Museum Holds Capstone Presentation Featuring Toledo-area Experts and Historians

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January 19, 2021 (Toledo, Ohio) –

On Wednesday, February 3, at 7 p.m. the National Museum of the Great Lakes will begin their annual spring lecture series with a roundtable discussion highlighting the “Port of Toledo: Then & Now”. The virtual event is meant to be a capstone to a multi-part, yearlong exhibit highlighting the history and present-day images and stories of life on the Maumee River.

“This exhibit is filled with firsts, including our first online exhibit and our first community temporary exhibit at ProMedica Steam Plant headquarters’ History Walk Gallery,” explains Carrie Sowden, who helped lead the exhibit’s curation and is the National Museum of the Great Lakes’ Archaeological Director. “Little did we know our timing would coincide with a health pandemic, making the virtual components of the exhibit even more relevant.”

The virtual lecture will specifically highlight three topics and feature six Toledo-area experts and historians including: 

  • Former Eastern Michigan Director of Historic Preservation Ted Ligibel and Metroparks Toledo representative Shannon Hughes discussing recreation on the Maumee River.
  • East Toledo historian Larry Michaels and Lucas County Port Authority Vice President Joe Cappel discussing Maumee River shipbuilding and cargo.
  • Local history author and holytoledohistory.com curator Tedd Long and President of the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse Preservation Society Sandy Bihn discussing Maumee River navigation.

This is the first in a series of lectures in the museum’s spring series. Future lecture topics feature authors Patricia Majher (Ladies of the Lights: Michigan Women in the U.S. Lighthouse Service on Feb. 24) and Jerry Kuntz (The Heroic Age of Diving on March 17). For more information on all the spring lectures and to register for the event visit nmgl.org.events. To view the Port of Toledo: Then & Now online exhibit visit nmgl.org/portoftoledo. Event registration is FREE but required. Donations are encouraged and can be given upon registration.