Like Robert Frost’s famous woods, the lake is lovely, dark, and deep. Lake Superior claims a number of superlatives. By surface area, it is the largest freshwater lake in the world; by volume, it is the third among its peers. The deepest point, north of Munising, is among the lowest places above sea level in . . .
This category is used for posts that talk more about the people, services, and operation of the archives as a department.
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached that time of the year when Michigan Tech excitedly welcomes new and returning students to campus. Another academic year is about to commence as students arrive on campus this weekend. Crazy, right?! As with the rest of campus, the Michigan Tech Archives will welcome our own student library . . .
To the west of his lighthouse, James Corgan saw Lake Superior spreading before him like a deep blue sheet, roiled and rippling from a stiff, hot wind. The lake had moods that Corgan observed through changing seasons, watching ice creep up along the shore as winter approached and gazing out quietly over its glassy surface . . .
Beginning Monday, July 27, the Michigan Tech Archives will reopen to patrons on an appointment basis. Appointments may be requested through a form available on the library website, by emailing copper@mtu.edu, or by calling (906) 487-2505. Please note that all appointments must be confirmed by an archives staff member via telephone or email at least . . .
Margaret Fazekas welcomed the new year of 1913 as an ordinary teenage girl, one of hundreds residing in the Copper Country. She saw the year out as a symbol of a fight and the survivor of a near-death experience. Labor disputes had occurred in the mining communities of the Keweenaw Peninsula before, but the strike . . .
They crossed the ocean, and with them, they brought years of mining experience, spirited hymns, and pasties. Countless Copper Country residents and descendants of former residents trace their heritage to one of the innumerable Cousin Jacks and Cousin Jennies–allegedly so named because the miners always spoke of myriad relatives by these names–who came to the . . .
A job in the mines of the Copper Country could mean much to a man. It might have placed him working alongside his brother or his father; it might have been his first time employed as an adult. It might have offered him a toehold in a nation he hoped to claim as his own; . . .
Another week has gone by, and you’re still stuck at home. If you’ve been working on your family history, it’s possible you might be getting stuck in a different way, too. Every genealogist will eventually encounter a relative who poses a problem of some sort or another: a great-grandparent whose origins are opaque, a cousin . . .
Author’s note: In 2018, we published a piece on three remarkable women from the Brockway family. The tale concluded with an allusion to Anna, the youngest Brockway daughter, and the promise that her story would be told on another day. That day is today. Anna Brockway Gray believed in living boldly and without a moment . . .
While there’s been no shortage of ideas about how to spend the abundance of at-home time, permit the staff of the Michigan Tech Archives to offer one more. Many patrons come to us with genealogy questions, often as they’re just beginning their family history research. While our employees are not able to be in the . . .