SEAFARING WOMEN: an Investigation of Material Culture for Potential Archaeological Diagnostics of Women on Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships
SEAFARING WOMEN: An Investigation of Material Culture for Potential Archaeological Diagnostics of Women on Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships by R. Laurel Seaborn April, 2014 Director of Thesis/Dissertation: Dr. Lynn Harris Major Department: Department of History, Program in Maritime Studies ABSTRACT During the 19th century, women went to sea on sailing ships. Wives and family accompanied captains on their voyages from New England. They wrote journals and letters that detailed their life on board, adventures in foreign ports, and feelings of separation from family left behind. Although the women kept separate from the sailors as class and social status dictated, they contributed as nannies, nurses and navigators when required. Examination of the historical documents, ship cabin plans, and photos of those interiors, as well as looking at surviving ships, such as the whaleship Charles W. Morgan, provided evidence of the objects women brought and used on board. The investigation from a gendered perspective of the extant material culture, and shipwreck site reports laid the groundwork for finding potential archaeological diagnostics of women living on board. SEAFARING WOMEN: An Investigation of Material Culture for Potential Archaeological Diagnostics of Women on Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships A Thesis/Dissertation Presented To the Faculty of the Department of Department Name Here East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by R. Laurel Seaborn April, 2014 © R. Laurel Seaborn, 2014 SEAFARING WOMEN: An Investigation of Material Culture for Potential Archaeological Diagnostics of Women on Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships by R. Laurel Seaborn APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS:_________________________________________________________ Dr.
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