In the 1840s and 1850s the development of underwater breathing apparatus was in its infancy, and Lake Erie became the testing ground for this new technology. Divers and engineers began to push the limits of these new devices to further their exploration of the salvage of three infamous passenger steamer wrecks—the Erie, the G. P. Griffth, and the Atlantic. Foremost among the marine explorers was John Green, a man who was also hiding a secret, the story of his own tragic shipwreck.

About the Presenter: Jerry Kuntz is a researcher and writer residing in New York’s Hudson River Valley. His books include biographies of exceptional, but little-known 19th Century Americans: Wild West Show sharpshooters, pioneer aviators, baseball league promoters, dance hall denizens, a teenage Amazon plant hunter, and early apparatus divers. Currently, he is researching the balloon-parachuting craze of the 1890s. Kuntz was educated at Earlham College and Rutgers University, where he earned a Masters in Library and Information Science.

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