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Have an idea for Subject of the Month?
May 2019
Selector: Rhonda McGinnis
"Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered"
Gordon Lightfoot "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
Websites, May 2019
History and Geography
Shipping and Lighthouses
Biology
Shipwrecks
Wayne State University Press
The Wayne State University Press is a distinctive urban publisher committed to supporting the core research, teaching, and service mission of WSU by generating high-quality scholarly and general-interest books of global importance.
Through its publishing program, the Press disseminates research, advances education, and serves the local community while expanding the international reputation of the Press and the University.
- Great Lakes Books SeriesEditor: Thomas Klug, Wayne State University
The Great Lakes Books Series specializes in books of regional interest and importance to Michigan and the entire Great Lakes region. Inaugurated in 1986 to honor Michigan's 1987 sesquicentennial, the series currently includes titles on Michigan and regional history, the Upper Peninsula, military history, the Great Lakes and maritime history, Detroit history and culture, automotive history, art and architecture, literature, sports, ecology and the environment, and books for young readers.
White Squall by From the Native water monster who raised canoe-killing storms to thousand-foot cargo ships, sailing the Great Lakes has inspired autobiography, folksong, poetry, and fiction about some of the most beautiful, most dangerous, waters in the world. In the words of the men and women who lived them, here are the dangers and triumphs.
Queen of the Lakes by This book is an account of the ships that have borne the name "Queen of the Lakes," an honorary title indicating that, at the time of its launching, a ship is the longest on the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Island Escapes by The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth. The more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout the basin provide some of the best ways to enjoy the Great Lakes. While the vast majority of these islands can only be reached by private boat or plane, a surprising number of islands--each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history--can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.
Star Songs and Water Spirits by THE GREAT LAKES NATIVE WORLD From the deep past to the present, here are the stories, songs, poetry, speeches, autobiography, fiction, and art of the Great Lakes Native nations. Set in the natural environment of the seasonal year, the selections explain cultural concepts and show how modern Native literature reflects tradition.
Picture of the Display
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Books Available in the WSU Libraries
Harborless by Call Number: PS 3521 .M68 H21 2017Harborless, a collection of poems informed by Great Lakes shipwrecks, is part history and part reinvention. The poems explore tragic wrecks in rivers and lakes, finding and forming artistic meaning from destruction and death.
Lake Invaders by Call Number: QH 96.8 .I57 R37 2016There are more than 180 exotic species in the Great Lakes. Some, such as green algae, the Asian tapeworm, and the suckermouth minnow, have had little or no impact so far. But a handful of others--sea lamprey, alewife, round goby, quagga mussel, zebra mussel, and rusty crayfish--have conducted an all-out assault on the Great Lakes and are winning the battle. In Lake Invaders: Invasive Species and the Battle for the Future of the Great Lakes, William Rapai focuses on the impact of these invasives.
Graveyard of the Lakes by Call Number: G 525 .T475 2000For the first time, a historian and seasoned mariner looks beyond the specific circumstances of individual shipwrecks in an effort to reach a clearer understanding of the economic, political, and psychological factors that have influenced the 25,000 wrecks on the Great Lakes over the past 300 years.
Great Lakes Journey by Call Number: GE 160 .G75 A84 2000Great Lakes Journey is a follow-up to Ashworth's earlier book The Late, Great Lakes, published in 1986. Fifteen years after his first trip, Visiting many of the same places and people, he examine the changes that have taken place along the Great Lakes since the 1980s.
Windjammers by Call Number: ML 3780 .W35 2002White-winged schooners once dominated commerce and culture on the Great Lakes, and songs relieved the hours on board, but that way of life and its music ended when steam-driven mechanical boats swept schooners from the inland seas. Recognizing that this rich oral tradition was going to the grave with the last of the schoonermen, Ivan H. Walton undertook a quest to save the songs of the Great Lakes sailors. With its stories, lyrics, musical scores, Windjammers ensures that sailing chanteys can be heard again and again far into the future. A CD is included with the book.
Schooner Passage by Call Number: HE 630 .M4 K37 2000 StorageThroughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, schooner trade was a well-developed system of maritime transport for commodities such as grain, lumber, and iron. The schooner trade was as critical to the development of the Great Lakes region as covered wagons were to the Far West and paddle wheel steamers were to the South.
Songquest by Call Number: ML 3551.7 .G74 S65 2005 Undergraduate LIbrarySongquest: The Journals of Great Lakes Folklorist Ivan H. Walton is a selection from the daily journals Walton wrote during his travels as a folklore collector. It is clear that the author both admired the sailors of the Great Lakes for what they had done during their working years and worried about them as they entered the twilight of their lives.
Videos, May 2019
- Lake invaders : the fight for Lake Huron byPublication Date: 2014.Originally produced by Green Planet Films in 2008.
The third largest freshwater lake on the planet has been invaded by numerous exotic species over the last century. "Lake invaders: the fight for Lake Huron" is a documentary which explores the threat to Lake Huron's ecosystem and the innovative solutions employed by biologists. Biologists from around the Great Lakes describe invaders such as the sea lamprey, alewife, zebra mussel, quagga mussel, goby, and killer amphipod. They describe the damage caused by these invaders and efforts to manage Lake Huron's ecosystem and multi-million dollar fisheries.
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