Becoming the Pride of the Upper Peninsula: The Formative Years of the Copper Range Railroad
In October 2018 the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections launched its traveling exhibit, Becoming the Pride of the Upper Peninsula: The Formative Years of the Copper Range Railroad. The exhibit contains six panels that document the early years of the Copper Range Railroad, from the founding of the road until its initial expansion beyond the main line. The exhibit also provides a glimpse beyond the formative years, including the impact of the decline of mining in the area, the school train runs, and the dissolution of the company. This online exhibit is a companion to the traveling exhibit so that anyone with an interest in rail history can engage with the material.
Black Voices in the Copper Country: Exploring Community and Michigan Tech Campus Life, 1850-1990
This exhibit examines the African American experience in the Keweenaw. This online exhibit is intended to highlight materials that explore the stories of underrepresented individuals and narratives in Michigan history and serves to encourage researchers to consider more inclusivity when telling regional and state history. The Black Voices project was a research initiative that has included substantial archival research, public programming and exhibits. The project ran from June 2015 - June 2016 and was made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Tumult & Tragedy: Michigan's 1913-1914 Copper Strike
This traveling exhibit explores 1913-1914 mining strike in Michigan's Copper Country. This remarkable and complex struggle between copper-mining corporations, mine owners and administrators, national labor organizations, governmental officials, local commercial and civic groups, and of course thousands of mine workers affected Copper Country residents from all walks of life.
An Interior Ellis Island: Ethnic Diversity and the Peopling of Michigan's Copper Country
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula mining industries were important to the development of Michigan and the Lake Superior basin. In fact, Michigan’s Copper Country Peninsula served as a kind of interior Ellis Island—an entry point for tens of thousands of immigrants and their children into American society. This exhibit helps familiarize users with the complex community of ethnic and cultural backgrounds attracted to this urban outpost along the shores of Lake Superior.
People, Place and Time: Michigan's Copper Country Through the Lens of J. W. Nara (1874-1934)
This exhibit depicts Michigan’s Copper Country through the lens of commercial photographer J.W. Nara (1874-1934). Nara’s lens captured the people and places of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The stories of copper mining and industry are given prominence as Nara's life spans the most productive decades in Michigan’s copper district. The lives of working folks are also captured—working underground in the mines, socializing at weekend picnics, and mourning the dead during Michigan’s bitter 1913 copper miners’ strike.
A Sense of Place
This photographic essay provides a visual introduction to the significant geological and mining activities which have drawn people to this region for centuries, the social aspects of the communities and lives which have occurred here, as well as the place that Michigan Technological University has had in these stories.
The Michigan Tech Seal: A University's History Through its Emblems
An official University Seal displays the general scope and authority of an institution. This exhibit demonstrates the history of the Michigan Tech seal, from its humble beginnings in Michigan’s northern mining frontier, to the modern day.
Naval Training Ship U.S.S. Yantic
This exhibit describes the USS Yantic, a 1864 wooden-hull gunboat from the Civil War. The Yantic was later stationed in Hancock, Michigan, and utilized as a training vessel for the United States Navy during the years 1907-17.
The Bosch Brewing Company
This exhibit describes the Bosch Brewing Company. Originally founded by Joseph Bosch in 1876 as Torch Lake Brewery, Joseph Bosch & Company, was the pinnacle of Upper Peninsula brewing from its humble beginnings until its closure in 1973.