Fifty years after the gales of November came early and the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Michigan, the Grohmann Museum is giving attendees an immersive look at the ship’s legacy through a new exhibition. “The Legend Lives On – 50 Years Later,” running Oct. 1-Dec. 1, showcases paintings of the freighter under construction and completed, as well as models, photographs and other ephemera of the ship.
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The exhibit is meant to serve as a tribute to the ship’s historical impact, says museum director James Kieselburg. “From fine art and schematics to pop culture references and oral histories, the show will offer a number of views of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.”
The Grohmann held an exhibition for the 45th anniversary of the ship’s sinking in 2020, but the event fell short of attendance expectations due to visitor restrictions at the height of COVID-19.
“Because we had put so much effort and work into putting it together, we almost instantly resolved that we would do something a little bigger and a little more special for the 50th anniversary that more folks could enjoy,” Kieselburg says.
The freighter was commissioned in 1957 by Northwestern Mutual to transport iron ore across the Great Lakes. The company named it after its president at the time. For the exhibition, Northwestern Mutual is loaning its collection of paintings depicting the ship under construction. These paintings were done by local industrial artist Edmund Lewandowski, who had been commissioned to paint the vessel by Fitzgerald himself in 1957, and were included in the 2020 show, called “Two Edmunds: Fitzgerald and Lewandowski – Their Mark on Milwaukee”.
Lewandowski’s paintings will return for the anniversary show, along with contemporary photography by local photographer and maritime historian Christopher Winters. His images include the SS Arthur M. Anderson on its final voyages – the last ship to have contact with the Fitzgerald before it sank.
Kieselburg says he hopes visitors of the exhibition will walk away with a newfound appreciation for the history of the vessel, both when it was traveling the Great Lakes and in remembrance of its sinking and the deaths of its 29-person crew.
“I want folks to view the show with a certain sense of nostalgia, a reverence for what it means, and also a certain commemoration of those who perished in the tragedy of 1975,” Kieselburg says.
The exhibit will run from Oct. 1-Dec. 1 with a Gallery Night reception on Oct. 17 from 5-9 p.m. Admission to the exhibition will be free on Nov. 10 in honor of the anniversary of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking.
