The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will host a presentation on women lighthouse keepers throughout Great Lakes history next month.
Museum Education Director Ashley Deming tells us “Ladies of the Lights,” on March 12, will be the next installment in the museum’s Whispers Across the Water Lecture Series. Historian Dianna Stampfler will present the stories of women who have taken on the responsibility of operating Great Lakes lighthouses. Deming says there have been plenty of women lighthouse keepers.
“Often with keepers, they were living there with their families,” Deming said. “So, their wives often were doing a lot of the work and then when the men couldn’t do it or were sick or maybe passed away, the women stepped up to be able to do those jobs.”
Deming says the presentation will offer photos and stories about these ladies of the lakes going back to the 1840s.
“They were very well respected in their community and for the ship captains, certainly, that relied upon them in a safety position to be able to keep those flights running.”
Stampfler, the historian, is a Michigan broadcasting veteran and is the author of “Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses,” “Death & Lighthouses on the Great Lakes,” and “Kalamazoo County Characters.” Her presentation on the 12th will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Maritime Museum.
As always, the presentation will come with $10 admission for non-museum members, and free for members. All are welcome.