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Edmund Fitzgerald: The Man and His Namesake
The Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729 foot freighter, was launched by Great Lakes Engineering Works on June 7, 1958 in River Rouge, Michigan. It was named for Edmund Fitzgerald, then Board Chairman of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, the vessel's owner. Given that Edmund Fitzgerald came from a family with a strong maritime pedigree, the ship's name was appropriate. His grandfather was one of six Fitzgerald brothers who were Great Lakes ship captains and his father W.E. Fitzgerald also had a namesake freighter.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was operated for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company by Oglebay Norton Corporation and upon her launch became the flagship of its Columbia Transportation fleet. It was carrying iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin to Detroit, Michigan when it sank in Lake Superior during a gale on November 10, 1975. Her entire crew of 29 was lost.
The model of the ship displayed here was given to Edmund Fitzgerald by employees of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company on March 1, 1960, his 65th birthday. After his death, it remained in the Fitzgerald family until it was bequeathed to the Wisconsin Marine historical Society by his son, Edmund B. Fitzgerald, at his death in 2013.
The year 1958 was also a significant one for the Milwaukee Public Library when it received the marine historical files of Herman Runge of Milwaukee. The Runge Collection is the foundation of what is now The Great Lakes Marine Collection, which is open to the public. Because of the vastness of this maritime collection, a group of influential Milwaukeeans led by Edmund Fitzgerald, City Librarian Richard E. Krug, Milwaukee Port Director Harry C. Brockel, and Louis Quarles, among others, founded the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society in 1959 to assist the Library in supporting and maintaining it. Edmund Fitzgerald was the Society's first President.
Given Edmund Fitzgerald's pivotal role in their creation, it is only fitting that this model be on display here in the Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room, as it is home to both The Great Lakes Marine Collection and The Wisconsin Marine Historical Society.