Lecture Series

Interested in the maritime industry and commerce in the Great Lakes? Join us for the latest sanctuary lecture: The Great Lakes, its Lakers, and the Lake Carriers’ Association. Join Tom Rayburn, Director of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs for the Lake Carriers’ Association, and learn about the intertwined history of the Great Lakes and maritime industries.  [...]

The more than 35 million people who live among the Great Lakes overwhelmingly profess devotion to these waters — yet the Lakes are in mediocre condition at best. Why the gap? Dave Dempsey will discuss his findings for his recent book, Lake Nation: People and the Fate of the Great Lakes, in which he seeks [...]

The desolate Lake Superior shoreline between Whitefish Point in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula and the area of Grand Marais, MI, is littered with a multitude of shipwrecks. Some occurred as early as the 1816 wreck of the schooner Invincible, while newer, larger wrecks are deep within the shipping lanes. The 729' SS Edmund Fitzgerald is [...]

Great Lakes Maritime Historian Patrick Labadie describes the introduction and subsequent development of the iconic Great Lakes vessels, and their effect on the Midwest. The commerce of the American Midwest has always been closely linked with the efficiency of Great Lakes transportation. Eighteenth-century fur trade, 19th century agriculture, lumbering and mining were all dependent upon [...]

Presented by State of Michigan Maritime Archaeologist Wayne Lusardi, he will highlight an assortment of objects, both human-made and natural, that have fallen from space into the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have served as a training ground throughout the history of aviation. Nineteenth-century balloon ascensions, early military and civilian aircraft development, the quest to […]