The Massachusetts Port Authority and its predecessor agencies, along with (and sometimes in opposition to) the Boston Redevelopment Authority have had the major responsibilities for planning the future of the Port of Boston. Our holdings include a number (but certainly not all) of Massport planning studies.
When the BRA was culling its library, we received a large collection of the redevelopment authority’s paper documents (many now available online on the Internet Archive). A sample of our holdings are identified here; those that are available on the Internet Archive have a link to the digitized version in their catalog entry. These studies are significant because they shaped the Boston shoreline, affecting its viability as a working waterfront.
Included in this section are several historical studies, the underpinnings of the planning process. Additional useful surveys include:
Back in the day, Boston was a port of call for dozens of shipping lines. In 1930 the U.S Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce listed 48 lines that “offer Foreign Services from the Port of Boston. By 1956, the Port of Boston U.S.A. issued by the Maritime Association of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce listed almost 100 “Steamship Services From and / or To Boston”.
Some current container carriers include:
Bulk carriers are listed in Port Facilities: Freight Terminals.
A steamship agent represents a steamship line within a given territory. The agent takes care of all the details of bringing a vessel into port and leaving it: notifies agencies of U.S. Homeland security including the Coast Guard and Customs of impending arrivals; arranges for pilotage and docking masters; hires crews to work the vessel while it’s in port; orders any needed repairs and supplies; may arrange transportation for goods arriving or departing the vessel; and then does it all in reverse when the ship is ready to leave a port.
The Lane/Mead Collection includes Vessel Logs from Peabody & Lane and from Patterson Wylde which detail the piers that received certain lines and goods, vessel arrivals and departures, and the products offloaded and taken on at the piers.
While we do not appear to have information about specific agents in its collection; websites for some agents that currently serve the port include:
The Massachusetts Port Authority or Massport is an independent public authority created in the mid-1950s which owns and operates facilities in the Port of Boston. Its maritime division operates the Conley container terminal in South Boston and leases space to the Boston Autoport in Charlestown at what was known as Moran Terminal.
Massport’s sale of its waterfront real estate has had a significant effect on the working port as wharfs and piers were sold for residential and commercial development projects.
Our holdings have little that are related to the maritime operations of the authority.
All members of the crew on a US Flag ship, including Deck and Engineering Officers and all unlicensed deck, engine and steward department crew members must possess a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) issued by the United States Coast Guard. Listed on the MMC is all the information relating to the position(s) the mariner is qualified to serve in as crew aboard a US Flag Vessel. If qualified to serve on vessels engaged in international voyages the mariner will have met the International Martime Organization Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW). All Merchant Mariners from all flag states party to IMO Conventions must be STCW qualified. (thanks to Captain David Condino for this description)
Deck and Engineering Officers receive their training at accredited U.S. Merchant Marine Academies.In Massachusetts, this is the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Our holdings on this topic are primarily concerned with the Merchant Marine as a branch of the U.S. military.
A stevedore is a person or a company who manages the operation of loading or unloading a ship. This requires knowledge of the operation of loading equipment, the proper techniques for lifting and stowing cargo, and correct handling of hazardous materials. Stevedores hire longshoremen to load and unload cargo under the direction of a stevedore superintendent (source: uslegal.com). At Boston’s Conley Terminal, Massport is the stevedore.
A longshoreman is a person who loads and unloads cargo onto ships at a dock or port. Also called dockers or dock workers, longshoremen make up an integral part of the workforce in the shipping and receiving industry (source: Naylor Law). In Boston, longshoremen are represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association, Local 799.
Our holdigns include records of numerous Congressional hearings and a number of labor history studies. The Lane/Mead Collection includes a scrapbook of news clipping relevant to longshoremen’s strikes in the 1930s.
Because mariners seldom had what we would now call health insurance or pension plans, charitable organizations organized privately funded relief for the families of those lost or disabled at sea.