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This past week, Drs. Sarah Fayen Scarlett and Don Lafreniere took part in separate presentations, connecting the Copper Country to larger patterns of migration in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Students of Copper Country history are well-acquainted with histories of Cornish, Italian, and Finnish immigrants, but by the early 1900s, the Keweenaw Peninsula hosted many more immigrant groups about which we are still learning. These groups of people lived and worked in our communities which inspire us to research their stories. With immigrant groups arriving from dozens of countries, there is a richness to our history worth researching. Their stories are worth telling.
One such group are the Francophone (French-speaking) immigrants, who came primarily from Quebec, Canada. French-Canadians and other Francophones represented nearly 25% of the entire population of the Copper Country from 1880-1900. Calumet's St. Anne Roman Catholic Church, now the Keweenaw Heritage Center, and Lake Linden's St. Joseph both served as spiritual homes for French Canadian Catholics in the Keweenaw, architectural footprints that testify to their numbers. Where did these people arrive from? What were their lives like in the Copper Country? How did they move about their communities? If they left, where did they move to?
One such group are the Francophone (French-speaking) immigrants, who came primarily from Quebec, Canada. French-Canadians and other Francophones represented nearly 25% of the entire population of the Copper Country from 1880-1900. Calumet's St. Anne Roman Catholic Church, now the Keweenaw Heritage Center, and Lake Linden's St. Joseph both served as spiritual homes for French Canadian Catholics in the Keweenaw, architectural footprints that testify to their numbers. Where did these people arrive from? What were their lives like in the Copper Country? How did they move about their communities? If they left, where did they move to?
St. Anne Roman Catholic Church (Calumet) and St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Lake Linden, courtesy of the Keweenaw Time Traveler
The Keweenaw Heritage Center and St. Joseph, courtesy of Copper Country Architects
anThe Historical Environments Spatial Analytics Lab and Keweenaw Time Traveler teams are partners in an international collaborative research project called Three Centuries of Francophone Migration in North America 1640–1940, which unites over 40 researchers in Canada, the US, the Caribbean, and Europe to better understand the historical experiences and contemporary relevance of French-speaking people throughout the continent. At Michigan Tech, researchers will use the Keweenaw Time Traveler and other resources to investigate the lives of French-Canadian migrants to the Copper Country, exploring their greater significance in the development of society and industry in the Upper Peninsula.
Dr. Scarlett had the honor of joining a bilingual public program hosted by the Centre De La Francophonie Des Amériques and the Québec Government Offices in Chicago, Boston, and Houston examining 3 centuries of French-Canadians in the United States. For those interested, their page hosts a free, bilingual recording of the program available for viewing. While other presenters gave broader overviews, Dr. Fayen-Scarlett presented a more specific microhistory, focusing on the life of Joseph Grégoire. Grégoire was born in Québec, Canada in 1833 and moved to the Copper Country, setting up a lumber mill and establishing a town named Gregoryville. Gregoryville reflected the anglicization of his family name and was a home for approximately 310 French-Canadians in 1870. Grégoire's influence is still felt in the Copper Country today thanks to his support of the first St. Joseph Church in Lake Linden by donating the necessary lumber for its construction. This first building was later replaced in 1912 by the Jacobsville Sandstone building we recognize today. Some of this research was completed with undergraduate history major Brooke Batterson. Check out the story map she made!
Dr. Scarlett had the honor of joining a bilingual public program hosted by the Centre De La Francophonie Des Amériques and the Québec Government Offices in Chicago, Boston, and Houston examining 3 centuries of French-Canadians in the United States. For those interested, their page hosts a free, bilingual recording of the program available for viewing. While other presenters gave broader overviews, Dr. Fayen-Scarlett presented a more specific microhistory, focusing on the life of Joseph Grégoire. Grégoire was born in Québec, Canada in 1833 and moved to the Copper Country, setting up a lumber mill and establishing a town named Gregoryville. Gregoryville reflected the anglicization of his family name and was a home for approximately 310 French-Canadians in 1870. Grégoire's influence is still felt in the Copper Country today thanks to his support of the first St. Joseph Church in Lake Linden by donating the necessary lumber for its construction. This first building was later replaced in 1912 by the Jacobsville Sandstone building we recognize today. Some of this research was completed with undergraduate history major Brooke Batterson. Check out the story map she made!
