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, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

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

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

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.

Prizes

The president of NASOH awards on occasion the

K. Jack Bauer Karl Jack Bauer (July 30, 1926 in Springfield, Ohio – September 17, 1987 in Troy, New York), was one of the founders of the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH) and a well-known naval historian. NASOH's K. Jack Bauer Award is nam ...

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 Dissertation Research Fellowship is named in honor of NASOH past-president Dr. James C. Bradford, 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; , ''SCRN'') was originally established as the Canadian Society for the Promotion of Nautical Research, then incorporated 25 October 1984 under its current name and achieved the status of a registered ...

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 mar ...

(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. William Norwood Still Jr. (1932 – January 8, 2023) was an American maritime historian. He was the first director of the program in maritime history at East Carolina University and a noted author of works on U.S. Civil War history and U.S. na ...

January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1995 # Briton C. Busch January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1999 # William S. Dudley January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2003 #

John Hattendorf John Brewster Hattendorf, 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 history and naval warfare. In ...

January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2007 # James C. Bradford 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 May 2023 # Paul E. Fontenoy. May 2023 to present

References

External links