The North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) is the national organization in the United States of America for professional historians, underwater archeologists, archivists, librarians, museum specialists and others working in the broad field of

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

. NASOH is an affiliated organization of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

. NASOH was founded in 1973 to provide a forum for maritime history and remains actively devoted to the study and promotion of maritime history. The society's objectives are to promote the exchange of information among its members and others interested in the history of the seas, lakes, and inland waterways; to call attention to books, articles, and documents pertinent to naval and maritime history; and to work with local, regional, national, international, and government organizations toward the goal of fostering a more general awareness and appreciation for North America's naval and maritime heritage. NASOH also houses the U.S. Commission on Maritime History which is a constituent member of the

International Commission for Maritime History The International Commission for Maritime History (ICMH) was established in 1960 to promote international cooperation and the exchange of ideas in the field of maritime history. It is affiliated with the International Committee of Historical Scie ...

. NASOH's organizational records are deposited in the Joyner Library] at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

Annual conferences

Every year NASOH holds an academic conference, where its members present papers on current research in maritime history. Each year, the conferences are held in a different location. The site is usually at a maritime location, which will allow members to link a broad national and global understanding of maritime history to local and regional maritime activities. Meetings have been held on the West Coast, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, the Mid- and Southern-Atlantic coasts of the United States as well as in Canada and in Bermuda.

Past conference locations

* 2020 –

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

Note: The 2020 conference was postponed on account of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. * 2019 –

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

* 2018 –

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri. Situated on t ...

* 2017 –

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

* 2016 –

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

* 2015 –

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

* 2014 –

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

* 2013 –

Alpena, Michigan Alpena ( ') is the only city in and county seat of Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census. After Traverse City, it is the second most populated city in the Northern Michigan region. The city i ...

* 2012 –

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

* 2011 –

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

* 2010 –

Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...

* 2009 –

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...

* 2008 –

* 2007 –

Kings Point, New York Kings Point is a village located on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,005 at the 2010 census. History The Village of Ki ...

* 2006 –

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

* 2005 –

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

* 2004 – St. Michaels, Maryland * 2003 –

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

* 2002 –

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

* 2001 –

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

* 2000 –

Point Clear, Alabama Point Clear is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Baldwin County, Alabama, Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 2,125. It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley ...

* 1999 – Lake George, New York * 1998 – San Diego, California * 1997 –

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

* 1996 – Boston, Massachusetts * 1995 –

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

* 1994 –

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

* 1993 –

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

* 1992 – Washington, D.C. * 1991 – New York City &

Fort Schuyler Fort Schuyler is a preserved 19th century fortification in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It houses a museum, the Stephen B. Luce Library, and the Marine Transportation Department and Administrative offices of the State University of ...

* 1990 –

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

* 1989 – San Francisco, California * 1988 –

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

* 1987 –

* 1986 –

* 1985 –

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

* 1984 –

* 1983 –

* 1982 –

* 1981 –

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

* 1980 –

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

* 1979 –

* 1978 –

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

* 1977 –

* 1973 –

Orono, Maine Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobsc ...

* 1971 –

Prizes

The president of NASOH awards on occasion the K. Jack Bauer Award to honor those who have given distinguished service to NASOH and have made life-time contributions to the field of maritime history. The Charles Dana Gibson Award honors the best article on North American maritime history published in a peer-reviewed journal. Each year, a panel of selected NASOH members reviews all the books published during the year in the field of maritime history to select the

John Lyman Book Awards The John Lyman Book Awards are given annually by the North American Society for Oceanic History to recognise excellence in published books making a major contribution to the study and understanding of maritime and naval history. They are named aft ...

that are given annually by the society in the following six categories: Canadian naval and maritime history, U.S. naval history, U.S. maritime history, science and technology, reference works and published primary sources, and biography and autobiography. The society also gives a number of awards to graduate students: Chad Smith Student Travel Grants are awarded to assist students in funding travel to its annual meeting to deliver a paper at the meeting. The award is named in honor of Philip Chadwick Foster Smith, maritime museum curator, maritime historian, and an early member of NASOH. Clark G. Reynolds Student Paper Award is provided each year to the author of the best paper by a graduate student delivered at the society's annual conference. Named in honor of Clark G. Reynolds (1939-2005)—naval historian, museum curator, and the first executive officer of NASOH—the prize will consist of assistance in publishing the essay in The Northern Mariner(the journal co-sponsored by NASOH and the Canadian Nautical Research Society), a membership in NASOH, and a handsome plaque. The

James C. Bradford James Chapin Bradford (born 1945 in Michigan) is a professor of history at Texas A&M University and a specialist in American maritime, naval, and military history in the early national period of American History. Early life and education Raised in ...

Dissertation Research Fellowship is named in honor of NASOH past-president Dr.

, in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field of American naval history. Topics in all periods of United States and North American naval history, including strategy, tactics, and operations; institutional development and administration; biography, personnel, and social development; exploration, science, and technology and science; and policy and diplomacy. Applicants must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. at the time of application and have an approved dissertation proposal on file at their degree-granting institution.

Publications

The society publishes at regular intervals the ''NASOH Newsletter'' to inform members about activities within the field of maritime history. From 2007, NASOH also publishes in association with the

Canadian Nautical Research Society The Canadian Nautical Research Society (CNRS; french: Société canadienne pour la recherche nautique, ''SCRN'') was originally established as the Canadian Society for the Promotion of Nautical Research, then incorporated 25 October 1984 under i ...

the refereed academic journal ''The

Northern Mariner ''The Northern Mariner'' (French: ''Le marin du nord'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Canadian Nautical Research Society in association with the North American Society for Oceanic History. It covers the study of m ...

(TNM)''. From time to time, NASOH publishes books of collected papers from its annual conferences and NASOH will be publishing a series of handbooks for use in teaching aspects of maritime history.

Presidents of NASOH

William A. Baker William Avery Baker (born in New Britain, Connecticut on 21 October 1911 – died 9 September 1981) was a distinguished naval architect of Ship replica, replica historic ships and a maritime historian, who was curator of the Francis Russell Hart Na ...

January 1, 1976 to December 31, 1980 # Timothy J. Runyan January 1, 1981 to December 31, 1985 # Dean C. Allard January 1, 1986 to December 31, 1989 # Barry M. Gough January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1991 # William N. Still, Jr. January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1995 #

Briton C. Busch Briton Cooper Busch (5 September 1936, in Los Angeles, California – 10 May 2004, in Hamilton, New York) was a specialist in nineteenth century British diplomatic history, military history, and American maritime history at Colgate University ...

January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1999 # William S. Dudley January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2003 #

John Hattendorf John Brewster Hattendorf, D.Phil., D.Litt., L.H.D., FRHistS, FSNR, (born December 22, 1941) is an American naval historian. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than fifty books, mainly on British and American maritime hi ...

January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007 #

January 1, 2008 to May 2011 # Warren Riess May 2011 to May 2015 # Gene A. Smith May 2015 to May 2019 # Amy Mitchell-Cook May 2019 to present

References

External links

The official website o
NASOH
{{DEFAULTSORT:North American Society For Oceanic History Organizations established in 1973 Maritime history of the United States Naval warfare History organizations based in the United States Naval history Historical societies of the United States * Maritime organizations 1973 establishments in the United States Maritime history organizations