Marine museum hosts programs

Lake Superior Marine Museum Association (LSMMA), in conjunction with Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center, has coordinated three free May Evening Entertainment Series programs. Each program will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the visitor center’s lower level lecture hall, 600 South Lake Ave. in historic Canal Park in Duluth. Admission is free.

Duluthian Jack Salmela will share historic details of how northeastern Minnesota could easily have wound up being part of Canada on May 3 during his presentation “Of Vikings and Voyageurs.” Discover how Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay negotiated the border through today’s Boundary Waters through the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Canadian author James Stevens’ newest publication describes how the opening of the Michigan State Canal in 1855 impacted history as it brought thousands of immigrants seeking new lives and opportunities to the upper Midwest. His presentation May 10, “Wild on the Superior Frontier,” will focus on how access by boat in cold aqueous North America challenged captains and passengers with furious deadly weather.

Tony Dierckins’ presentation on May 17 is taken from his most recent book “Lost Duluth,” which utilizes over 400 images of vanished homes, buildings, landmarks, industries and residential neighborhoods. Join the journey and be introduced to people – from hard-scrabble pioneers to wealthy industrialists to impoverished immigrant laborers – whose ambitions and dreams built the Zenith City on a swamp and rocky hillside at the head of the Great Lakes.

For more information, check the website at www.lsmma.com or call 218 727-2497.

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