Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
In 1943, James Joseph “Jim” Leftwich became the youngest known enlistee in the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). Leftwich, a member of the Chickasaw Nation (a federally recognized tribe), was only 14 at the time. In a 1968 interview with Baltimore Sun reporter Alan Z. Forman, Leftwich addressed how -- despite being younger than the legal... Continue Reading →
August 22, 1945 A cargo ship named after the capital of Louisiana was launched at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards in Baltimore. SS Baton Rouge Victory was one of the vessels known as Victory ships. A large number of these ships were built during World War II to help transport cargo for the United States in its global... Continue Reading →
Throughout much of World War II, Sadie Carrie Owney Horton worked for the U.S. Merchant Marine on a barge (a flat-bottomed boat used for transporting freight) that operated along the eastern coasts of the United States and Canada. Horton’s service ultimately earned her the distinction of being the first documented female to serve on a... Continue Reading →
February 13, 1913 The Miah Maull Shoal Light off the coast of southern New Jersey was completed. This lighthouse is specifically located on the north side of the ship channel in Delaware Bay and southwest of the mouth of the Maurice River. The Miah Maull Shoal Light became the last offshore lighthouse to be built in... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 