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• The Edmund Fitzgerald: What Really Happened?

  • When
    Monday, October 19, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    CRF Museum (203 E Main Street Loudonville OH)

  When the Edmund Fitzgerald entered service in 1958, she was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes. Built to transport iron ore, she became a familiar presence on the lakes, earning a reputation for her size and record-breaking loads during an 18-year working career.
  

  On November 10, 1975, the Fitzgerald sank during a fierce storm on Lake Superior, taking all 29 crew members with her. The disaster became one of the most widely remembered tragedies in Great Lakes history. Gordon Lightfoot’s song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” brought her story to audiences around the world and helped preserve the memory of the ship and her crew.

  Christopher Gillcrist, former director of the National Museum of the Great Lakes, explores the shipping history that led to the Fitzgerald, her remarkable career, and the circumstances surrounding her final voyage. The program examines several prevailing theories about her loss and considers why, decades later, the question of what really happened continues to fascinate.

  Join the museum for a closer look at the vessel, the tragedy, and the enduring legacy of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

  
  

  Program Details

  This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00 PM. The lecture will be held in the CRF Museum Lecture Hall.

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• The Wild Side of Christmas: Old World Legends & Holiday Lore

  • When
    Monday, November 23, 2026
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    CRF Museum (203 E Main Street Loudonville OH)

  Christmas traditions include more than familiar images of Santa Claus and brightly wrapped gifts. Across Europe, generations of holiday celebrations have included curious creatures, unusual customs, and stories that reveal a stranger side of the season.

  These Old World traditions vary from region to region, reflecting local histories, beliefs, and ways of celebrating. Together, they offer a glimpse into the many forms Christmas has taken and the folklore passed down through families and communities.

  Museum curator Kenny Libben explores this world of holiday lore, introducing Krampus, Yule Goats, and other figures and customs found in European traditions. The program considers their origins, their regional differences, and the roles they have played in Christmas celebrations.

  Program Details

  This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00 PM. The lecture will be held in the CRF Museum Lecture Hall.

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• Danny Foster: A Redbird's Trek to the Coldest Place on Earth

  • When
    Monday, February 15, 2027
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    CRF Museum (203 E Main Street Loudonville OH)

  In September 1962, six men departed Wilkes Station on Antarctica’s coast for a four-month expedition across the ice sheet. Among them was Loudonville-native Danny Foster, the team’s American meteorologist. Their destination was Vostok Station, a remote Soviet research outpost roughly 900 miles inland.

  Organized through the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions, the Wilkes–Vostok Traverse combined exploration with scientific research. Tracked vehicles pulled sledges loaded with food, fuel, living quarters, and equipment for studying the ice and the land beneath it. The journey demanded months of preparation and the combined skills of scientists, mechanics, and a navigator.

  Vostok had been evacuated before the expedition arrived, leaving the travelers to reach an unoccupied station deep in Antarctica’s interior. The station would later record the lowest air temperature ever measured on Earth: −128.6°F (−89.2°C) in 1983.

  Dr. Steve Allerding, former South Pole physician, discusses Foster’s role in this remarkable expedition, the history of the traverse, and the challenges of traveling across Antarctica. His own polar experience brings perspective to a story that connects Loudonville with one of the world’s most isolated places.

  Program Details

  This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00 PM. The lecture will be held in the CRF Museum Lecture Hall.

  Show details
• The Maplehurst Murders

  • When
    Monday, March 15, 2027
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    CRF Museum (203 E Main Street Loudonville OH)

  The 1905 murder of Miranda Bricker in Mount Vernon, Ohio, remains unsolved. When author Mark Sebastian Jordan began investigating the case, he uncovered a story that reached far beyond the crime itself, with surprising connections spanning decades and crossing the country.

  Jordan returns to the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum to untangle a history stretching from Civil War battlefields and a lynching in Coshocton to jubilee singing in Canada, a stage career in Hollywood, and a tragic end aboard a train during the Great Depression. Through rare historical images, he brings the people and events into focus and suggests a person of interest who could help solve the case.

  An Ohio author with nine books spanning historical true crime, memoir, humor, and more, Jordan writes a weekly local history column for KnoxPages.com. He has received an excellence award from the Ohio Arts Council and has been selected as an Ohio Teaching Artist. His background also includes work as a director, actor, and improv comedian.

  Jordan will sell and sign copies of The Maplehurst Murder and his other books.

  Program Details

  This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00 PM. The lecture will be held in the CRF Museum Lecture Hall.

  Show details
• The Coded Language of Negro Spirituals on the Underground Railroad

  • When
    Monday, April 12, 2027
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    CRF Museum (203 E Main Street Loudonville OH)

  For enslaved people seeking freedom, knowing whom to trust and how to share information could mean the difference between escape and capture. Along the Underground Railroad, secrecy was essential—and a song could carry meaning that an outsider might never recognize.

  African American spirituals have been sung by enslaved people and their descendants since the 18th century and remain part of a living musical tradition today. These songs carried expressions of faith and hope while also providing a powerful means of resistance. Biblical stories and images could convey a longing for freedom, giving voice to ideas that could not be spoken openly.

  For an overseer or enslaver, a song might appear to concern heaven, scripture, or religious folklore. For those singing it, the same words could carry another meaning: liberation, an escape route, or plans for resistance. Historian and educator Valerie Boyer explores these layers of meaning, examining the coded language of spirituals and their connections to the Underground Railroad.

  Born and raised in Galveston, Texas, Boyer brings a background in music, ministry, activism, and education to her work. A Howard University graduate and former social studies teacher, she serves as School and Inclusive Community Programs Coordinator at Ohio History Connection. Her honors include serving as a 2012 Miss Juneteenth Ambassador and being named Black Historian of the Year by UpStart Magazine in 2019.

  Program Details

  This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the program begins at 7:00 PM. The lecture will be held in the CRF Museum Lecture Hall.

  Show details