Logbooks provide essential information in understanding daily life at sea during the age of sail. These documents often serve as the sole account of voyages across oceans and to distant lands, and are rich sources of data on wind, weather, and adversity. However, logbooks can also contain surprising glimpses of a deeper human story. Attendees will journey through time using logbooks kept by Maine and New England mariners, examining everything from beautiful (and humorous) logbook artwork to the work historians are doing today to uncover evidence of human trafficking through the study of antebellum logs.

Kaylie Borden O’Brien is the Museum Education Specialist at Maine Maritime Museum. Kaylie designs and delivers education programming to museum visitors of all ages and has a professional background in alternative and experiential education in classrooms and on tall ships. She holds a Master of Science in Education degree from Saint Joseph’s College and Bachelor of Arts degrees in history and political science from the University of Idaho, as well as Maine State teaching certification and a 100-ton captain’s license.