Ladies of the Lights: Michigan Women in the U.S. Lighthouse Service

Acknowledgments

g ACKNOWLEDGMENTS g I wish to thank the Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame for providing the opportunity to delve into such a fascinating topic in the process of developing the “Ladies of the Lights: Michigan Women in the U.S. Lighthouse Service” exhibit. The discovery of an original copy of A Child of the Sea; and Life among the Mormons—the memoir of Michigan keeper Elizabeth Van Riper Williams—in the Historical Center’s library was the ‹rst step on my journey of discovery that resulted in the book you now hold in your hands. Much of my research time was spent in the stacks of the Library of Michigan, which has an extensive collection of lighthouse books of state and national interest. I am also indebted to the following archivists, curators, historians, and librarians who provided invaluable resources along the way: Alicia Allen, Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library; Christina Hirn Arseneau, Heritage Museum and Cultural Center of St. Joseph; Ron Bloom‹eld, Bay County Historical Society; Cathi Bulone Campbell, Sanilac County Historic Village and Museum; Katheryn Carrier, Traverse Area District Library; Bill Cashman, Beaver Island Historical Society; Dennis Copeland, Monterey (California) Public Library; Wallace Hayden, Bacon Memorial District Library; Judith Kimball, Presque Isle Township Museum Society ; Jerry Lenz, Keweenaw County Historical Society; Carol Lewis, Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society; Sean Ley, Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society; Vicki Mann, Peter White Public Library ; Julie Meyerle, Archives of Michigan; Malgosia Myc, Bentley Historical Library/University of Michigan; Jim Orr and Kathy Steiner, Benson Ford Research Center/The Henry Ford; Sandy Planisek, Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association; Davonne Rogers, Presque Isle District Library; Stephen Saks, New York Public Library; Peg Siciliano, Traverse Area Historical Society/Grand Traverse Heritage Center; Patricia Simons, Ontonagon County Historical Museum; Holly Smith, Crane Hill Publishers; and Stefanie Staley, Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum. Chief among the individuals who helped me in my quest for information was Dianna Stamp›er, founder of Promote Michigan, whose love affair with lighthouses prompted her to develop a series of lectures on female lighthouse keepers of the Great Lakes as well as ghost stories associated with Michigan lights. She shared her resources sel›essly with me and was the person who introduced me to Michigan’s last lady lighthouse keeper: Frances Wuori Johnson (now Marshall). Dianna was also kind enough to let me borrow the phrase that served as a title for both my exhibit and this book. Terry Pepper, executive director of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association, lent his encyclopedic knowledge of Michigan lights to my two projects and served as fact-checker extraordinaire. His personal website, “Seeing the Light: Lighthouses of the Western Great Lakes” at www.terrypepper.com—which incorporates a treasure trove of keeper data compiled by Thomas and Phyllis Tag—is rightfully regarded as the premier online resource on this subject. I was also privileged to communicate with the descendants of several female lighthouse keepers and keepers’ wives, including Richard Campbell (Edna Campbell); Mary Lou Dacey (Anna and Mary Garraty); Chris Shanley-Dillman (Anastasia Truckey); Marcia Franz (Mary Ann Wheatley); Cindy Krueger and Jeff Shook (Catherine Shook); Jeremiah Mason (Mary Corgan); Holly Nolan (Frances Marshall); Arthur Schlichting (Grace Holmes); and Jack Sheridan (Julia Sheridan), who were generous in sharing images and information about their accomplished ancestors. And last, but certainly not least, Frances Marshall deserves my special thanks for welcoming me into her home, sharing her personal history as a keeper, and serving as the last living link to the more than ‹fty women we proudly call Michigan’s Ladies of the Lights. acknowledgments x g LADIES OF THE LIGHTS g ...