Historical Society sets speaker series

The Port Washington Historical Society has released the schedule for its 2026 Speaker Series.

“Stories That Still Speak: A Personal Journey Through the Legacy of Boarding Schools”  will be discussed by Kate Erickson, a member of the Oneida Nation, on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Erickson, who teaches Native American, Wisconsin Indigenous, Wisconsin and early American history at Milwaukee Area Technical College, will explore the history of Indian boarding schools in Wisconsin and the U.S.

She will share her family’s experiences with the boarding school system and how intergenerational trauma has shaped her life and identity.

“The Search for the Linda E.” will be discussed by Brennan Christianson, collections coordinator at the Door County Maritime Museum, on Thursday, March 19.

Christianson, who earned a master’s degree in public history from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2020, will discuss the search for the Linda E., Port Washington’s last fishing tug, which sank on Dec. 11, 1998, with three fishermen on board.

“Navigating the Seas (Lakes, Rivers and Oceans, Too)” will be discussed by lighthouse enthusiast Marie Blunt on Thursday, April 9.

Blunt, who with her photographer husband has traveled to more than 500 lighthouses in the U.S. and Canada and has written several books on lighthouses, will discuss the items used by lightkeepers and how they helped vessels navigate.

“The Sixth Wisconsin and the Long Civil War” The Biography of a Regiment“ will be discussed by James Marten, emeritus professor at Marquette University and former president of the Society of Civil War Historians, on Tuesday, June 16.

Marten, who has written more than 20 books, will discuss the story of men who served in the Sixth Wisconsin Infantry, an elite regiment of the Iron Brigade, from their enlistment through the war and into peacetime.

“Just Offshore,” a discussion of diving on Lake Michigan shipwrecks, will be presented by Port residents Roland Chaloupka and Mike Jajtner on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Their discussion will be part of the Society’s annual meeting.

The presentations will be given at 7 p.m. each night at Inventors Brewpub. 

The Speakers Series is sponsored by David Franks and Louise Mollinger.