attractions. They hired Joe Short, a Ringling Brothers performer, to inhabit the role of "Captain Bob-Lo," greeting passengers and joking with the children. The boat ride was part of the charm of the day's adventure; there were plenty of guests for the Bob-Lo boats' moonlight cruises, just riding down the river and back. While Columbia is a symbol to many of summer family outings and romantic midnight cruises, she can be a reminder of more painful memories as well. Bob-Lo Island had a general policy of refusing admission to African Americans, except on so-called "Colored Days"-usually Mondays, when attendance was down. Detroit mayor Coleman Young (19741994) told the story of how he was turned away from the Bob-Lo boat as a teen in the 1930s on racial grounds. Sarah Elizabeth Ray, an African-American woman employed by the Detroit Ordnance District and attending a school course sponsored by her employer, planned in the summer of 1945 to go with her white classmates on an excursion to Bob-Lo Island. All of the women had seated themselves aboard Columbia when Ms. Ray was approached and asked to leave. At first she refused, bur when the assistant manager threatened to have her forcibly removed, she exited the boat, refusing their offer to refund her fare of85 cents. She contacted the NAACP and filed a criminal complaint. The local and state courts found in her favor, and the Bob-Lo Excursion Company was fined $25 . So committed was the company to its policy of discrimination-excluding '" Zoot-suiters,' the rowdyish, the rough and the boisterous and ... also ... excluding colored"that it fought the issue to the US Supreme Court, claiming exemption from Michigan's anti-discrimination law for public accommodations on the grounds that they were conducting international commerce, due to the technicality that Bob-Lo was Canadian soil. The Supreme Court ruled that, as the island was "economically and socially, though not politically, an amusement adjunct of the city of Detroit," the Michigan statute should apply. That decision was handed down in 1948.
The End of an Era By the 1970s, however, many families had turned to more modern amusement parks, SEA HISTORY 149, WINTER 2014- 15
and in the 1980s gang-related disturbances scared off many potential visitors. BobLo Park struggled financially, changing owners several times . Columbia and Ste. Claire made their final runs on 2 September, 1991. The amusement park limped along for two more years before closing completely.
Some of Columbia's trim still sports the signature "Bob-Lo blue" paint-a reminder of her decades ofservice to the park.
The two steamers, which had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and designated National Historic Landmark Vessels in 1992, faced uncertain futures. Ste. Claire was taken to Toledo with eventual plans to putting her in service in Ohio, and later returned to Michigan; until this September, both vessels were tied up in Ecorse, Michigan. Columbia changed h ands several times; a local group had plans to restore her to service, but was unable to secure sufficient backing to make it work. Enter Richard Anderson and SS Columbia Project. The group planned to bring Columbia to New York to work on the Hudson River, following in the wake of Kirby-designed steamers designed for the Hudson River Day Line, including the Hendrick Hudson (1906), Robert Fulton (1909), and Washington Irving (1913). Keenly aware of local attachment to the Bob-Lo boats, Anderson's group encouraged the support of Michiganders in fundraising. Sadly, Richard Anderson passed away in January of 2013
(See our remembrance of him in Sea History 144), but his colleagues at the SS Columbia Project continued to push forward to fulfill his vision of seeing Columbia, restored to her former glory, on the Hudson River.
Moving Forward Columbia will remain in Toledo until at least next spring. H er next journey will be to Kingston, New York, taking the long route via the St. Lawrence Seaway and down the Atlantic coast as she is too large to traverse the Erie Canal route. Meanwhile, SS Columbia Project will continue to raise funds and set the pieces in place for Columbia's new mission. Their goal is to find a permanent berth for Columbia in New York City. The steamer will have exhibition space for teaching the various aspects of her history, from the evolution and influence of the steamship, to civil rights struggles represented by the Elizabeth Ray case, to the industrial revolution and developing environmental concerns, and she will host educational programming on these topics . Her D etroit roots will not be forgotten; SSCP executive director Elizabeth McEnaney points out that "Detroiters kept her alive for all of these years;" the group is committed to maintaining a connection to Columbia's Detroit history. In addition to educational programming, Columbia will be also be available for excursions and as a venue for private events , exhibitions, and live performances. It is worth celebrating that Columbia is now on the course towards a new home and a new purpose. Ian Danie, Richard Anderson's partner and a longtime supporter of the Columbia project, sums it up: "With Columbia's voyage to New York underway we celebrate her service in Detroit. She brought joy to riders and spectators for close to a century and she will do so again. With Columbia we will experience firsthand the steamboat tradition started right here by Robert Fulton two hundred years ago. I expect Columbia herself will be a destination, and will quickly become a jewel in the Hudson Valley." SS Columbia Project, 232 E. 11th Street, New York, NY 10003, phone: 212 228 3128; www.sscolumbia.org; Ste. Claire Restoration Project: http:l!bobloboats. com.
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