MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Friday, a public NMU event brought midwestern historians to the university to share stories of tragic mining disasters.
The event was co-hosted by the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and Center for U.P. Studies, centering around the 100th anniversary of the Barnes-Hecker mining disaster in Ely Township. Speakers also detailed Minnesota mining incidents, European transnational heritage, and mining unions. Each presentation reflected the hard truth on some of these communities’ tragic backrounds.
“We wanted to look at it in the sense of the power of place; why it’s an important space, why we have this incredible memorial park at the site, and why its important to communities to commemorate these events, even tragic events” said Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center Director, Daniel Truckey.
Kicking off the day was NMU sophomore, Zach Lanciani, who gave a presentation of his research on the Barnes-Hecker disaster. The Heritage Center says being able to share this history on campus is especially important for future generations.
“Anytime you can have a student conduct that amount of research at that age and be able to synthesize it into something is really powerful,” said Truckey. “That’s why we’re here, is to engage all students and faculty.”
The annual Sondregger Symposium is funded by an endowment from the family of Richard Sonderegger, former head of the department of history at NMU. This year’s Sonderegger Symposium was also partly funded by a grant from the America 250 Michigan Committee.
