The Women of the Copper Country

The Women of the Copper Country
Author: Mary Doria Russell
Publisher: Atria Books
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982109580

From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Sparrow comes an inspiring historical novel about “America’s Joan of Arc” Annie Clements—the courageous woman who started a rebellion by leading a strike against the largest copper mining company in the world. In July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. She’s spent her whole life in the copper-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salaries—and had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. The women labor in the houses of the elite, and send their husbands and sons deep underground each day, dreading the fateful call of the company man telling them their loved ones aren’t coming home. When Annie decides to stand up for herself, and the entire town of Calumet, nearly everyone believes she may have taken on more than she is prepared to handle. In Annie’s hands lie the miners’ fortunes and their health, her husband’s wrath over her growing independence, and her own reputation as she faces the threat of prison and discovers a forbidden love. On her fierce quest for justice, Annie will discover just how much she is willing to sacrifice for her own independence and the families of Calumet. From one of the most versatile writers in contemporary fiction, this novel is an authentic and moving historical portrait of the lives of the men and women of the early 20th century labor movement, and of a turbulent, violent political landscape that may feel startlingly relevant to today.

Prehistoric Copper Mining in Michigan

Prehistoric Copper Mining in Michigan
Author: John R. Halsey
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2018-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0915703890

Isle Royale and the counties that line the northwest coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are called Copper Country because of the rich deposits of native copper there. In the nineteenth century, explorers and miners discovered evidence of prehistoric copper mining in this region. They used those "ancient diggings" as a guide to establishing their own, much larger mines, and in the process, destroyed the archaeological record left by the prehistoric miners. Using mining reports, newspaper accounts, personal letters, and other sources, this book reconstructs what these nineteenth-century discoverers found, how they interpreted the material remains of prehistoric activity, and what they did with the stone, wood, and copper tools they found at the prehistoric sites. "This volume represents an exhaustive compilation of the early written and published accounts of mines and mining in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It will prove a valuable resource to current and future scholars. Through these early historic accounts of prospectors and miners, Halsey provides a vivid picture of what once could be seen." —John M. O'Shea, curator of Great Lakes Archaeology, University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology

Michigan's Copper Country in Early Photos

Michigan's Copper Country in Early Photos
Author: B. E. Tyler
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2023-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN:

In 'Michigan's Copper Country in Early Photos' by B. E. Tyler, readers are transported back in time to the boom days of the copper mining industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book is a carefully curated collection of historic photographs that visually document the rise of this industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Tyler's writing style is concise and informative, providing context for each photograph while allowing the images to speak for themselves. The book offers a unique glimpse into a pivotal era in American industrial history, shedding light on the lives of the men and women who worked in the mines and the communities that grew up around them. Tyler's attention to detail and dedication to preserving this important history make 'Michigan's Copper Country in Early Photos' a valuable addition to any historian's library. Scholars of American industrial history, photography enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the rich tapestry of Michigan's past will find this book both enlightening and engaging.

Copper Country Rail

Copper Country Rail
Author: George E. Anderson
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738550589

From the railroads' beginnings in the early 1870s to the complex rail network of the 1900s, the advance and decline of the copper industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was mirrored by the railroads that served it. With the abandonment in 1976 of the Houghton tracks of the Soo Line (formerly the Mineral Range, Duluth South Shore and Atlantic), Copper Country was once again without the railroad service that built it. This book seeks to tell this rich story of Copper Country railroads through a collection of pictures from various archival sources, including the authors' personal collections, the Houghton County Historical Society, Keweenaw County Historical Society, the Rudolf Maki collection, the Chuck Pomazal collection, the Michigan Technological University Van Pelt Library Archives, and the National Park Service archives.

