Sequicentennial Snapshot Classroom schooner brings Wisconsin history to life

Wisconsin students will soon be able to sail to another place and time, thanks to a special Wisconsin Sesquicentennial project. Volunteers in Milwaukee are constructing a 137-foot schooner that will serve as a traveling classroom. Dubbed “Wisconsin’s Flagship,” the schooner resembles those which carried people and cargo on the Great Lakes more than a century ago. It is expected to be in the water next spring and in full operation by summer 2000. Constructed with Wisconsin timber and craftsmanship, the schooner will result from more than 900,000 volunteer hours of labor. Above, volunteers work on the project in a plastic-covered structure at Milwaukee’s lakefront. Students from throughout the state are touring the project during construction. When completed, the schooner will serve as a floating classroom. For more information, go the Wisconsin Lake Schooner Association Web site at http://www.wis-schooner.org/.

- Photo by Bill Hurley

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Posted May 4, 1998