Grant funds two archivists at Michigan Tech

The Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country
Historical Collections has begun a two-year project funded by a
$168,000 grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.

The grant will be used to improve access to 92 historic collections
documenting the history of the Michigan’s Copper Country. The grant
supports two project archivists, Rachael Bussert, Senior Project
Archivist, and Daniel Michelson, Processing Archivist, to arrange and
describe approximately 1,329 cubic feet of documents to meet archival
processing standards.

The collections document a wide range of regional history, from copper
mining, railroad, and maritime industries to records of local schools,
churches, and social organizations. Among the collections to be
processed are records of several Michigan copper mining companies,
including a large collection from the Copper Range Company and records relating to the Victoria Mining Company and the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Researchers will also find valuable primary resources about businesses such as the Keweenaw Co-op and The Daily Mining Gazette, as well as social groups like the Miscowabik Club in Calumet and Fortnightly Club in Hancock. The project will produce searchable online finding aids available through the Archives’ web page, the Michigan Technological University Library catalog, and OCLC
ArchiveGrid.

Updates and interim reports posted to the Archives’ blog site
(blogs.mtu.edu/archives) will allow the public to follow the project’s
progress and learn more about the methods used by the project
archivists. Archives’ staff will also promote the project through
presentations to local community organizations, professional groups,
and schools. The project will help to better preserve the collections
and greatly improve their discovery and use by researchers.

Funding for this project is provided by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission, the granting agency of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. The Michigan Tech Archives is a department of the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library and is located in the library building in the heart of the Michigan Tech campus in Houghton, Michigan.