Students in the Department of Social Sciences study away program in Detroit collaborated with community partners in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood of the city.  Students produced 4 storymaps that highlight the history, sustainability, and resilience of the neighborhood as it has grappled with racial segregation, urban renewal, and climate change induced flooding.


Click on the link below to explore these storymaps, watch live presentations on the area's history, and learn more about the neighborhood:

This Saturday the Keweenaw Time Traveler team attending MakerFest 2024: Making in Progress. This fun and family friendly event was hosted by Superior Fab Lab in the Houghton High School complex. The Keweenaw Time Traveler was one of the 21 featured makers from across the Copper Country that shared their crafts at the event. Guests could learn everything from how to make guitar FX pedals, knit and crochet, how to operate a letter press and even how to grow their own mushrooms at home through interactive exhibits. 

Over seventy people stopped by the Keweenaw Time Traveler booth and explored the history of the Keweenaw through games, stories, and our digital atlas. Visitors to the Time Traveler booth could play KeTT Bingo, draw their favorite Copper Country memory, write a post card to a friend, or just explore the people, places and stories that make up our history. The team also gave a short presentation on the creation of the Time Traveler and its many uses.

The Keweenaw Time Traveler attended this year's regional History Competition held at Michigan Technology University. The Michigan History Day Competition encourages students across the state to explore history from both local and global scales and prepare a variety of exhibits that share what they learned. Students from across the Western Upper Peninsula can create documentaries, historical performances, exhibits and websites and enter the regional competition sponsored by the Michigan Technological University Social Sciences Department and the Michigan Tech Archives. This year all of the participants came from Lake Linden. 

The theme for this year was "Turning Points in History", but students took this theme and developed a wide variety of projects on many themes from the Italian Hall disaster to the discovery of penicillin. Other exhibits included the development of the V-2 rocket and its impact on early experiments in manned space travel and a special documentary on MKUltra, a CIA project that researched unique methods of information extraction including psychoactive drugs and electroshock.

Winners of the regional competition have earned a spot in the State Finals taking place April 20th at Central Michigan University.

For more information about the History Day Competition explore this article published by the Daily Mining Gazette. 

Members of the Historical Environments Spatial Analytics Lab presented recent scholarly work at the Social Science History Association meeting in Washington DC this week. 

Senior Research Associate and Community Outreach Coordinator James Juip presented his most recent work on meaningfully engaging public stakeholders in deep mapping projects. James discussed the value of engaging the public Historic Geographic Information Systems (HGIS) projects for researchers and community members alike. He presented his newly created methodological framework for both measuring and creating participation in digital mapping projects and how that model was used to create programming for the Keweenaw Time Traveler during the last year; resulting in Time Traveler programming reaching over 40,000 individuals, creating 700 new Time Traveler Users and developing several new community partnerships.

Immediately following this presentation Project Director Dr. Don Lafreniere gave a presentation entitled, 'Fostering a Next-Generation of Scholars in Historical Geography and GIS' co-authored by Dr. Dan Trepal and Dr. Sarah Fayen-Scarlett. Don discussed the recent work done by members of the Historical Environments Spatial Analytics Lab and how community and interdisciplinary collaboration has been central to the success of the Keweenaw Time Traveler. Dr. Lafreniere proposed a summit on Deep Mapping housed at Michigan Technological University, where scholars and interested parties from across the world could come and learn methodological approaches to successful deep mapping. 

The Hamtramck Explorer was the central focus of the November Hamtramck Historical Museum newsletter published by Friends of Historical Hamtramck. The November newsletter celebrated the October 8th release of the brand-new digital atlas designed to highlight unique historical sites within the city. Users can click on a site and can see pictures of how it has changed through history while exploring related information and photos. Similar to the Keweenaw Time Traveler, the Hamtramck Explorer is designed to take input from viewers. If you have a photo or memory of the site, it can be added to the site! 

The Executive Director of the Hamtramck Historical Museum, Greg Kowalski, called for individuals with Hamtramck connections to write down and share their personal memories and experiences. 'It may not seem meaningful at the time,' He writes, 'but it is important. In fact, it is more important than ever... We want to include personal stories linked to the map [Hamtramck Explorer]. This is vital because a city really isn't made of buildings - it is made up of people. The structures are essential but at the same time incidental. It's the people who are the soul of a city. '

If you have stories or memories you would like to share you can share them directly on the Hamtramck Explorer or ​Send them to the museum either by email - [email protected] - or regular mail at 9525 Jos. Campau, Hamtramck, MI 48212.

This past Saturday, Michigan Tech Industrial Archaeologist and Time Traveler Team member Dr. Dan Trepal staffed a table at his year’s annual Archaeology Day event, hosted by the Michigan History Center in Lansing. Dr. Dan Trepal showcased the Keweenaw Time Traveler and Michigan Technological University Social Sciences department’s graduate and undergraduate degree programs, and a brand-new project based in Hamtramck. 

After a great day interacting with visitors in Lansing, Dr. Dan Trepal traveled to Hamtramck the following day to join colleagues from the Hamtramck Historical Museum and Wayne State Anthropology department in launching the Hamtramck Explorer, a new web-based interactive deep map showcasing Hamtramck’s past. Inspired by the success of the Keweenaw Time Traveler, the Hamtramck Explorer is the product of the Hamtramck Historic Spatial Archaeology Project and brings a new perspective through the inclusion in the app of artifacts gathered by Wayne State archaeologists who have been excavating several historical sites in Hamtramck since 2018.

​The Hamtramck Explorer is now live at www.mappinghamtramck.com. Go check it out!

The Keweenaw Time Traveler would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this project possible. Our, current project team members and our time traveler alumni have contributed thousands of hours in the collection, digitization, and linking of historical records that make up our massive database as well as the digitization and referencing of the hundreds of historic maps present on the Keweenaw Time Traveler.  This work would not be possible without the generous support of our project funders including the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Council of Library and Information Resources, as well as support from the Geospatial Research Facility and the Great Lakes Research Center at Michigan Technological University. 

Of course, none of this would be possible without our heritage partners and the thousands of individuals who use the Keweenaw Time Traveler to explore and share memories of our Copper Country past. Thank you so much for your support!

Yesterday TV 6 Reporter Colin Jackson met Dr. Don Lafreniere, Ph.D. Candidate James Juip and Chassell Historical Organization President Keith Meyers to discuss the grand opening of the Chassell Historic Trail. Work on the trail was extensive. It involved historical research and site archeology done by members of the Michigan Technological University Social Sciences Department. Chassell Township School students helped design the interpretive signs based on this research. A generous grant from the John and Melissa Besse Foundation made this work possible. 

The Keweenaw Time Traveler team created a digital story book to go along with the trail signage. 'Stanley the Strawberry's Great Adventure' is designed to engage young children in the history of the lumber industry in Chassell. ​In this short children's book Stanley the Strawberry discovers this forgotten past with the help of Sheila the Shingle and friends.

The news story on the project was part of the TV6 nightly news broadcast last night and can be viewed here:
Chassell Historic Trail now open (uppermichiganssource.com)