AGLMH 2025 Annual Conference

Welcome to the city of Milwaukee! We have a robust program planned with a lot of things to see in the downtown area. Please note, many of the places we are going are walkable and parking can be scarce. If you don't want to walk or try to find a parking space, we recommend Uber or Lyft or the free street car, The Hop.

Conference Hotel:

TRU by Hilton 515 N Jefferson St, Milwaukee, WI 53202

There is a block of rooms reserved for AGLMH, use this link by August 4 to reserve your room.

There is valet parking at the hotel for $39.00 a night. The hotel does not offer self parking, but there are lots and garages nearby(If you look at The Hop - see above - you can find a map of parking lots and garages). Please make use of the free hot breakfast at the hotel, as we will only be providing coffee service in the mornings.

AGENDA

Thursday, September 4, 2025 Opening Reception

North Point Lighthouse - 2650 N. Wahl Avenue

5:30-7:30 pm - AGLMH members and guests are welcome to a casual reception hosted by the North Point Lighthouse. Come, catch up, see old friends, meet new ones, explore the exhibits and climb the tower!

Friday, September 5, 2025 Annual Association Membership Meeting

Global Water Center Auditorium - 247 W. Freshwater Way

The Annual Meeting of the Association of Great Lakes Maritime History.

8:00 am - Conference Registration and Welcome

8:30 am - Annual Business Meeting

9:30 am - Member Roundtable

10:30 am - move to Milwaukee Public Library - 814 W. Wisconsin Ave.

11:30 pm - Lunch

12:00 pm - Tour of the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society Collection at the Milwaukee Public Library

2:00 pm - Move to Edelweiss Boat Tours - 205 W Highland Ave

3:00 pm - Narrated River-Harbor Tour by Historic Milwaukee, Inc.

6:00 pm - Dinner on Your Own - check out options in the Historic Third Ward

Saturday, September 6, 2025 Conference

Discovery World - 500 N Harbor Dr

(Note: walk-ins welcomed for conference but lunch cannot be guaranteed. Pre-registration encouraged.)

Conference & Dinner Open to the Public

8:00 am - Registration

8:30 am - Welcome

8:45 am - History of Milwaukee harbor through postcards and stereophotography by Brendon Baillod

9:30 am - The Milwaukee Connection: 84 Year of Cross-Lake Car Ferry Service by Art Chavez and Nathan Wietrzykowski

10:15 am - Break

10:30 am - The Search for a Queen: Using State of the Art Technology to Locate a Missing Scientific Research Aircraft in Lake Superior by Wayne Lusardi

11:15 am - GLSPS avocational restoration of museum ship Meteor by Phil Kerber

Noon - Lunch

12:45 pm - From Wood to Watercraft: Dugout Canoes of Wisconsin by Sissel Schroeder

1:30 pm - Ford Motor Company’s Canallers by Mark Shumaker (2024 Barkhausen Award Winner)

2:15 pm - Break

2:30 pm - Building of the schooner Challenge by Chris Winters

3:00 pm Tour of schooner Challenge - Discovery World

Saturday, September 6, 2025 - "2025 AGLMH Awards Dinner"

South Shore Yacht Club - 2300 E Nock St.

Dinner Open to Members, Awardees, and Guests

5:30 pm - Reception Cash Bar

6:30 pm - Dinner

7:15 pm - Awards Ceremony

7:40 pm - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald: The Ship, the Storm, and the Song.

Steve Ackerman (Emeritus Professor | Former Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, UW-Madison) The wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald from perspectives of the weather, the ship, and the song by Gordon Lightfoot.

Host or Publisher Association for Great Lakes Maritime History