Professor Carl Kramer will lecture on the role of American Barge Line, and its subsidiary, Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, in shipping war material and building vessels for defense purposes.  Focused on the Louisville region, and especially southern Indiana, the presentation will set out this area’s role in World War II, including Jeffboat’s construction of towboats, LSTs, oilers, and other vessels.

Professor Kramer will cover a diverse set of topics including wartime employment, expansion of the shipyard, the roles of female workers, and such issues as the ‘Catfish Navy’, which transported completed vessels down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico.  The story will feature individuals whose careers at ABL/Jeffboat covered the wartime and continued for decades thereafter.

Image: Originally from the Howard Steamboat Museum, this photo ran in “Rivers of Time,” a book about the history of Jeffboat’s parent company.