Michigan Tech’s Archives to go digital; state humanities grant to help underwrite
Michigan Tech’s Archives to go digital; state humanities grant to help underwrite
By KAYLA GAHAGAN, DMG Writer
HOUGHTON — Bob Nara’s grandfather was one of the first Copper Country photographers, so it made sense for Bob’s father to donate the photos to the Michigan Tech University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections years ago.
But when Bob and his wife Ruth recently visited Tech’s archives, they were disappointed to find that they couldn’t get a CD of the historic photos his grandfather had taken.
“They told us, ‘Unfortunately, we don’t have the equipment to do that,”’ Bob said. “I said, ‘order what you need and send me the bill.’”
Along with Nara’s money and a $15,000 check from the Michigan Humanities Council awarded in a ceremony Saturday, Tech was able to do just that.
In a virtual ribbon-cutting, Rep. Bart Stupak, the assistant to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Humanities Council executive director and Tech representatives gathered to celebrate the grant, which allowed the archives to purchase a high-end scanner, a new computer work station and a high resolution color printer in order to begin a digitally archived system.
“We’ve been feeling pressure for many years to make the leap to digital,” said archivist Erik Nordberg. “We live in a geographically remote area and it makes it difficult for people to come here physically.
“Yet the nature of archives is that we have these unique historic objects and records, so coming up with these digital tools means we can deliver the content to people with computer access.”
Stupak, who spoke at the ribbon-cutting, said, “I’m excited to see the project become a reality.”
In an earlier interview, he added that digitizing the archives was a logistical step for the university.
“They have so much room, but it’s still not enough,” he said. “Digitizing is the way to go.”
Nordberg said of the estimated 120,000 images in the system, about 1,400 have been scanned with a 2,000 by December goal.
But the grant was not just about computer equipment, Nordberg said.
The scanned images have been included in the Keweenaw Digital Archive found at www.lib.mtu.edu. The site focuses on the Keweenaw’s ethnic history and provides access to Tech’s Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections.
Also, the ribbon-cutting was sandwiched in the middle of a day-long symposium called “An Interior Ellis Island: Ethnic Diversity and the Peopling of Michigan’s Copper Country.”
Michigan Humanities Council Executive Director Jan Fedewa said the symposium and the new archive system are both about providing information to the community that will benefit future generations.
“It is core to the work and mission of the Humanities Council,” she said. “It is a story about how different immigrants reacted with each other and how it helped shape the Copper Country culture.”
Stupak agreed and admitted that while on the plane that day, he had perused the Web site and found something he didn’t know: At one time 95 percent of the Copper Country population had at least one parent who had emigrated from another country.
Nordberg said ethnic diversity is at the heart of the archives and why it was the focus of the symposium.
“It’s one of the pieces of Copper Country history that’s very compelling,” he said. “To look at a place that attracted so many people from other nations and their experience and challenges, is interesting ... It’s been a really great project.”
Kayla Gahagan can be reached at kgahagan@mininggazette.com
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