The Sparrow

The Sparrow
Author: Mary Doria Russell
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 450
Release: 2008-05-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0345510887

A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who leads a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end. Praise for The Sparrow “A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review “Important novels leave deep cracks in our beliefs, our prejudices, and our blinders. The Sparrow is one of them.”—Entertainment Weekly “Powerful . . . The Sparrow tackles a difficult subject with grace and intelligence.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Provocative, challenging . . . recalls both Arthur C. Clarke and H. G. Wells, with a dash of Ray Bradbury for good measure.”—The Dallas Morning News “[Mary Doria] Russell shows herself to be a skillful storyteller who subtly and expertly builds suspense.”—USA Today

How the Rock Connects Us

How the Rock Connects Us
Author: Bill Rose
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2017-11-24
Genre:
ISBN: 9780935289213

sle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula have a rich cultural, industrial, and mining heritage, all connected by their geologic underpinnings. This region is the result of geologic forces during two vastly different periods in time that shaped spectacular landscapes¿the largest lava flow known on Earth, stunning red cliffs of sandstone, an archipelago in the largest freshwater lake in the world, wave-tossed pebble beaches, dunes, and Lake Superior itself. This book offers a general introduction to the processes behind the diverse and globally significant geology of the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale and the relationship of that geology to human inhabitants, known as geoheritage.Humans came to North America more than 15,000 years ago when the glaciers were receding and leaving magnificent pieces of copper on the surface. Evidence from Isle Royale indicates that early people mined this area 4,500 years ago, although mining likely began here much earlier. Keweenaw copper was discovered at McCargoe Cove on Isle Royale, marking what is referred to as the North American Bronze Age. During this time, copper was traded all over NorthAmerica. Ancient pits have been discovered at dozens of sites on Isle Royale and the Keweenaw, and beautiful copper objects have been found throughout the Midwest, particularly in Wisconsin. Archaeological evidence along with a rich storytelling tradition indicates that early inhabitants had a deep understanding of the geologic landscape. Copper treasure from the Earth was a focus of human interest and marks the beginning of our geoheritage.

Strangers and Sojourners

Strangers and Sojourners
Author: Arthur W. Thurner
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 414
Release: 1994
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780814323960

Arthur Thurner tells of the enormous struggle of the diverse immigrants who built and sustained energetic towns and communities, creating a lively civilization in what was essentially a forest wilderness. Their story is one of incredible economic success and grim tragedy in which mine workers daily risked their lives. By highlighting the roles women, African Americans, and Native Americans played in the growth of the Keweenaw community, Thurner details a neglected and ignored past. The history of Keweenaw Peninsula for the past one hundred and fifty years reflects contemporary American culture--a multicultural, pluralistic, democratic welfare state still undergoing evolution. Strangers and Sojourners, with its integration of social and economic history, for the first time tells the complete story of the people from the Keweenaw Peninsula's Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.

Community in Conflict

Community in Conflict
Author: Gary Kaunonen
Publisher: MSU Press
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2013-07-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1628950382

A mirror of great changes that were occurring on the national labor rights scene, the 1913–14 Michigan Copper Strike was a time of unprecedented social upheaval in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With organized labor taking an aggressive stance against the excesses of unfettered capitalism, the stage was set for a major struggle between labor and management. The Michigan Copper Strike received national attention and garnered the support of luminaries in organized labor like Mother Jones, John Mitchell, Clarence Darrow, and Charles Moyer. The hope of victory was overshadowed, however, by violent incidents like the shooting of striking workers and their family members, and the bitterness of a community divided. No other event came to symbolize or memorialize the strike more than the Italian Hall tragedy, in which dozens of workers and working-class children died. In Community in Conflict, the efforts of working people to gain a voice on the job and in their community through their unions, and the efforts of employers to crush those unions, take center stage. Previously untapped historical sources such as labor spy reports, union newspapers, coded messages, and artifacts shine new light on this epic, and ultimately tragic, period in American labor history.

Beyond the Boundaries

Beyond the Boundaries
Author: Larry Lankton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 1999-05-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199761159

Spanning the years 1840-1875, Beyond the Boundaries focuses on the settlement of Upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, telling the story of reluctant pioneers who attempted to establish a decent measure of comfort, control, and security in what was in many ways a hostile environment. Moving beyond the technological history of the period found in his previous book Cradle to the Grave: Life, Work, and Death at the Lake Superior Copper Mines (OUP 1991), Lankton here focuses on the people of this region and how the copper mining affected their daily lives. A truly first-rate social history, Beyond the Boundaries will appeal to historians of the frontier and of Michigan and the Great Lakes region, as well as historians of technology, labor, and everyday life.