National Museum of the Great Lakes Kicks Off Spring Lecture Series

The National Museum of the Great Lakes will begin its popular annual spring lecture series March 8 at 7pm by exploring the life of 19th century surveyor Admiral Henry Walsey Bayfield, presented by award-winning author and historian David Yates from Goderich, Ontario.

“Considered a Master Chart Maker of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, the Admiral’s navigational charts saved countless lives and literally mapped the way for settlement into our continent’s interior,” says Carrie Sowden, the museum’s archaeological and research director who also oversees the museum’s lecture series. “A naval officer, explorer, naturalist, and polymath, Bayfield, was one of the most extraordinary individuals of the nineteenth century and spent forty years of his life mapping Canada’s vast coasts and inland waterways.”

While the lecture will be presented virtually, attendees are welcome to an in-person watch party at the museum with a live-streamed Q&A following the lecture.

The spring lecture series will continue March 29 in partnership with Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Libraries and Museums with “From Mouse to Dart —President Hayes Family History on the Great Lakes.” The final series presentation on April 19 explores individuals working to make the Great Lakes watershed cleaner, featuring scholar John Hartig, author of  “Great Lakes Champions: Grassroots Efforts to Clean Up Polluted Watersheds.”

While events are free to attend, registration is required due to the popularity of the series. To learn more or register, visit nmgl.org/events.