in our organization's history right now as we are providing more and more of our historical collections to people worldwide via the internet." Says Schulte.

One important new technology-driven initiative SSHSA just launched is a project referred to as the "Image Porthole" on their website www.sshsa.org. SSHSA acquired a grant from the Champlin Foundations and was able to digitize over 40,000 lost and forgotten steamship navigation images dating from the 1850s through the 1980s. Many of the images were part of the Edward O. Clark collection. Clark was a SSHSA member, benefactor, and historian who was born in New York but later moved to Chalfont, Pennsylvania. Clark's life work and passion involved traveling across the country pursuing vessels, ports of call, and documenting the vanishing heritage of American steam navigation. Anyone can visit the website and can access the images; however only members have the ability to view the images in different sizes and help identify what the images are.

If you are interested in becoming a member, researching maritime history, or attending the conference, please contact SSHSA at the following: SSHSA, 1029 Waterman Ave., East Providence, RI 02914, (401) 274-0805 or visit their website for more information at www.sshsa.org.

The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors' spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone Counties in 2007 was $325 million.