Joseph Grégoire courtesy of Dr. Du Long's Acadian and French Canadian Genealogy (left) and the Gregoryville Sawmill courtesy of Michigan Tech Archives Copper Country Historical Images (right)
Dr. Lafreniere, presented as part the Midis du Centre interuniversitaire d'études québécoises on the integration of the Francophone Migration project and the Keweenaw Time Traveler's historic spatial databases. Dr. Lafreniere began with an overview of the concept of Deep Mapping, which is a way of studying spatial patterns while also developing rich, spatial narratives through the use of maps, aerial photos, oral interviews, newspaper articles, and letters and journals. By providing this background information, Dr. Lafreniere was able to contextualize the power and research capacity of a historical spatial data infrastructure (HSDI), such as the one powering the Keweenaw Time Traveler.
A Deep Map's consolidation of archival sources courtesy of Dr. Don Lafreniere
The HSDI powering the Keweenaw Time Traveler hosts the records and powers our inquiry into the Francophone migration across North America including census data between the years 1870 and 1940, city directories, enumeration district maps and descriptions, and French Canadian surname dictionaries. Dr. Lafreniere highlighted the challenges of this research such as inconsistent census questions, the anglicization of names (such as Gregory instead of Grégoire), and enumeration/transcription errors. His presentation highlighted the tools we use to face these challenges, explored the indicators of social mobility, and introduced the Francophone Migration Project Portal for those interested in exploring the data.
The Keweenaw Time Traveler Team is honored to share the importance of our region's heritage, and we are pleased and humbled that we may share these stories to national and international audiences. We also want to thank our teammate Gary Spikberg for his research in identifying the French-Canadian diaspora and his efforts in their mapping.
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Draft design of the new Explore App interface. Courtesy of Monte.
The Keweenaw Time Traveler's Explore App is getting an overhaul—at last! Since we launched in late 2017, the Explore App has been growing. The city directory data already connected to Sanborn Fire Insurance Plans have been joined by business directories and additional color maps. The most exciting growth has come from users adding story points. People add newspaper clips, memories of their families, and students add their historical research. There's even a recent marriage proposal story!
But also a lot of growth has been happening behind the scenes. Faculty, staff, and students in Michigan Tech's Geospatial Research Facility have been developing historical data sets to be mapped. An amazing set of records from the Calumet Schools have been transcribed and mapped. Census records from 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 are almost complete. A set of almost 40,000 Calumet & Hecla employee cards are also being digitized, transcribed, and mapped thanks to a major grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. Most importantly, the individual names in all of these records are being connected to one another and to residences on the maps so you will be able see connections between people and places over time.
Until now, however, the Explore App has not had the capacity to make these additional historical records available. But thanks to a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and additional funding from the Advisory Commission of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, we are redesigning the Explore App to make more data more accessible to more people. We have teamed up with Monte Consulting in Houghton, a nationally recognized web developer to create a powerful and beautiful new Explore App.
Draft design of the new Explore App interface. Courtesy of Monte.
In December 2020, we held the first of several design charrettes to get guidance from users and colleagues. Thanks to all who participated! Your feedback helped us and Monte move forward. Right now, programming is underway and we can't wait to show you an updated version and get more of your ideas. Keep an eye open for announcements in the Spring!
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Gregory Family, Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections, MS042 Reeder Photograph Collection, J.T. Reeder.
Joseph Gregoire, who would soon become known as "Father of the French Canadians of Lake Superior", left Canada for Norwich Mine in Ontonagon County, Michigan in the winter of 1854-1855…
Explore Joseph Grégoire’s migration from Québec to the Keweenaw in a new Story Map by undergraduate history major Brooke Batterson
History is about the people who lived it, and archival material has allowed us a glimpse into the lives of early migrants from Quebec, Canada to the Keweenaw. The HESA Lab is a partner in an international collaborative research project called Three Centuries of Francophone Migration in North America 1640–1940, which unites over 40 researchers in Canada, the US, the Caribbean, and Europe to better understand the historical experiences and contemporary relevance of French-speaking people throughout the continent. At Michigan Tech, researchers will use the Keweenaw Time Traveler and other resources to investigate the lives of French-Canadian migrants to the Copper Country explore their greater significance for the development of society and industry in the Upper Peninsula.
