Gert Wellisch: Savior of Sand Island Lighthouse

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Narrator: Sand Island, one of the westernmost of the Apostle Islands. Its centerpiece: a picture-perfect Gothic-style lighthouse built in 1881. During its four decades in service, Sand Island Light was home to two dedicated official keepers. And in the 1920s, it became home to a trailblazer with a passion to preserve.

Bob Mackreth: Gert Wellisch, very interesting figure in Apostle Islands history. She was a young woman from a well-to-do family in St. Paul, and her father was a member of a social group which had built a nice lodge on Sand Island where they would go for the summers.

Narrator: Sand Island became a haven for Gert and her friends, part of a new generation of empowered and independent young women. The friends’ adventures well documented in Gert’s surviving photo scrapbooks. As Gert graduated from college and embarked on a career as a schoolteacher in St. Paul, tides of change were arriving at her old summer home. In 1921, Sand Island became the first of the Apostle Islands’ beacons to be automated, leaving the tower and its quarters uninhabited.

Bob Mackreth: The government essentially walked away from the building.

Narrator: By 1925, Gert’s cherished lighthouse had begun falling into disrepair. But she refused to let it perish. The 29-year-old seized an opportunity to return to Sand Island.

Bob Mackreth: Gertrude pulled as many strings as she possibly could and got this lease negotiated with the Department of Commerce to occupy the lighthouse for $50. Plus, she was responsible now for the upkeep.

Narrator: For the next 18 years, Gert gave new life to Sand Island Light and its grounds. With the help of her friends, family, and faithful German shepherd, Sandy.

Bob Mackreth: She was essentially a pioneer in many ways. She was not restricted by the rigid gender expectations. She dressed up as a keeper. She wore a sailor suit when she was out there.

Narrator: Gert’s photos — the bulk of which span between 1921 and 1922 — document her labor of love — restoring and maintaining the lighthouse and property. Her album provides the only remaining photo documentation of Sand Island Light’s Fresnel lens. After her lease on the lighthouse ended, Gert still kept a watchful eye on the place. She built a cabin two miles from the light, sharing it with her partner, fellow schoolteacher Muriel Korfhage.

Bob Mackreth: They were in a very open same-sex relationship and very, very much a part of the — welcome and beloved part of the community.

Narrator: Decades after Gert, Muriel, and their friends last strolled the shores of Sand Island, the legacy of their hard work and dedication remains. Today, Sand Island Light is maintained by the National Park Service. The beacon that Gert Wellisch looked after long ago shines over Lake Superior once again.

Bob Mackreth: She absolutely kept that lighthouse from falling apart so we can look at it in its glory today, rather than just some old ruin there with a steel tower out in front. So, I think very highly of Gert Wellisch.

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