New Beginnings

1955 Captain Cook

In April of 1955, my father and uncle sailed the Captain Cook from the UK to Canada. From its beginnings in 1924 to 1960 the ship had three names. It was the Letitia (1924–46), the Empire Brent (1946–52) and finally the Captain Cook (1952–60).

from wikipedia ...

SS Letitia was an ocean liner, built initially for service with the Anchor-Donaldson Line. She continued to serve with its successor company Donaldson Atlantic Line, and was requisitioned for service at the start of the Second World War to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. She was withdrawn from this service in 1941 and became a troop ship. She was badly damaged in 1943 and on being repaired was made a hospital ship in Canada. She was returned to civilian service in 1946 after the end of the war, and was bought by the Ministry of Transport, who renamed her Empire Brent and assigned Donaldson Brothers and Black to manage her. She sailed on a number of voyages, at times carrying troops to the Far East, as well as being an emigration ship to Australia. She was briefly laid up in 1950, but returned to service under charter to the Government of New Zealand as Captain Cook. She was withdrawn from service in 1960 and sold for scrap.

from Sea Breezes magazine ,,,

From April to October 1955 she was chartered to Donaldsons and made seven round voyages between Glasgow, Liverpool and Montreal, but then went back to the New Zealand service. In 1957 she had a fire while in Wellington, but was able to sail to the UK for repairs. She arrived at Glasgow at the end of her 25th New Zealand voyage in February 1960, was laid up at Falmouth and was then sold to British Iron and Steel Corporation, towed to Inverkeithing and broken up. [Donaldson Atlantic Liner "Letitia" of 1925 by Captain J.H.Isherwood, Sea Breezes Magazine, September 1967].

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I recently photographed this art on the side of a bridge in the Milwaukee area and wondered the history behind its memorial. Here's what I learned:

 

Joshua Glover was a runaway slave from St. Louis, Missouri who sought asylum in Racine, Wisconsin in 1852. Upon learning his whereabouts in 1854, slave owner Bennami Garland attempted to use the Fugitive Slave Act to recover him. Glover was captured and taken to a Milwaukee jail. A mob led by Sherman Booth broke into the jail and rescued Glover, who then escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. The rescue of Glover and the federal government's subsequent attempt to prosecute Booth helped to galvanize the abolitionist movement in the state that eventually led to Wisconsin becoming the only state to declare the Act unconstitutional.

 

A Wisconsin Historical Marker at Cathedral Square Park in Milwaukee marks the site of the original court house and jail where Joshua Glover was imprisoned by federal marshals, and later rescued by a mob of 5,000 people. Efforts are underway to create a park monument which meets the National Park Services's requirements for an official National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site.

 

Written by Wikipedia

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Here in his boyhood home, he dedicated himself to long practice and hard work on this piano. His efforts invited this musician to play the piano on many of his world travels for years after he left California. On several occasions he very competently performed in front of national audiences but he never recorded any great works. There were a few occasions that were captured by the world on television and are now part of America's history. Do you know this musician?

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