Archives + Special Collections

Father Edward J. Dowling taught for many years in the College of Engineering at the University of Detroit. His life-long interest in the Great Lakes made him an expert in maritime shipping. The archives holds more than 58,000 items related to his love for the Great Lakes. Although the majority of the items are photographs and negatives of ships, it also has some of his art works. He was an artist of some distinction and most of his works were about the ships that would travel through the Great Lakes. He did, however have drawings other than ships. I thought I would post a few of them here. These scans really don’t do justice to the art work, the colors seem a bit muted from the original work. An entire list of all his art works can be found on the University of Detroit Mercy Special Collections page: Father Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection.

Night Train Express, St. Mary’s Kansas, 1934

St. Mary’s College, Kansas Buildings, 1938

Books on Desk, 1937

Sunset on Lake, 1937