2024 Lecture Series

2024 North Point Lighthouse Museum Lecture Series Topics

Jan 10

James Kieselburg
Director & Curator | Grohmann Museum
History of the Grohmann Museum

From 16th century oil paintings to larger-than-life bronze statues, the Grohmann Museum at MSOE houses the world’s most comprehensive art collection dedicated to the evolution of human work.

Feb 14

Gert Grohmann
Retiree
Traveling America’s Great Loop

Gert Grohmann and his wife, Christine, left Port Washington, Wisconsin on September 18, 2022 on their 32 foot Nordic Tug, Patriot, and a year later returned to Port Washington, completing an amazing adventure known as The Great Loop which took them around the Eastern US, Bahamas and Canada for a total distance of 7,200 miles, visiting 15 states and 2 foreign countries.

Mar 13

Kevin Keefe
Journalist and Publisher
Milwaukee Railroad History

Few American cities of the 1940s and ’50s could match Milwaukee for its variety of railroads and railroad services. Beer Town was actually a great Railroad Town. Former Trains Magazine Publisher (and eastsider) Kevin P. Keefe shows us why in a selection of great photographs from the collections of Kalmbach Media.

APRIL 10

Matthew J. Prigge
Local author and historian
50 Years of Milwaukee Brewers

Opening day in Milwaukee is an event like no other in baseball—all the pomp and reverence for the return of the season, with a tailgate party like only Brewers fans know how to throw. Relive more than 50 years of Opening Day memories and trivia with Matthew J. Prigge as he discusses ‘Opening Day in Milwaukee.’

MAY 8

John Eastberg
Local architectural historian
Along Prospect Avenue: The Story of Milwaukee’s Gold Coast

Travel down historic Prospect Avenue with Milwaukee architectural historian John C. Eastberg, as he discusses the development of one of the city’s most prestigious thoroughfares.

June 12

Brian Fette
Milwaukee history buff
Milwaukee’s Legacy – Typewriters and Keyboards

Learn how the layout of today’s iPhone keyboard traces its origins to 3rd Street and State in Milwaukee. There in 1873, the inventors of the typewriter arrived at a layout of keys that continues in today’s tech world.

July 10

Megan Ward
Victorian Literature Professor | Oregon State University
Lighthouse Libraries and the Keeper’s Imaginative Lives

Lighthouse keepers lived notoriously solitary lives, so circulating libraries – boxes of books that they could keep for months at a time – offered education and entertainment. This talk will offer a glimpse into the imaginative lives of the lighthouse keeper, based on the works in the North Point Lighthouse traveling library on exhibit.

AuG 14

Thomas Fehring
Engineer – Historian and Writer
Milwaukee War Effort – WWII

When Milwaukee Went to War brings to life the incredible stories behind the many men and women, from all walks of life, who stepped up and proudly worked toward achieving victory during World War II.

Sept 11

Tim Vargo
Manager of Research and Community Science | Urban Ecology Center
Urban Wildlife Renaissance in Milwaukee

For thousands of years, humans likely gathered in Milwaukee because at its core there was a productive wetland teeming with life. The land then went through more than a century of abuse at the hands of a new group of humans that drove much of the wildlife away. Today we are witnessing new efforts and a desire to begin healing and restoring the ecological value of the city and with it the animals and plants are returning to the good land.

Oct 9

James Heinz
Amateur historian & Acquisitions Curator | Wisconsin Marine Historical Society
Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan

Hear stories of shipwrecks that include a plague ship, a ship connected with Bill Clinton, a Civil Rights murder, a Milwaukee artist and more!

Nov 13

Cyndi Kramer
Tour Guide | Historic Milwaukee
Half the Sky: Women in Milwaukee’s History

You’ve probably heard about a few of Milwaukee’s early women but they tend not to get the top billing in our city’s history. This talk will introduce a few more women that may not have been on your radar until now. Bathhouses, embalming, spying…we have it all!