Significant additions to Chicago Maritime Museum

The Chicago Maritime Museum will have two new permanent exhibitions on May 17 that focus on the Lady Elgin, the deadliest disaster on the open waters of the Great Lakes, and on Captain Bill Pinkney, the first Black sailor to solo-circumnavigate the globe around the five Great Capes. These are considered the most significant addition to the galleries since the museum opened in 2016.

The Lady Elgin was a 252-foot wooden-hulled sidewheel steamship that was on a passenger trip from Milwaukee to Chicago when it sank in Lake Michigan off Port Clinton, Illinois. During a gale, she was rammed by the schooner Augusta in the early hours of September 8, 1860. The passenger manifest was lost with the collision, but the sinking of Lady Elgin resulted in the loss of about 300 lives. Four years after the disaster, a new rule required sailing vessels to carry running lights.

Chicago native Captain Bill Pinkney (Sept. 15, 1935-Aug. 31, 2023) learned to sail while living in Puerto Rico after his time in the Navy. One of his goals was to leave a legacy for his grandchildren, so he spent a few years setting up educational programs and engaged a film crew to follow his voyage. The 27,000 mile circumnavigation took 22 months and ended on June 9, 1992. Throughout the trip, Pinkney sent footage back to Globe TV and communicated with some 30,000 school children. He was a member of the Class of 2021 for the National Sailing Hall of Fame.

“These new exhibits represent the dedicated work of our expert curatorial and exhibit professionals,” says CMM Chairman Captain Dave Truitt, “While the museum will continue to engage our patrons with fresh, temporary maritime exhibits, the new permanent additions to our South Gallery signifies the completion of a museum we opened in 2016.”

Details: https://www.chicagomaritimemuseum.org/