Historical Boat Tour: Erie's Evolving Waterfront
This narrated boat tour will cover the evolving Erie waterfront, including the businesses and industries that have defined the local and regional economy. As the boat navigates through the nooks and crannies of Erie’s modern Bayfront, vivid paictures of the once neglected portion of the cityscape will be discussed. The narration will include the evolution of the docks and the railroads that once serviced them and a discussion of commercial fishing, ice harvesting, sand & gravel, the water and sewer authorities, and the industrial firms which were once located on the waterfront. Those who register for the boat tour are to meet the water taxi at Liberty Pier at 4:45 PM, and can use the Liberty Park parking lots. Please call for more information. Space is limited for both the September 11 and September 18 boat tours, and reservations are required (first come, first serve!); rain date TBD (if necessary). Jerry Skrypzak, B.A. and David Frew, Ph.D.
Historian and author David Frew, Ph.D., is a JES Scholar-in-Residence. An emeritus professor at Gannon University, he held a variety of administrative positions during a 33-year career. He is also emeritus director of the Erie County Historical Society/Hagen History Center, where he had previously served as Executive Director for five years, and is president of his own management consulting business.
After beginning with a five-year career in engineering, Frew took a teaching fellowship at Kent State University, where he earned a doctorate in Organizational Behavior in 1970. His love of Lake Erie brought him back to Erie where he became a faculty member and the founding director of Gannon's MBA Program. His career at Gannon included administrative posts as Director of the Health Services Administration and Public Administration Programs, as well as Dean of the Graduate School. In 1982 and 1983, he took a leave from Gannon to complete a post-doctorate at Kent State University where he completed advanced coursework in psychology and research design. He was also a visiting professor at Mercyhurst University for four years.
Dr. Frew has authored or co-authored 40 books, most recently “Accidental Parade: A 13,000-Year History of Presque Isle,” and more than 100 articles, cases, and papers. His work has appeared in publications ranging from refereed journals such as The Journal of Applied Psychology to popular magazines such as Sail Magazine and Cruising World.
Growing up on Erie's lower west side as a proud "Bay Rat," Frew was known to join neighborhood kids playing and marauding along the west bayfront. He has written for years about his beloved Presque Isle and his adventures on the Great Lakes. In the “On the Waterfront Series” for the JES, the Scholar-in-Residence takes note of life in and around the water.
