Life-Sized Copper Country History

Michigan Tech unveils a living exhibit of Copper Country history that should be making its way around much of the western U.P. next year.

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is hosting a show of Keweenaw historical photographs.

Calumet photographer J.W. Nara took them all in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

They center around several major themes, the most prominent being the 1913 miners’ strike.

Nara’s grandson, Dr. Bob Nara, says he’d been around the photos all of his life.

But he says they speak to him in a new way now because this is the first time they’ve ever been blown up to life-size.

He and his wife, Ruth Nara, live in Bootjack.

They donated the photos to the Michigan Tech archives so they could be assembled into the free exhibit.

Ruth Nara says her father-in-law, J.W. Nara’s son, had the photos for many years — photos of just about every aspect of Copper Country life imaginable.

The photo exhibit is on display in the library through February 7th.

It’s also designed to travel, and it’ll make its way to area libraries, museums and schools next year.