Museum’s Final Fall Lecture Offers A Retrospective Look at the J.W Westcott Company
Published: Thursday, November 3, 2022 12:00 pm
By: National Museum of the Great Lakes
Toledo, OH – On Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 pm, the museum will host the final presentation of our 2022 Fall Lecture Series featuring the J.W. Westcott Company. Since 1874, the company has served the Great Lakes marine community through deliveries of mail and other items. It all began with John Ward Westcott, who was born into a prominent Michigan shipping family and sought to remediate maritime communications by inventing “mail by the pail”.
“This past summer, the museum featured the Westcott Company and its history in a temporary exhibit,” explains Ellen Kennedy, the museum’s Director of Education and Visitor Experience. “For this last lecture, we’ll take a comprehensive look at the company’s long standing history as the only non-military, floating ZIP Code in the United States.”
The lecture presenter, Sam Buchanan, is the General Manager of the J.W. Westcott Company and has worked for the company for over 37 years. Mr. Buchanan’s experience offers many insights behind the company’s long lasting impact on Great Lakes sailors through making deliveries of mail, pizzas, and even Amazon packages.
Offered as a hybrid event, participants can choose whether to take part in the lecture in-person at the museum or online via Zoom. The lecture is free, but registration is required. For more information on this final lecture or to register to participate, visit https://nmgl.org/event.
Those interested in the past fall lectures may watch the recorded presentations online at www.youtube.com/NationalMuseumoftheGreatLakes.
tags: Great Lakes, History
