Newswise — As their classmates begin their summer vacations or prepare for their college commencement, nine Mount Holyoke students are instead learning about lanyards, square-riggers, and futtock shrouds as they sail across Lake Erie on the brig Niagara.
Their maritime adventure is a special two-week course, Rethinking the War of 1812, being taught by politics professor Christopher Pyle. The group embarked on their journey May 18; between now and May 31, they'll help sail the Niagara – an authentic reproduction of the American warship that won the Battle of Lake Erie in September 1813 – from one end of Lake Erie to the other, visiting historical sites in both the United States and Canada. The course is being offered in conjunction with the Erie Maritime Museum.
The two-masted, 198-foot long, square-rigged vessel is being manned by a professional crew of 18, who will teach the students to climb aloft to set and furl sails, man the helm, and other aspects of seamanship and navigation on the Great Lakes. The young women will sleep in hammocks, cook meals on a small wood-burning stove, and learn to survive without showers. In one small nod to modern life, they will also take turns blogging about the experience from shipboard. While the students are novices on the sea, Pyle is not: He has been sailing since the age of 11 and, as a young man, was a member of the crew that sailed the Mayflower II – the replica of the Pilgrims' ship – into Plymouth Harbor. He has previously taught students to sail tall ships in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean and is being accompanied on this voyage by a colleague and fellow sailing enthusiast, Mount Holyoke English professor John Lemly.
“One purpose of the course is to appreciate what life was like, on the American frontier and at sea, during the early nineteenth century, when the United States tried to seize Upper Canada by force,” said Pyle. Another “is to examine the war from the perspective of the Canadians and their Shawnee allies, and understand why Americans, who had settled Ontario in large numbers and might have voted to join the United States voluntarily, were persuaded by the invasion to remain under British rule.”
The voyage began in Erie, Pennsylvania, where the original Niagara was built, and will proceed northeast to Fort Erie, Ontario, site of the bloodiest battle of the war. From there the ship will sail west to the old British naval base at Fort Malden (Amherstburg), Ontario, and to Put-in-Bay, Ohio, where the Battle of Lake Erie was fought. The ship will then sail east back to her home base in Erie.
Mount Holyoke, the oldest women's college in the country, is one of the nation's finest liberal arts colleges. Rigorous academics and an internationally diverse student body create an environment that prepares women to meet the challenges of our increasingly complex world.
Pyle and his students are available by phone and email for interviews throughout their voyage.
Related information:Voyage to the Past Bloghttps://pub.mtholyoke.edu/journal/1812voyage/
Professor of Politics Christopher Pylehttp://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/misc/profile/cpyle.shtml
Professor of English John Lemlyhttp://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/misc/profile/jlemly.shtml
Flagship Niagarahttp://www.eriemaritimemuseum.org/flagship_niagara/
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