News release from the Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor:
The Battle for the Great Lakes:
How the War of 1812 Fractured the Unity of the Great Lakes Basin, Destroyed One Nation, and Created Two Others
Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor Annual Meeting and Conference, November 9, 2014
(April 2, 2014) – The Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor will hold its annual meeting and conference on November 9 at Nazareth Hall, 21211 W River Rd, Grand Rapids, Ohio. This year’s focus is on the impact of the period 1812-1814 on northwest Ohio, Northeast Indiana and the Great Lakes. Luncheon begins at 12:00pm. Business meeting begins at 1:00pm. The Keynote address, given by Dr. Theodore Karamanski, Professor, Public History Graduate Director, Loyola University, Chicago will begin at 1:15pm. Michael Galbraith, Executive Director, ARCH, Inc., Fort Wayne will give a presentation about the effect of the War of 1812 on native peoples of the region at 2:30pm.
Professor Theodore Karamanski will present an assessment of the War of 1812 as part of a sixty-year long struggle between Europeans, European-Americans, and Native Peoples for control of the Great Lakes. The American defeats at Detroit and Queenstown Heights laid a foundation for the emergence of the modern nation of Canada. The American victories on Lake Erie and at the Thames reasserted the republic’s ability to resist the power of the British Empire but also had the effect of destroying a nascent cross-border First Nations effort to create an independent native nation in the heart of North America. The modern Great Lakes basin divided as it is between two nations, eight states, two provinces, and a variety of semi-sovereign native communities was the result of the war and has been an environmental management nightmare ever since.
Registration is $20, for members and $25 for non-members, and includes lunch. Attendees may register via mail to the organization’s Indiana office address, 4330 Pembroke Lane, Fort Wayne, IN 46807. Please include the names of attendees, and check payable to Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor.