Program Resources
The Keweenaw peninsula of upper Michigan was the center of an extensive copper mining industry from the 1840s through the 1960s. The physical remains of industry, engineering and transportation works, and workers housing are samples of the industrial heritage of the region. Within the immediate area, the Department has cooperated with two national parks and two national forests, as well as with the State of Michigan. All of this amounts to a natural laboratory for industrial archeology and heritage studies.
Michigan Tech, a mining & engineering school founded in 1885 boasts marvelous library and archival holdings for historical studies of technology, engineering, mining, and local industry. The Copper Country Historical Collection includes 7,500 books, 10,000 images, 300 rolls of microfilm; and corporate and personal records related to local history and industry, especially local copper mining.
Industrial Archeology Research Laboratory. This Departmental facility includes space for cataloguing, curation, conservation, and preservation of artifacts, as well as pottery kilns. Lab equipment includes an array of photographic equipment and GPS hardware. The facility also provides computers and office space for IA graduate students, and includes a WiFi network to connect personal notebook computers to the University net. Included are a computer graphics facility with a mix of Macintosh and PC computers, with a color scanner, digitizing tablets, laser printers, and a plotter. The lab supports several different programs for computer assisted drafting (CAD) and ArcView for GIS analysis. A video image capture system an create digital images from a either a low-power or polarizing microscope.
The Society for Industrial Archeology is headquartered in the Department, with Patrick Martin serving as editor and Terry Reynolds as book review editor for the Society's journal, IA.