Undergraduate history major Brooke Batterson has been learning more about one of the first families to arrive from Québec after industrial mining got underway who settled in a place that came to be known as Gregoryville (near Lake Linden). She has created a Story Map, which provides an immersive experience with historical maps and archival images to explore, as well as stories to read and share.
Joseph Gregoire came from St. Jean, Québec to the Keweenaw and established one of the first majorly successful lumber mills in the region. The Gregoire family played a crucial role in the development of the area and held significant influence throughout the community. Little is left at Gregoryville today but some signs of the family's history remain in the landscape around Lake Linden. The story is a micro history of a single family that will lead to broader research on social mobility for Francophones in the Keweenaw.
Three Centuries of Francophone Migration in North American 1640–1940, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, is a 7-year project based at the Université de St Boniface in Winnipeg. The project directors visited the Keweenaw in February 2020 right before COVID shut down international travel! Read more in our previous blog post.
Three Centuries of Francophone Migration in North American 1640–1940, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada, is a 7-year project based at the Université de St Boniface in Winnipeg. The project directors visited the Keweenaw in February 2020 right before COVID shut down international travel! Read more in our previous blog post.
Field work in Lake Linden, Michigan, 2020, Brooke Batterson, Mark Rhodes, Sarah Scarlett.
Sarah Scarlett, assistant professor of history, and Don Lafreniere, associate professor of geography and GIS, in the Social Sciences department, will use the Keweenaw Time Traveler and a combination of spatial and archival datasets to focus specifically on whether French-Canadians were socially mobile as they migrated from Canada to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the period of 1860 to 1940.
Read more in a Michigan Tech Unscripted blog post called “C’est la Vie.”
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Geospatial Research Scientists Ryan Williams and Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson, in collaboration with Dr. Don Lafreniere and Dr. Guy Meadows, presented their work to map historic rates of change along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, at the Lakebed 2030 Tech Surge conference. The event took place in October of 2019 in Traverse City. At the conference, Ryan and Daniel shared the latest technological advancements with Great Lakes communities and businesses, which are reliant on shoreline data to make important decisions that impact everyone living or working along the shore.
“A main component of these land use planning methods is an understanding of the history of shoreline and coastal bluff change over time. This project uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map historic aerial images from 2016, 2009, 1980 and 1938 and used those images to create historic shoreline and bluff line features that could be used to visualize historic coastlines and characterize areas vulnerable to future shoreline change.” (1)
Community Planning groups such as Networks Northwest and Land Information Access Association were in attendance and were aided by the creation of the Community Coastal Resiliency Strategy, and a GIS map and app containing imagery and maps of Great Lakes shorelines, bluff lines, and a 30-year bluff-retreat risk analysis. These groups and more have gained a new tool and insight which can be used to move business, and residential development, forward along Great Lakes shores.
***Financial assistance for this project was provided, in part, by the Michigan Coastal Zone Management Program, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
“A main component of these land use planning methods is an understanding of the history of shoreline and coastal bluff change over time. This project uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map historic aerial images from 2016, 2009, 1980 and 1938 and used those images to create historic shoreline and bluff line features that could be used to visualize historic coastlines and characterize areas vulnerable to future shoreline change.” (1)
Community Planning groups such as Networks Northwest and Land Information Access Association were in attendance and were aided by the creation of the Community Coastal Resiliency Strategy, and a GIS map and app containing imagery and maps of Great Lakes shorelines, bluff lines, and a 30-year bluff-retreat risk analysis. These groups and more have gained a new tool and insight which can be used to move business, and residential development, forward along Great Lakes shores.
***Financial assistance for this project was provided, in part, by the Michigan Coastal Zone Management Program, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
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Developing the Copper Country Historical Spatial Data Infrastructure (CC-HSDI) (aka Keweenaw Time Traveler) has been an ambitious endeavor, bringing together researchers, students, and the heritage community to build a space-time linked deep map that revolutionizes the way people use historical maps and data. Since work started in 2015, our team has developed data-rich maps for our region between the years 1888-1950, linking different archival records such as city and business directories. In the first three years of the project community member “citizen historians” made over 250,000 classifications and transcriptions in the three builder apps. This data is automatically added to the more than 116,000 building footprints and other records which are available in the Keweenaw Time Traveler Explore app.
Since the beginning of the project we have been committed to community engagement, hosting 10 public design charrettes and introducing users to the Time Traveler at 21 festivals and public events between 2017-18.
Teammates successfully published 2 dissertations, presented over 30 conference papers, and published 11 peer-reviewed papers in interdisciplinary journals which included American Quarterly, Journal of Community Heritage and Society, and Historical Methods.
We are honored to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities Office of Digital Humanities has awarded us a three-year grant to move the CC-HSDI and the Keweenaw Time Traveler to the next phase! Much of the $324,985 awarded will go to support Michigan Tech students who will learn on-the-job skills in historical GIS and geospatial technology applications for public history.
Phase IV of our project has three main goals:
- Build more digital linkages between data. This means connecting people recorded in historical records to the houses, businesses, mines, and schools on historical maps where they lived and worked. This work is being done by Michigan Tech students under the supervision of Dr. Don Lafreniere, whose experience in “deep mapping” and historical spatial data infrastructures is underpinning our work.
- Redesign the Keweenaw Time Traveler Explore app interface. Even if we link millions of data points, they won’t mean anything to anyone if users can’t access or understand them. We are so excited to be partnering with Monte Consulting of Houghton to develop a beautiful interface powerful enough to deliver the data-rich “deep mapping” experience, and intuitive enough to make it all seem simple. Work is already underway on this goal, with additional assistance from the Advisory Commission of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, and an MTU grant to Co-Director Dr. Sarah Scarlett. As in Phase II, we will host charrettes to publicly try out or “beta test” the designs so far. This will model best practices in community-engaged research, critically evaluating our results and sharing them with collaborators as we go. Keep an eye out for announcements and please consider joining us at our charrettes to help make the Explore App useful for YOU!
- Expand public history programming. With a rich newly designed Explore App, our team will work with K-12 teachers and heritage sites in the region to make the Keweenaw Time Traveler a more useful, accessible, and vital part of public history in our community.
Toward the end of this three-year grant period, we will also offer tools for reproducibility so that other communities might be able to build their own “deep maps.” We plan to host webinars and make freely available the process, procedures, and coding that we used. The Keweenaw Time Traveler has been developed specifically to match the history, landscape, and archival resources here in our community. Other communities will need to tailor their deep maps to their own specific needs and resources. But sharing our process should make the concepts accessible so they can be used to produce rich digital spatial humanities projects that create meaning and context in other locations. These webinars will help other scholars and communities to begin building deep maps that serve their individual needs without having to reinvent the wheel.
This project has made, and is now able to continue making, theoretical and methodological contributions to the fields of historical GIS, spatial humanities, and public history. Phase IV will innovate our platform and methods, and empower others to use deep mapping to study and protect their own cultural heritage. We anticipate that three main groups will immediately benefit from our planned work, being the field of digital spatial humanities, researchers in social, cultural or environmental studies, and residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula whose work with KeTT is a contribution to their own histories.
The Keweenaw Time Traveler is made possible, in part, by our partners in MTU Social Sciences, the Advisory Council of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, and the National Endowment For the Humanities.
This project has made, and is now able to continue making, theoretical and methodological contributions to the fields of historical GIS, spatial humanities, and public history. Phase IV will innovate our platform and methods, and empower others to use deep mapping to study and protect their own cultural heritage. We anticipate that three main groups will immediately benefit from our planned work, being the field of digital spatial humanities, researchers in social, cultural or environmental studies, and residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula whose work with KeTT is a contribution to their own histories.
The Keweenaw Time Traveler is made possible, in part, by our partners in MTU Social Sciences, the Advisory Council of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, and the National Endowment For the Humanities.
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Right to Left: Rose and Dr. Don Lafreniere at Rose’s Graduation from MTU!
Today we have reluctantly said farewell to a long time, Time Traveler, Rose. Rose has worked with KeTT since 2015. Users may remember seeing her at the various festivals and public events we hosted over the years. She was a mentor for our high school GIS training program, GRACE, worked on our ‘schools-as-vectors for infectious disease’ project, and much more.
Rose has moved on and up, now pursuing a MS in Geography in the Human Environments Analysis Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario. At HEAL Rose will be investigating the intersections of children’s health and the built environment.
We would like to congratulate Rose on her new position, and hope she comes around to say hello once in a while. We bid you farewell on your adventures and may all your travels be timeless.
