Description

The 200-year-old Erie Canal transformed America by linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic through a 363-mile waterway across upstate New York. Completed in 1825, this engineering achievement fueled the growth of New York City, Midwest farms, and cities such as Milwaukee, Green Bay, Chicago, and Duluth. Award-winning author Laurie Lawlor, whose book Building Erie: The Canal That Changed America highlights the overlooked workers who built the canal, will discuss its lasting impact on Wisconsin, the Midwest, the environment, and the Haudenosaunee homeland. She will also explore how the canal facilitated the spread of goods, mail, books, and ideas across the nation, serving as the nineteenth-century equivalent of today's Internet.