Historian, Author, Singer of Sea Chanties

Joel Stone is a public historian and curator emeritus at the Detroit Historical Society. Raised in the Detroit area, Stone learned the love of boats from his parents and grandparents. He began sailing competitively after college, and worked foredeck on more than a dozen Bayview-Mackinac competitors. He still races out of the Grosse Pointe Boat Club. Joel holds degrees and certificates in journalism, history, archaeology, and archival management. During his time at the University of Detroit, he sought out MHSD charter member Father Edward Dowling – like so many others – for studies in Great Lakes research. He spent a summer spinning records on the Bob-lo boats, and while studying in Ireland became interested in the culture of coastal trading. Stone enjoyed a stint in music retail before moving into his first career as a graphic artist, designer and fabricator. He was hired by the Detroit Historical Society initially as a maritime docent in 2006. A year later, he became curator for the Detroit Historical Museum and the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, retiring as senior curator in 2021. Stone is a past president of the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History and co-editor of its Great Lakes Art Database. He edited Telescope magazine as a member of the Great Lakes Maritime Institute. Joel belongs to the International Shipmasters’ Association Lodge #7 and the Prismatic Club of Detroit. He authored and edited several books, including “Floating Palaces of the Great Lakes: A History of Passenger Steamships on the Inland Seas” (2015), “Interpreting Maritime History at Museums and Historic Sites” (2017) and “Grandpa’s Big Book of Boats” (1993). Joel lives with his wife, Linda Mast Stone, in Bloomfield Township near Detroit, and has been known to get paid to sing chanties and sea songs in public.