Rose has moved on and up, now pursuing a MS in Geography in the Human Environments Analysis Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario. At HEAL Rose will be investigating the intersections of children’s health and the built environment.
We would like to congratulate Rose on her new position, and hope she comes around to say hello once in a while. We bid you farewell on your adventures and may all your travels be timeless.
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Our team has been working behind the scenes for months to improve your experience in the Explore App. These functionality upgrades are just the beginning of a larger redesign that will be happening over the next 18 months. When COVID-19 in under control and we can host public design charrettes again, we will be asking you—our users—for feedback. But in the meantime, please try out the new functionalities and let us know what you think in the comments.
GLOBAL SEARCH
With this new version, searching for people, places, and stories will be a lot easier, as will sharing what you find on the Time Traveler. Instead of searching by Address, Person, Place, or Story, there will only be one search bar where you can search keywords in every category.
Old Explore App search bar:
New Explore App search bar:
Your search results will be reported in the categories of Buildings, People, Places, and Stories with parenthetical numbers to tell you how many results you got in each category. For instance, the results below appear after you enter "Smith" in the Global Search bar, which results in 195 people, 28 places (which includes businesses), and 13 stories. Clicking on any of these results will take you to that location on a map closest to the year of the record.
FILTER RESULTS
After you search for a person, place, or story, you see how many search results are in each decade. If you want, you can choose one or more decades to filter your results by time period.
You will also be able to filter your search results based on record type. Currently, only city directory and business directory data is available on the Explore App, but we are working hard to make more historical resources available in the coming year, including Census records, School records, and Mining Employee records.
Lastly, you will also be able to filter results by their location. These locations should look familiar as they are based on the map locations you can explore in the app. In other words, if you don't want to see all 195 Smiths, you could choose to only see the Smiths in Lake Linden.
SHARING SEARCH RESULTS
One major upgrade introduced today is the ability to share your results with friends using a distinct web address. When you find a map and search results that you want to share, click the blue "Share" button to get a link that will take other users to exactly the search results and map view that you created. This way you can share an interesting building, person, or fun story on social media, in an email, or embed it on your own website! Just click on the blue Share button to get a shareable URL.
SUMMARY OF OCCUPATIONS
Have you ever wanted to find a neighborhood where trammers worked and lived? Or are you looking for foundry workers or lumbermen? You can now see a pie chart of all the occupations for people living in the range of the map you are viewing. These occupations are as listed in the City Directories. These occupations and their percentages will change as you zoom and pan around the map, changing with what houses and people are in view. With this feature you can see how neighborhoods change throughout time and across towns. Below is the pie chart for a section of Calumet in the 1900s.
Thank you to the students in Dr. Robert Pastel's computer science course who worked to build these new functionalities, especially Mason Sayles, who helped us implement it over Summer 2020.
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Written By: Kevin White, HESAL Research Associate working on the "Michigan Miners at Home and Work" Project
Looking at mining company records can be a much more difficult process than you might think. Often as I am reading the data recorded on employee cards (birthdays, birth place, name, and nationality of family members), it never crossed my mind that some of that data could be wrong. Every now and again I might find addendums that were added to the employee cards, such as an update on the card when a miner gets married, but it is very unusual to see sweeping changes like those found on the employee card of one Kamel Ally.
The data written in red is the true information about Kamel Ally. The data written in black was the initial information he gave when he applied for the job in 1915 using the name "Carl".
When I initially started working to transcribe this card, I thought that there had perhaps been a miscommunication between the employee and the Calumet & Hecla clerk that had filled out the employment card. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that had happened. However, continuing to read through the card eventually brought to light a situation that was unlike any I had found before.
Transcription of Note: "Regarding the record of Carl Ally. On May 31, 1917 the man called and stated that when he entered our service in May 1915 he gave incorrect information in order to conceal his nationality. He is a Turk and claims to have had trouble securing and holding a job on that account. See the record shown in Red on reverse side is correct."
Ally had intentionally falsified his information when applying for work at Calumet & Hecla. While this deceit alone made the card stand out from the others, my interest was further compounded when I found the reason he had lied: to achieve equal employment opportunity. At first glance at this information is interesting, and represents an anomaly among many of the other employment cards being reviewed and digitized for the Mapping Miners at Home and Work project, however I learned so much more by taking a deeper look at what this information meant.
