author
Joanna C. (Joanna Carver) Colcord
1882–1960
Born at sea and raised in a seafaring family, this American writer brought sailors’ language and songs onto the page with unusual firsthand knowledge. She was also a pioneering social worker whose career reached far beyond the waterfront.
1 Audiobook
Broken Homes: A Study of Family Desertion and its Social Treatment
by Joanna C. (Joanna Carver) Colcord
About the author
Joanna Carver Colcord was born on March 18, 1882, aboard her father’s ship near New Caledonia in the South Pacific. She spent much of her childhood at sea before studying at the University of Maine, and that early life gave her a rare, lived connection to maritime culture.
She is especially remembered by readers for her writing on seamen’s speech and song, including Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen and Sea Language Comes Ashore. Her work helped preserve sea shanties, sailor slang, and everyday working traditions that might otherwise have faded from view.
Colcord also built an important career in social work and was recognized as a professional leader in that field. That combination of practical reform work and deep maritime memory makes her a distinctive figure in American nonfiction.