The Lady Elgin Disaster and It’s Role in Wisconsin’s Civil War Politics

Saturday, April 13  |   1:00pm – 3:00pm  |   Speaker: Brendon Baillod

The Lady Elgin is infamous as one of the worst disasters in the history of the Great Lakes.  The sidewheel steamship was lost in a collision off Winnetka, Illinois, taking over 300 lives and decimating Milwaukee’s Irish community.  Join maritime historian Brendon Baillod as he explores the history of the vessel and the disaster as well as the personal stories of heroism and tragedy.  Brendon will also explore the role the disaster played in Wisconsin’s Civil War politics before discussing the discovery of the wreck site in 1989 and the archeology of the remains.

Brendon Baillod is an award winning maritime historian based in Madison, Wisconsin.  He is the current president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association and the author of Fathoms Deep But Not Forgotten: Wisconsin’s Lost Ships, a compendium of over 400 Wisconsin shipwrecks.  Brendon is an avid collector of antiquarian Great Lakes books, maps, ephemera and photos with one of the largest private collections in existence.  He continues to look for lost ships on the Great Lakes and conducts regular fieldwork using side scan sonar.  He has appeared on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and Travel Channel discussing Great Lakes maritime history and shipwrecks.