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Diving With a Purpose

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Diving With a Purpose
Formation2005 (2005)
FoundersKenneth Stewart, Brenda Lanzendorf
TypeNonprofit
PurposeMaritime archaeology, focused on research of the Atlantic slave trade
Location
Websitedivingwithapurpose.org

Diving With a Purpose (DWP) is an American non-profit organization aimed at locating and documenting shipwrecks, predominantly those related to the Atlantic slave trade.[1][2][3][4]

History

Diving With a Purpose was founded in 2005 by Kenneth Stewart (born 1944/45),[5] a retired copier repairman[6] with the Tennessee Aquatic Project and the National Association of Black Scuba Divers, and Brenda Lanzendorf (1958–2008),[7] a maritime archaeologist at Biscayne National Park.[2] They met during the filming of the 2004 documentary The Guerrero Project, a film chronicling efforts to locate the wreck of Spanish slave ship Guerrero, which are still ongoing,[1] although a likely candidate has since been discovered.[8][9]

DWP was featured in 2020 television documentary series Enslaved, starring and produced by Samuel L. Jackson.[10] It is also the subject of a 2021 documentary titled Lessons from the Water: Diving with a Purpose by filmmaker Charles Todd.[11]

Activities

Roughly 300 divers have participated in Diving With a Purpose's maritime archaeology program since its foundation. The program includes one week of training and requires some prior experience,[1][12] with the stated aim of training divers to become "able to assist in the historical documentation and preservation of artifacts and wreck sites".[13] An offshoot program directed at a younger audience entitled Youth Diving With a Purpose (YDWP) was introduced in 2011.[1][14]

The group has been involved with the discovery or documentation of numerous[a] shipwrecks, including the São José Paquete Africa[16][17] and the Clotilda.[1][18] Other activities of the organization have included the location and mapping of plane wrecks related to the Tuskegee Airmen in the Great Lakes.[19][20] A memorial site in Port Huron, Michigan, was constructed in 2021.[21][22]

Diving With a Purpose has worked or is working with groups and federal agencies including NOAA,[23] the National Park Service (NPS),[24][25] the Society of Black Archaeologists,[26][27] and the Slave Wrecks Project, a collaboration between DWP, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, the NPS, George Washington University, Iziko South African Museum, and the South African Heritage Resources Agency.[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Per the group's website, 18 as of 2021, with 18,000 volunteer hours.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Hardingham-Gill, Tamara (August 4, 2021). "Diving into the past: The Black divers searching for slave shipwrecks". CNN. Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Denson, Erik (September 28, 2017). Carey, Mia L. (ed.). "Diving With a Purpose: Resurrecting a Forgotten Maritime Heritage". National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  3. ^ Goodhue, David (June 11, 2018). "This team unravels mysteries of the slave trade. And it just uncovered a shipwreck in the Keys". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Diving With a Purpose". ACHP. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Ken Stewart Honored as a Scuba Diving Sea Hero". www.scubadiving.com. July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  6. ^ "Conversation: Diving with a Purpose". Archaeology.org. 2009. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "Summer 2008 Arrowhead newsletter" (PDF). NPS History Electronic Library. 2008. p. 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  8. ^ Harlow, Olivia (September 1, 2018). "From Santa Fe's desert to deep sea discovery". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  9. ^ Brotemarkle, Ben (August 17, 2015). "Florida Frontiers: Searching for the slave ship Guerrero". Florida Today. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Adams, Kelsey (October 15, 2020). "'This is a grave site': Diving with a Purpose surfaces the history of the transatlantic slave trade". CBC. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  11. ^ Owen, Rob (August 4, 2021). "Eastside-raised filmmaker's documentary focuses on diving group chronicling shipwrecks from the slave trade". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  12. ^ "Maritime Archaeology Training Program". Diving With a Purpose. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "About us – Today". divingwithapurpose.org. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  14. ^ Jordan, Adrienne (December 5, 2019). "Youth Diving With a Purpose". www.scubadiving.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "slave shipwrecks, underwater archaeology, coral restoration". divingwithapurpose.org. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  16. ^ Bruce, Matt (November 26, 2020). "'Like Touching the Souls of Your Ancestors': Team of Black scuba Divers Share Experience of Salvaging Sunken Slave Ships". Atlanta Black Star. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  17. ^ Ruane, Michael E. (July 13, 2016). "Haunting relics from a slave ship headed for African American museum". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  18. ^ Williamson, Kim M. (August 23, 2019). "Most slave shipwrecks have been overlooked—until now". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  19. ^ Milano, Brett (October 21, 2020). "Salvaging another piece of Black history". The Harvard Gazette. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  20. ^ Granath, Bob (November 3, 2015). "NASA Engineer Helps Preserve Legacy of Tuskegee Airmen On Mission of a Lifetime". Space Coast Daily. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  21. ^ Smith, Jackie (June 3, 2021). "Work begins on Tuskegee Airmen memorial in Port Huron". The Times Herald. Archived from the original on August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  22. ^ "Tuskegee Airmen memorial to be dedicated later this summer". WPHM. June 16, 2021. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  23. ^ "Diving With A Purpose Receives Chairman's Award for Helping Federal Agencies Accomplish Submerged Resources Stewardship Responsibilities". NOAA. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  24. ^ "Diving With a Purpose Underwater Archaeology Program". NPS. February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  25. ^ "Diving with a Purpose: A Fifteen-Year Odyssey". Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  26. ^ "About". www.societyofblackarachaeologists.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  27. ^ "Society of Black Archaeologists – March 2019 Newsletter" (pdf). SBA. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  28. ^ "Slave Wrecks Project". Smithsonian Institution. June 1, 2015. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
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