First off, this card provides compelling evidence of a history of employment discrimination against Turkish people. At the time when he applied for the job, ethnic tensions were high around the world. Discussing the topic with Emily Riippa, one of the archivists at the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library at Michigan Technological University, she mentioned that at the time Mr. Ally began working with Calumet & Hecla in 1915, World War One was entering its second year of fighting. During 1915, America had yet to enter the war, however the Ottoman Empire (the homeland of the Turks) had allied itself with Germany. While at the time America was not involved in the war, as a nation people had begun to recognize the Germans and other Central Powers (including the Ottoman Empire) as hostile powers. It is quite possible that this was the reason he may have lost his previous job, and as such when he was applying for his position at Calumet & Hecla, he chose to hide this information.
However, as the war progressed and America sided with the Allied Powers, hiding the fact that one was from a hostile nation would become riskier. This is compounded by the fact that the copper mines in the Keweenaw were a key asset in America's war-time production. Emily believes that it is quite possible for him to have revealed this information in order to protect himself from being suspected as a spy for the Central Powers. I believe he may have also done it as a sign of good faith toward the higher-ups at Calumet & Hecla. It was mentioned on his employee card that he had previously been dismissed from work due to being "disobedient". While this (like many things on the employee card) is vague, it is quite possible that he had been discharged due to working with union lobbyists or strikers, which were people who would have been seen as disobedient to the higher-ups at C&H. He may have revealed his true national origins alongside agreements to not work with those groups in order to get his job back at C&H, where he ended up working until early 1918.
First off, this card provides compelling evidence of a history of employment discrimination against Turkish people. At the time when he applied for the job, ethnic tensions were high around the world. Discussing the topic with Emily Riippa, one of the archivists at the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library at Michigan Technological University, she mentioned that at the time Mr. Ally began working with Calumet & Hecla in 1915, World War One was entering its second year of fighting. During 1915, America had yet to enter the war, however the Ottoman Empire (the homeland of the Turks) had allied itself with Germany. While at the time America was not involved in the war, as a nation people had begun to recognize the Germans and other Central Powers (including the Ottoman Empire) as hostile powers. It is quite possible that this was the reason he may have lost his previous job, and as such when he was applying for his position at Calumet & Hecla, he chose to hide this information.
However, as the war progressed and America sided with the Allied Powers, hiding the fact that one was from a hostile nation would become riskier. This is compounded by the fact that the copper mines in the Keweenaw were a key asset in America's war-time production. Emily believes that it is quite possible for him to have revealed this information in order to protect himself from being suspected as a spy for the Central Powers. I believe he may have also done it as a sign of good faith toward the higher-ups at Calumet & Hecla. It was mentioned on his employee card that he had previously been dismissed from work due to being "disobedient". While this (like many things on the employee card) is vague, it is quite possible that he had been discharged due to working with union lobbyists or strikers, which were people who would have been seen as disobedient to the higher-ups at C&H. He may have revealed his true national origins alongside agreements to not work with those groups in order to get his job back at C&H, where he ended up working until early 1918.
Calumet & Hecla officials photographed a parade of a local World War I regiment passing by the company library and office building on June 7, 1917. "Copper Country Soldiers and Sailors in the World War", Calumet & Hecla Photograph Collection, MTU Archives, MS 003-009-004-12
Mr. Ally's employee card gives us just a small glance into what the life of a Turkish immigrant might have been like in the United States. There were many Turkish immigrants who arrived in the country in the early 1900s similar to Mr. Ally, and their stories echo similar discrimination. Many Turks immigrated prior to World War I and adopted Christian names (such as Carl, as opposed to Kamel) in order to try and assimilate into the predominantly Christian America and avoid persecution and discrimination. Many Turkish people also chose to immigrate back out of America after the Republic of Turkey was formed in 1922. But it appears that Mr. Ally decided to stay in America despite discrimination he had suffered in the past, as can be seen by Mr. Ally's participation in the American census (thanks again to Emily for finding that!). It is also worth noting that he did continue to use the name Carl on these later documents, perhaps to assimilate into American life.
