After John Haeussler’s rousing talk on the Copper Country’s contribution to Notre Dame Hockey last night, we’re all fired up as the Huskies take on the Fighting Irish tonight at the John MacInnes Ice Arena! The Michigan Tech Archives is equally excited to be working on preserving and improving access to some recently rediscovered film…
One of the many billboards beckoning visitors to take an Arcadian Copper Mine tour. To this day, organizations fielding questions about Copper Country tourist attractions receive calls from people wanting to know, “Is Arcadian still open?” Visitors to our Keweenaw Peninsula often seek to immerse themselves in the industry that made our area famous. For…
The Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections, a department within the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library, is currently seeking applicants for the Friends of the Michigan Tech Library Graduate Archives Internship for spring 2022. The intern selected will receive experience in a variety of collections processing tasks…
A portrait of Alfred Nicholls published in Central Mine: Years of Hard Work – Lives of Pain and Hope. When Alfred Nicholls came to Central Mine from his native Cornwall in May 1880, he confessed himself “not very favorably impressed with America,” including Central. Central would prove to be a place of great tragedy, perseverance,…
The Sigma Rho House, May 1976. K-Day, short for Keweenaw Day, is today! An annual tradition at Michigan Tech, held on the Friday of the week of Labor Day, K-Day is a great way to make new connections, learn about student involvement, and catch a break from classes. This year’s theme is Camp K-Day and…
The Michigan Tech Archives will continue to operate on a by-appointment basis during the fall 2021 semester (Aug. 30 to Dec. 17) with expanded hours to include appointments on Mondays.Appointments may be scheduled from 1-5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Requests for appointments must be confirmed by staff at least one business day prior to the…
Hancock’s Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church after the fatal lightning strike, 1896. Joseph Riippa died instantly. His passing was the sort of event that people rightly label one in a million: he was struck by lightning. Yet the place and time where the lightning found him were entirely in keeping with the character of a young…
The Calumet & Hecla hospital in winter, circa 1900. Illness and injury are an unavoidable part of life, an unpleasant reality that all must confront at some inevitable point. In a nineteenth-century mining community, the truth of this statement seemed perhaps more palpable than in most societies. Men at work underground, at the surface, or…
Early construction on the Copper Range Railroad, undated. 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 first installation took place in the Van Pelt and Opie Library from October 2018…
The Krackerbarrel not long before its demolition. Behind every family business are two tales: the story of the business and the story of the family. Thurner Bakery in Calumet offers one such example. This week’s Flashback Friday provides another intimate illustration by visiting the Krackerbarrel. Students at Michigan Tech in the 1960s and 1970s would…