Gender and Work in the UP through 1976
The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center presents a virtual lecture on “Gender and Work in the Upper Peninsula through 1976” by Dr. Russell Magnaghi, Professor of History Emeritus, Northern Michigan University. The program will be on Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Beaumier Center’s Facebook site, www.facebook.com/BeaumierNMU. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.
This program celebrates both Women’s History Month and the Beaumier Center’s current exhibition, “Conflict and Resolve: Labor History in the Upper Peninsula.” Dr. Magnaghi says, The story of women factory workers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has not been adequately developed. It is the hope of this presentation to provide new insights and history of this facet of women’s heritage in the region.”
Dr. Magnaghi, award-winning historian of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is the author of over a dozen books on the U.P. A graduate of the University of San Francisco and St. Louis University, Russell taught history for forty-five years at Northern Michigan University. He and his wife, Diane, reside in Marquette.
The exhibition, “Conflict and Resolve” looks at organized labor in the region from the very beginnings of the mining and lumbering industry in the mid-19th century to the development of service unions in the 20th century. It features sections on the Knights of Labor, mining safety, various mining and lumbering strikes, corporate paternalism, unionization and community service. The exhibition will include extensive interpretive text, images, artifacts and media to paint a broad picture of the role labor has played and still plays in the lives of many workers and their communities.
To see the exhibition, please call to make a reservation, as due to Covid-19 the gallery is restricted to 6 visitors at a time. To make a reservation please call 906-227-2549.
The Beaumier UP Heritage Center is a museum and educational center on the campus of Northern Michigan University. It celebrates the history and culture of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.