W. E. Fitzgerald

Painting

-

Milwaukee Public Library

Name/Title

W. E. Fitzgerald

Type of Painting

Easel

Artwork Details

Medium

Watercolor

Subject

W. E. Fitzgerald

Context

The W.E. Fitzgerald was a Great Lakes freighter built by Captain Dennis Sullivan in honor of William E. Fitzgerald (1859-1901). The W.E. Fitzgerald was built by the Detroit Ship Building Company as Hull #167 for the Chicago Navigation Company and launched on September 8, 1906 at Wyandotte, Michigan. The connection with the Edmund Fitzgerald is that William E. Fitzgerald was the father of Edmund Fitzgerald, the namesake for the later ship. Additional information from information sheet on frame backing: Registered Tonnage: 4,940; Capacity: 8,000 tons; Hull: Steel; Keel Length: 420 ft.; Beam: 52 ft.; Depth, Keel to Spar Deck: 29 ft.; Power: Single Steam Screw; Triple Expansion Engines (built by Detroit Shipbuilding Co.); Cost when built: $280,000. Reconstructed to Self Unloaded in 1929 at Cleveland, Ohio, by the Boom Electric Welding Co. History: Operated by the first owner, Chicago Navigation Co. until 1929 when converted to a Self Unloader at Cleveland. In 1930, she was acquired by Gartland Steamship Co., 208 So. La Salle St., Chicago, Illinois, in a merger between the Rutland Lake Michigan Transit Co., Chicago Navigation Co., and the Gartland Steamship Co. of Indiana, all three of which were merged into the Gartland Steamship Co. of Delaware.

Collection

Wisconsin Art Collection, Permanent Art Collection, Great Lakes Marine Collection

Acquisition

Source (if not Accessioned)

Edmund Fitzgerald

Made/Created

Artist

Edmund D Lewandowski

Date made

1957

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature and Date

Transcription

“E.D. LEWANDOWSKI 1957"

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Framed Size

Height

24-11/16 in

Width

35-11/16 in

Dimension Description

Image Size

Height

14 in

Width

26 in

Relationships

Related Publications

Notes

MPL holds a vessel file for the W.E. Fitzgerald, a launching memento, and the ship's nameboard. Ship plans for the W.E. Fitzgerald are available in the Ship Plans Collection (ca. 1900-2014), Great Lakes Marine Collection, Milwaukee Public Library, plan #s 001-136 and 001-137.

Copyright

Notes

© Estate of Edmund Lewandowski

Exhibitions

Notes

"Two Edmunds: Fitzgerald and Lewandowski—Their Mark on Milwaukee," Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI, August 2020-January 2021. "Great Lakers," Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI, April-August 2012. "The Layton School of Art Legacy Exhibition," University Art Museum, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, September-December 1984.