Winslow Homer’s The Fog Warning offers a dramatic entry point for an inquiry study into the perilous lives of Grand Banks fishermen and how historical fiction writing can bring their struggles, resilience, and humanity to life.

In this inquiry study students delve into the harsh realities of fishermen as they battled treacherous waters and unpredictable weather. By combining primary source documents with historical fiction writing, students bring to life the isolation and danger of the fishermen’s daily existence. This inquiry study encourages critical thinking about the intersection of art, history, and storytelling, while fostering empathy and imagination.

Before launching an inquiry study it is important to have students experience a work of art on their own terms. Use this opportunity to build background knowledge, engage empathy, and spark wonderings. This link offers teaching moves and language for introducing students to Winslow Homer’s The Fog Warning. 

During this period, Homer’s paintings are distinguished by their storytelling approach. The dramatic scenes extoll the daily heroism of sailors and fishermen. Without sentimentality or lofty literary and historical references, these paintings offer a simple, direct view of their realities. While rich with details, Homer does not show everything. Actual shipwrecks are seldom shown. Instead, these narrative paintings rely on the observer’s emotions, imagination, and reason to resolve the story for themselves. This offers students a great opportunity to extend the narrative through historical fiction.

What happens next and what is the fisherman’s inner dialogue and his thoughts as he faces this danger? Will he consider dumping his treasured halibut to lighten his dory and increase his odds of getting back to the mother ship? Does experience make him stoic and resigned or does he feel panic and dread? Use these primary source documents and firsthand accounts to ground the students’ narratives with historical facts. The articles in the historical periodicals are rich with domain-specific vocabulary. While dense at times, context clues and the vividness of the storytelling supports the reader.

If you would like a related mentor text, Chapter 5 of Rudyard Kipling’s Captains Courageous describes life on the Grand Banks as the fog settles in.

Newspaper Accounts

Of the nineteen men of this town who sailed on the schooner Joseph E, Johnson for the fishing grounds on the western bank, so called, which lies southwest of Sable Island and about 200 miles off the Novia Scotia coast last week, only three came back on the schooner, when she rounded the point this morning with her flag at half-mast. The other sixteen men are either in their dories off the western bank, have found a watery grave, or happily have been picked up by some passing steamer.

All sixteen put off from the schooner early Friday morning, but the fog that settles down over the ocean three hours later swallowed them up and when after three day of waiting it lifted, no trace of the men could Captain Bier discern from the masthead of the schooner.

The story that Captain Bier told as he landed on the wharf this afternoon was, perhaps repetition of similar tales of the sea, that fishing captains have related from the spot, but none was more pathetic.

• “Fog Hid Them Forever / Sixteen of Crew of Joseph E. Johnson Lost / Were Out In Dories and Fog Shut In On Them / When It Lifted No Trace of Men Could Be Found — Sad Story Which Captain Brought Into Provincetown Yesterday — Slight Chance Men Were Picked Up,” The Portland Daily Press, Portland, Maine, Wednesday, May 26, 1897, vol. 34. Page 1.
• “The Lost Found: Rescue of Sixteen Men Adrift in Dories,” The Republican Journal, Belfast, Maine, Thursday, June 3, 1897, page 6.
• “Our Fisheries / Facts Regarding a Great Industry,” The Boston Sunday Globe, Boston, MA, vol. XXIX, no. 52, February 21, 1886, page 16.
• “Experiences in Halibut Fishing, with Advice to Beginners,” The Evening Express, Portland Maine, Wednesday, September 26, 1900, page 10.
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild offers a series of news accounts from Gloucester, 1870-1896.

Reports and Periodicals

• Franklin H. North’s “Gloucester Fishers” (The Century, Volume 0032 Issue 6, Oct 1886, pp. 815-829) describes the skill and dedication fishing on the Grand Banks requires. In addition to detailing the work and economies of the fishing fleet, this offers vivid firsthand accounts and illustrations of the dangers and gales the fishermen endured.
• Herbert D. Ward’s “Heroes of the Deep” (The Century, Volume 0056 Issue 3, July 1898, pp. 364-378) describes heroics on the high seas with an especially detailed telling of Howard Blackburn’s now legendary survival story that cost him his hands but earned him a reputation for unparalleled fortitude.
• W. V. Wells’ “Fishing Adventures On The Newfoundland Banks” (Harper’s New Monthly Magazine Volume 0022 Issue 130, March 1861, pp. 456-471) offers a detailed accounting of cod fishing off the fog-drenched Grand Banks. In addition to describing how the catch is made, this article describes how the fishermen create a disassembly line of specific tasks to process their catch.
• Protection of Fishermen is an 1888 presentation to the House of Representatives that sought to address the appalling deaths from drifting dories by enacting a law that required dories be provisioned with at least 5 days’ rations for two men (free ebook, search dory in the document or see pages 1002–1012 of the pdf). Be aware this offers some particularly harrowing and graphic testimony on the dangers of dory fishing including cannibalism. While the facts in this presentation may have been news to members of Congress, the findings would have been on the forefront of a dory fisherman’s mind.
• The Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s On the Water site showcases the attire and tools the dory fishermen used, many of which are shown in the painting. This site offers a wealth of domain specific vocabulary.
• Gloucester Harbor Walk 29 24 40: Winslow Homer Portuguese Cod Fishing Dory Baited Fishing Line (2:10) While narrated in Portuguese and from the early 20th century, this two minute excerpt from a documentary offers historical footage of dory fishing and vividly depicts the power of the ocean and the flimsiness of dories.
• The Fisheries of Gloucester from the First Catch by the English in 1623, to the Centennial Year, 1876 (free ebook, see especially chapter 4–6, pages 51–80 ) provides an historic overview of the North Atlantic fishing industry at the same time Homer is creating his work.

Related Resources

• Winslow Homer’s The Fog Warning is in the Boston Museum of Fine Art’s collection. See the website for detailed information. Select the image to magnify.
• This animated timeline vividly displays Winslow Homer’s artistic progression and America’s post-Civil War society.
• This fast-paced game explores Homer’s art and how his paintings chronicle America’s post-Civil War society.
• This interdisciplinary teacher’s resource offers a range of teaching moves and language for analyzing The Fog Warning.
• This interactive puzzle explores Homer’s life and the events that inspired him to paint The Fog Warning. Special attention is given to how Homer’s realism advances democratic values and offers a compelling view of American history.
• This game show format reviews key learnings from “Puzzled by The Fog Warning?” in a friendly, team-building competition.
• This game-based art survey analyzes the art of Winslow Homer and eight other 19^th century realist painters.
• This art-based writing lesson use The Fog Warning as mentor art for teaching the value of thoughtful titles.