Today's Messages

Please join the Great Lakes Center today from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in SAMC 151 for "Glenorchy's Lost Grain" presented by Andrew Nicholls, chair and professor of history and social studies education. This is the first event of "The Great Lakes Experience: Exploring the History, Influence, and Culture of the Great Lakes" series and is hosted by the Great Lakes Center. It is open to all campus members and the public.

"Glenorchy's Lost Grain" will discuss how the wreck of a Canadian Great Lakes freighter, the Glenorchy, on Lake Huron in October 1924 resulted in a series of conflicting lawsuits surrounding damages to be paid on the loss of her cargo. The suits and countersuits were ultimately heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1931. The High Court's decision established a new precedent in maritime insurance law that continues to be cited to this day. Glenorchy now sits at the bottom of Lake Huron, about 6 miles off Harbor Beach, Michigan. All of her crew survived, but this loss serves as a reminder that bulk transportation on the Great Lakes has always been hazardous. Ships in 1924 did not have sophisticated means of communication, weather warnings, or visual aids to assist in navigation. The loss of the Glenorchy's cargo necessitated new legal definitions of the value and liabilities assigned to maritime assets.