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Nathan Wietrzykowsk
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Nathan Wietrzykowski has a deep passion for history, particularly maritime history and specifically the history of the local carferries. The 2019 Ludington High School graduate is in his second year as program manager for the Mason County Historical Society. As part of his duties, he is also director of the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum.
“I’ve always had an interest in how things work, ever since I was a young kid,” Nathan said. “I can remember being fascinated with how machines operated and even how social and economic structures operated. When I was in elementary school, at Foster Elementary I checked out a book by Robert Ballard on discovering the wreckage of the Titanic. When I left Foster to go to middle school, the librarian gave me that book, because I had checked it out so many times.”
While in high school Nathan said he remembers checking out a book, “The Great Lakes Car Ferries” by George Woodman Hilton from the Mason County District Library on the Great Lakes car ferry industry.
Port of Ludington Maritime Museum
“It was an in-depth book about the operations of the car ferries on the Great Lakes,” Nathan said. “That book really inspired my interest and love of the Ludington carferry fleet.”
His full time work for the Society is only seasonal, as Nathan is also a full time college student. He began his college career at West Shore Community College and now is entering his final undergraduate year at Grand Valley State University where he is majoring in group social studies secondary education, which he describes as “history with a side of economics, political science, and geography.” He will also have a minor in sociology. He plans to become a certified secondary education teacher but would like pursue graduate degrees as well with the possibility of teaching higher education.
“One of my goals is to write a follow-up to that car ferry book, which was written in 1960. Ideally, I would like to teach in this area.”
As program manager for the Historical Society, Nathan reviews the organization’s goals and helps decide on the Society’s programs throughout the year, with a lot of emphasis on educating children. The Mason County Historical Society operates three museum facilities, the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum, located in the former U.S. Coast Guard Station along the channel in Ludington, Historic White Pine Village, located in Pere Marquette Township, and the Mason County Research Center and Emporium, located at 130 E. Ludington Ave.
In addition to working for the Historical Society, Nathan also works on the Lake Michigan Carferry’s SS Badger.
An interactive replica of the pilot house of the Pere Marquette 22 carferry.
“Working for both the Badger and the Historical Society, at the Maritime Museum, has taken my studies and interest in history to another level that many students do not get to experience. The Badger is a working piece of maritime history. I have the honor of interacting with various crew members who have first-hand knowledge into how this ship, the last coal-burning vessel on the Great Lakes, operates. It’s just knowledge that someone will never get from a textbook or a classroom.”
As director of the maritime museum, he gets to be surrounded by the subject he loves, every work day.
“Nathan has done a great job for the Society,” said Rebecca Berringer, executive director of the MCHS. “One of his biggest jobs for the Society has been to increase the social media presence of the maritime museum by posting in-depth history articles about various maritime topics, especially the carferries. This has expanded our scope to a whole new audience.”
Nathan said he is among a movement of younger people who have an interest in history, particularly maritime history. One of his peers is Brock Johnson, ship operations manager of SS Milwaukee Clipper Preservation, Inc., which owns and operates the Milwaukee Clipper museum ship in Muskegon. Johnson was a GVSU classmate of Nathan’s. Another “young person” operating a museum ship is Robby Laurain, executive director of the Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee and USCGC Acacia in Manistee.
Read more about the Milwaukee Clipper here.
“We get together once in a while and will bounce ideas off each other,” Nathan said. “It’s been a great networking experience but also encouraging and hopeful to see more younger people interested in history.”
Nathan said while he plans to have a career in teaching, he is hopeful that he can continue a relationship with the Mason County Historical Society.
“This organization does an amazing job preserving a wide variety of aspects of Mason County history,” he said. “I’m proud to be part of it.”
To learn more about Mason County Historical Society and to become a member, visit masoncountymihistory.org.
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