The Michigan Maritime Museum is proud to announce that Working the Water: Commercial Fishing on Lake Michigan has received the Michigan Historical Society’s Exhibit or Program of the Year Award, a statewide honor recognizing excellence in the interpretation and presentation of Michigan history.
The award recognizes exhibits and programs that demonstrate exceptional quality in education, research, design, and community engagement while creating meaningful opportunities for the public to connect with Michigan’s past.
Located in the Harris Commercial Fishing Building at the Michigan Maritime Museum, Working the Water explores the people, vessels, tools, traditions, and industries that shaped commercial fishing on Lake Michigan. Through historic artifacts, photographs, oral histories, immersive interpretation, and firsthand accounts, the exhibit brings generations of Great Lakes working-waterfront history to life.
“This award is an incredible recognition of the work that went into preserving and sharing this important chapter of Michigan’s maritime history,” said Bailey Sisoy-Moore, Executive Director of the Michigan Maritime Museum. “Commercial fishing helped shape communities throughout the Great Lakes, and Working the Water gives visitors a chance to connect with the people and stories behind that legacy.”
The award was presented September 26 at the Grand Rapids Public Museum during the Michigan Historical Society’s annual awards ceremony. Michigan Maritime Museum Curator, Chelsea Bailey, accepted the honor on behalf of the Museum.
The Museum extends special thanks to the Harris Family for their sponsorship of the Harris Commercial Fishing Building, Cottage Home for construction support, Do It Corporation for production support, and the Michigan Maritime Museum staff whose research, interpretation, design, and collaboration brought the exhibit to life.
Working the Water: Commercial Fishing on Lake Michigan is open now at the Michigan Maritime Museum.
Visitors are invited to experience the award-winning exhibit and discover the people, industries, and traditions that helped define life on Lake Michigan.
About the Michigan Maritime Museum
The Michigan Maritime Museum, located in South Haven, Michigan, preserves and shares the maritime history of the Great Lakes through exhibitions, historic vessels, educational programs, research, and on-water experiences. The Museum’s waterfront campus connects visitors with the people, industries, technologies, and traditions that have shaped life on the Great Lakes.
