About

Kevin Crisman is a professor at Texas A&M University in the College of Arts and Sciences, holding the George T. Gladys Abell Endowed Family Chair in Nautical Archaeology. His research focuses on the nautical archaeology of the post-Medieval Era, including the construction and outfitting of ships, seafaring, shipboard life, and maritime communities. He has a particular interest in North American river, lake, and canal navigation, as well as 19th-century steamboats, ship propulsion technology, warships, and naval technology from 1450 to 1950. Crisman has conducted extensive archaeological research on ships from the War of 1812, including recording the wreck of the U.S. Navy schooner Ticonderoga and supervising projects on other vessels from that era. He has directed field schools and excavations, notably on an 1820s paddle ferry boat, Mississippi River steamboats, and early Lake Champlain steamboats. Crisman has also led surveys and wreck studies in Portugal's Azores Islands and has contributed to the archaeology of early North American steamboats. He serves as the Vice President for New World Research at the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and is involved in academic and editorial activities related to nautical archaeology.

Research topics

• Geography
• Art
• Archaeology
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Four 19th-Century Steamboats in Shelburne Shipyard, Lake Champlain, Vermont, USA

  The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology · 2024

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Archaeology
  • Geography
  • Environmental science
  PublisherDOI

• The Shore Is a Bridge: The Maritime Cultural Landscape of Lake Ontario

  Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · 2018-02-27 · 2 citations

  bookSenior author
  Publisher

• HM Sloop Boscawen: The Seven Years' War on Lake Champlain

  Society for Historical Archaeology · 2018-01-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Lake Champlain Steamboat Archaeology: A 15-minute Primer.

  Society for Historical Archaeology · 2016-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Heroine and the Evolving Traits of Early Western River Steamboats

  Society for Historical Archaeology · 2014-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• The <scp>W</scp> estern <scp>R</scp> iver <scp>S</scp> teamboat <scp> <i>H</i> </scp> <i>eroine</i> , 1832–1838, <scp>O</scp> klahoma, <scp>USA</scp> : propulsion machinery

  The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology · 2014-11-06 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This paper completes the description of the western river steamboat Heroine (1832–1838) (Crisman et al. 2013b; Crisman, 2014), with a detailed analysis of the steam propulsion machinery recovered. Heroine's place in the development of steam technology is analysed through historic sources and comparable finds, and the requirements of river navigation explored. Changes to the paddle flange and the short-lived use of flywheels are particularly noted. The many variations in the iron castings and evidence of makeshift repairs provide insight into the material, engineering and economic constraints faced by engine manufacturers and steamboat engineers in the second quarter of the 19th century.

  PublisherDOI

• The Western River Steamboat<i>Heroine,</i>1832-1838, Oklahoma, USA: excavations, summary of finds, and history

  The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology · 2013-06-06 · 5 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This paper describes the excavation, discoveries relating to the hull, machinery, and artefacts, and the history of an early steamboat wreck discovered in the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. The wreck has been identified as the side-wheel steamer Heroine, a vessel in service on the Mississippi, Ohio, and other western rivers of North America during the 1830s. It is the earliest example of this famous type of vessel yet studied.

  PublisherDOI

• The Western River Steamboat<i>Heroine</i>, 1832-1838, Oklahoma, USA: construction

  The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology · 2013-11-28 · 4 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This paper describes the design and construction of the side-wheel steamer Heroine, a representative of the ‘western river steamboat’ type and the earliest example of its kind to undergo archaeological study. Heroine was built at New Albany, Indiana, in 1832 and sunk on the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas in 1838. The extensive remains of the lower hull show assembly practices in use during the developmental era of Mississippi River steamboats. The wreck also reveals a heretofore-unknown technique for longitudinally strengthening these long, narrow, and very lightly built hulls.

  PublisherDOI

• The Archaeology and History of the Flower of Ugie, Wrecked 1852 in the Eastern Solent (HWTMA monograph No 1/BAR British series 551) edited by JulianWhitewright and JulieSatchell (eds), with 7 Contributors 112 pp., 59 figs. some colour, 17 tablesBAR via Ar

  The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology · 2013-02-04

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Taphonomic Evaluation of Three Intact Pork Barrels from the Steamboat Heroine (1838)

  Historical Archaeology · 2013-12-01 · 7 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Arthur Cohn

  Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

  9 shared

• William B. Lees

  University of West Florida

  2 shared

• Scott McLaughlin

  2 shared

• Susan D. Jones

  2 shared

• Joseph Cozzi

  2 shared

• John W. Davis

  The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

  2 shared

• Jordan Brian

  Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

  2 shared

• Benjamin Louis Ford

  1 shared

Labs

• Nautical Archaeology LaboratoryPI

Awards & honors

• Faculty Fellow at the Glasscock Center for the Humanities at…
• Vice President for New World Research at the Institute of Na…
• Member of the Texas A&M University Press Faculty Advisory Co…