UWM Alum’s Great Lakes Preservation Work Brings History Into Reach

Great Lakes history can seem distant when it is taught as a list of dates, trade routes and vessel names. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee says Kevin Cullen’s work as executive director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum offers a more tangible route into the subject: preserved artifacts, underwater research and public-facing spaces that connect local communities with the region’s maritime past. For students, families and educators, the story matters because it frames preservation not simply as protecting old objects, but as creating opportunities to ask questions about work, travel, technology, ecology and community memory.

Preservation can make history a lived subject

According to UWM’s November 2026 report, Cullen is an archaeologist and UWM alumnus who leads the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The university says the museum preserves more than 10,000 artifacts associated with 42 shipwrecks. Those collections, UWM reports, are part of a wider effort to make the Great Lakes’ underwater history understandable to people who may never dive or conduct archaeological fieldwork themselves.

UWM says Cullen’s interest in history began in rural Ireland, where he encountered an environment shaped by old structures, ruins and burial sites. That early experience informed his view that history is more than information in a textbook, according to the university. It is an approach with useful implications for classrooms: learners often have more to discuss when a historical topic begins with a physical object, a map, a local place or a question about whose stories are preserved.

For a teacher, a shipwreck artifact can prompt evidence-based inquiry rather than passive recall. Students might consider what an object can reveal about its makers and users, what it cannot reveal on its own, and what further evidence would be needed. Families visiting a museum can use the same approach: pause at one item, describe what is visible, then distinguish observations from assumptions. That habit is useful across history, science and media literacy.

Underwater discoveries depend on public connection

UWM reports that the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast has held national marine sanctuary designation since 2022 and protects dozens of known wrecks along Wisconsin’s shoreline, with additional wrecks still undiscovered. The university says Cullen has volunteered to coordinate expeditions that found two wrecks during the past two years, including the schooner F.J. King, a vessel that carried iron ore and had been sought by diving teams for decades.

The university’s account places particular emphasis on how those discoveries were shared. UWM says citizen scientists and a media reporter were present when sonar located the F.J. King in real time. Cullen told UWM that involving the public in discovery is especially important to him. The point is not that every learner needs specialist equipment; it is that research becomes more meaningful when people can see how questions, tools, teamwork and evidence lead to a conclusion.

According to UWM, Cullen also serves on the sanctuary’s advisory council, where he helps allocate funds and develop public experiences connected to the sanctuary and its artifacts. For schools, this is a useful reminder that local history may involve many kinds of expertise: divers, researchers, museum staff, community volunteers, educators and public agencies can each contribute different knowledge and responsibilities.

Questions students can carry into a lesson or visit

• What evidence helps researchers identify a wreck, and what uncertainty may remain?
• How might cargo, construction materials or location reveal links between a ship and the regional economy?
• Who decides which artifacts are conserved, displayed or left in place, and why?
• How can public access support learning without putting fragile cultural resources at risk?

Students who want to rehearse asking clear questions, explaining evidence aloud or reviewing related school subjects can also use COSMIQ’s free voice-driven AI tutoring. COSMIQ is free forever for every K-12 student, and it can be used as a low-pressure companion for turning a museum observation into a research question or study prompt.

Collections work reaches beyond the exhibit floor

UWM says the museum recently received $1.5 million to renovate the USS Cobia, which the university describes as one of the country’s most intact World War II submarines. According to UWM, the submarine is located at the museum and is used for daytime guided tours as well as bookable overnight group experiences. The reported investment illustrates a practical side of preservation: historic resources need ongoing care, facilities and interpretation if they are to remain available for public learning.

The university also reports that the museum’s Wisconsin Maritime Heritage Center is undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion. UWM says the plan includes converting a former dealership parking lot, at a site where Great Lakes captain Edward Carus once lived, into a maritime heritage garden. The university says the garden is intended to hold large maritime artifacts, including an anchor salvaged from the SS Milwaukee, while adding public green space and plants intended to support pollinator species.

For colleagues in museums and schools, the reported projects point to a broader lesson: preservation planning can connect collections care with accessibility, outdoor learning and neighborhood space. It also raises constructive questions worth discussing with students. What makes a public site welcoming? How should institutions explain the provenance and conservation needs of objects? How can a garden or display invite curiosity while acknowledging the limits of what is known?

What learners can take from Cullen’s path

UWM says Cullen studied anthropology at UW-Madison, became a certified scuba diver as an undergraduate and later completed a master’s degree in anthropology and a museum studies certificate at UWM. The university reports that work with anthropology professor Bettina Arnold, including Wisconsin shipwreck surveys, helped steer him toward Great Lakes maritime archaeology.

That account offers a grounded message for students considering future study: interests do not have to fit neatly into one subject at the start. According to UWM’s report, Cullen’s route combined anthropology, field research, diving, museum studies and public outreach. A student interested in local history might begin with a class project, a library question, a museum visit or a conversation with an educator, then notice which methods—writing, mapping, research, design or science—hold their attention.

UWM’s report ultimately presents preservation as work that links research with public understanding. The most useful takeaway for families and classrooms is to treat nearby cultural institutions as places to practice careful observation and thoughtful questions. Whether learners encounter Great Lakes history in a gallery, a shoreline lesson or a digital discussion, the goal is not merely to remember an object’s name, but to understand the evidence, people and choices that give it meaning.