American government and industrial powers bred suspicion and distrust during WWI. The neighboring Quincy Mining Company posted this notice in 1918 printed in six different languages instructing citizens and non-citizens alike to follow orders and avoid the appearance of treason. HAER MICH, 31-HANC, 1-278, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.mi0086.photos.089087p/
Upon reviewing Mr. Ally's card, another question comes to mind: how many other people falsified their information? It is highly unlikely that Mr. Ally was alone in his scenario, and there were likely additional employees who chose to change their names and nationalities in order to avoid discrimination. Many of those documents may never have been rewritten or marked. It reminds me that data should not just be taken at face value. I am studying computer science as my major, and I am used to dealing with data sets with thousands of entries. But seeing things like this reminds me that every data point has a story and a person behind it. The data we collect from the Mapping Miners at Home and Work project can be used not only to help us create an overarching view of history in the Keweenaw, but also to bring to light the lives of the individuals who made it what it is today.
The Mapping Miners at Home and Work project is funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources. CLIR is an independent, nonprofit organization that forges strategies to enhance research, teaching, and learning environments in collaboration with libraries, cultural institutions, and communities of higher learning. To learn more, visit www.clir.org and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
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Recently, James Juip, Senior Research Associate here in the HESA Lab, has undertaken the task of cleaning up the City Directory data that makes up much of the historical records currently available in the Explore App. His work will make it easier to read and understand information about historical people by removing "Null" entries and expanding the shorthand found in the directory to full occupation titles. For example, "lab" was the shorthand used for "laborer", and "clk" was the shorthand for "clerk". These two jobs are among the five most common jobs in the City Directory, along with Miner, Student, and Trammer.
In addition to finding and cleaning common jobs, James also found several unusual professions listed in the directories. Some of our favorites include:
In addition to finding and cleaning common jobs, James also found several unusual professions listed in the directories. Some of our favorites include:
- Umbert Cippollone and Pietro Lovarine who worked as Macaroni Manufacturers. They lived at 1032 Ingot Street in Hancock in 1917, and the Macaroni Factory was attached to their house. Pietro owned both the factory and house, renting the house to Umbert and nine others who worked a variety of jobs, including Trammer, Cellar Man at Park Brewing Company, Mine Boss, Miner, and Laborer.
- Stuart G. Ross was a Magician living at 701 Water Street in Hancock in 1942.
- Alexander Siegel was the Superintendent of Hydrants living at 727 Hancock Street, Hancock in 1917.
- J. P. Mason, who boarded at the Douglass House in Houghton in 1888, was not only a Physician and Surgeon, but also a Pharmaceutist and Dealer in Druggist Sundries at 410 Shelden Street.
Among these unusual professions were also the jobs of Huckster, Clairvoyant, Broom Maker, Traveler, Scissor Grinder, and Sauerkraut Manufacturer. What interesting historical jobs do you know of or can you find in the Keweenaw?
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Didn’t win a mug last time? No worries – we are launching another Citizen Historian Giveaway today! There are two maps on the Building Use App that are almost complete. Can you help finish them? Calumet 1888 is 95% complete and Lake Linden 1917 is 60% complete – we are so close to having every building on these maps classified! If you can get the building counter in the lower left corner to 100% just send us a screenshot and we will send you a Keweenaw Time Traveler mug. Send us a message on Facebook or email rchildeb@mtu.edu with your screenshot or if you have any questions.
Keep in mind that these last few buildings tend to be the most difficult to classify, so we have created a mini handbook found below to help you finish the map.
Keep in mind that these last few buildings tend to be the most difficult to classify, so we have created a mini handbook found below to help you finish the map.
Building Use Classification Handbook
- The Sanborn Fire Insurance Company that produced these maps used several abbreviations to label buildings. Use this guide to help you determine if a building should be classified as "Dwelling", "Automobile", "Store", "Industrial", or "Public".
- Watch the video below for visual instruction on how to use the Building Use App.
- Several of the remaining buildings are small, unmarked buildings - these buildings are classified based on the lot type they are on. If they are near a house they would be marked as a "Dwelling" and if they are on an industrial lot they would be marked as "Industrial"
- Some of the remaining buildings have a large X from corner to corner - these buildings are "Stables" and their classification also depends on if the lot is domestic or industrial
This is a "Stable" and would be classified as a "Store" as it is on a lot with other stores
This building would be classified as a "Dwelling" as it is on a lot with other dwellings
- If you have any questions about how to classify a certain building send us a message on Facebook or email rchildeb@mtu.edu!