Great Lakes Pirates Presentation Sails Into Clinton-Macomb Library
National Museum of the Great Lakes delves into pirate history
Published: Friday, April 7, 2023 12:00 pm
By: Nicole Tuttle
The Clinton-Macomb Public Library North Branch will host
Arrgh: A History of Piracy on the Great Lakes on April 19.
Pictured is Dan Seavey, one of the Great Lakes pirates
that will be featured in the presentation.
(Courtesy of National Museum of the Great Lakes).
The Seven Seas weren’t the only home for pirates from the 1500s-1900s, as the Great Lakes also provided plenty of opportunity for swashbuckling adventures. The National Museum of the Great Lakes will explore this uncharted chapter of Great Lakes history on April 19, when Arrgh: A History of Piracy on the Great Lakes comes to the Clinton-Macomb Public Library.
“We tend to associate piracy with the oceans, but I’m not sure that many people are aware that the Great Lakes have their own rich history of piracy. Of course, nothing quite captures the imagination like pirates,” Phil Skeltis, Clinton-Macomb Public Library (CMPL) adult services librarian, said. “We love programs that cover lesser known aspects of Michigan and Great Lakes history.”
National Museum of the Great Lakes Collections Coordinator Ring Lardner will be the presenter for the one-hour program, which will include a question and answer session. He said his visual presentation on Great Lakes pirates will focus on biographies and stories of their legendary exploits, from approximately the 1400s or 1500s to their decline around the 1900s. The program is open to all ages.
“This is a program people really enjoy, especially parents and kids,” Lardner said.
“We will talk about a few of them, Dan Seavey was the most pirate-like,” Lardner said, adding his presentation will compare and contrast pirates of the oceans vs. Great Lakes pirates.
He will point out the differences between the use of large ships on the ocean and Great Lakes use of private boats for quick getaways from the coast guard, U.S. marshals and local citizens, due to the landlocked nature of the Great Lakes.
Lardner said his presentation will additionally include the comparison and contrast of real pirates vs. portrayals in literature and films like the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series. One similarity involves pirate trickery and cunning, an example Lardner said can be found in a historical story involving the Civil War.
“One was that during the Civil War, a group of pirates for the Confederacy tried to swindle the Union. It was a huge event, it lasted a couple of days. It was a well thought out plan, but it didn’t go in execution, it backfired,” Lardner said. “It is interesting to see that piracy was not just about robbing and stealing, it was the trickery that comes along with it.”
One contrast is the myth of pirate flags such as a skull and crossbones, which Lardner said were not widely used.
“There were maybe three genuine pirate flags. Otherwise, they did not use them. Piracy was about staying hidden, not standing out,” Lardner said.
The National Museum of the Great Lakes is located at 1701 Front Street in Toledo, Ohio. The museum is dedicated to the history of the Great Lakes, from canoes and schooners to early steamers and freighters. It offers over 300 artifacts, photography, audiovisual displays and 40 hands-on interactive exhibits, including a 617-foot iron ore freighter Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship.
The free program will begin at 3 p.m. at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library’s North Branch, located at 54100 Broughton Road in Macomb Township. Skeltis said that program registration opened for CMPL cardholders on April 5 at 9 a.m., and for those outside of the library district on April 12 at 9 a.m. Visit cmpl.org/ or contact the library at 586-226-5082 for more information.
tags: Boat Museum, Great Lakes, History
