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Lost Mariners Remembrance

November 10 2019 | 6:00pm to 8:00pm

This event is SOLD OUT, but the public is welcome to watch the flotilla from the river bank adjacent to the museum at no charge.

This year’s Lost Mariners Remembrance program is apropos to the season’s high water, with a slightly different approach than in past years. Our offerings generally focus on disasters which claimed the lives of mariners far from land. This year will examine a catastrophe that was particularly terrestrial.

In 1844—175 years ago—the winds and waters of Lake Erie created a seiche event that sent a wall of water 22 feet high through the streets of Buffalo, New York. It left dozens of Erie Canal boats high and dry and drowned over 50 residents. Out on the lake, at least 40 vessels were damaged or destroyed, and another 25 people drowned – 17 of them professional mariners.

This catastrophe is seldom mentioned with other historic weather events on the Great Lakes. Our 2019 Lost Mariners Remembrance presentation by Detroit Historical Society senior curator Joel Stone will address that oversight. This program is offered in partnership with the Great Lakes Maritime Institute, and support from over twenty maritime organizations on both sides of the Detroit River.

Admission is $5 for members, $10 for guests and $25 for families of up to six. Seating is limited, and advance registration is required, as this event is expected to sell out. Please call 313.833.1801 for more information or to register by phone.