The following presentations are on various topics in local and regional history of the Upper Peninsula. The University Archivist is available to deliver these presentations to your class or public event. For more information, please contact Marcus C. Robyns at mrobyns@nmu.edu or 906-227-1046.
This presentation reviews the history of the post-World War II strike that brought industrial unionism to the Marquette Iron Range. The strike lasted for nearly five months and included the unlikely appearance of Paul Robeson on the strike lines.
This presentation examines the nature of the Finnish immigrant communities on the Marquette Iron Range during the tumultuous period of political and labor strife in the Upper Great Lakes mining districts. The presentation argues that radical labor and socialist political organizing failed on the Range due to the uniquely conservative character of the Finnish community in Marquette County.
Blood on the Table: The Battle for Shared Governance at Northern Michigan University, 1967-1976
This presentation argues that the faculty at NMU achieved real shared-governance through the movement for unionization and collective bargaining rights that culminated in the NMU-AAUP’s first negotiated contract with the administration in 1976. The Michigan Historical Review article of the same title can be found at https://www.nmu.edu/sites/DrupalArchives/files/UserFiles/Files/Pre-Drupal/Documents/Battle_for_Shared_Governance.pdf
“This Unfortunate Incident:” Death in the Iron Mines, 1898-1940
This presentation examines the violent and dangerous nature of underground iron mining on the Marquette Iron Range during the first half of the twentieth century.
The Ku Klux Klan in the Upper Peninsula
This presentation examines the presence of the infamous Ku Klux Klan in the Upper Peninsula during the 1920s. During the 1920s, the KKK experienced a nation-wide resurgence and political success at the state and local level. In the Upper Peninsula, this presentation argues that the organization emphasized its xenophobic, anti-immigrant agenda and directed much of its energy against Catholic immigrant groups.
This presentation by Olson Library reference librarian, Bruce Sarjeant, summarizes the history of railroads and transportation during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.