The Northern Michigan University Press was established in 1962 to publish books that relate to the Upper Peninsula. Dormant for periods of times, the press most recently published Northern Border: History and Lore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Beyond in 2014. The NMU Press is not accepting submissions or publishing. Find the full list of books below. Many of the titles are available from NMU's Olson Library or contact your local library or bookstore. Call NMU Marketing and Communications at 906-227-2720 or email nmupress@nmu.edu with questions.

Attention NMU Press Authors

As the NMU Press is no longer operational, we are returning copyright to its authors, where applicable. Please contact Rebecca Tavernini, Publications Director, at retavern@nmu.edu or 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855 for an official copyright release letter. 

History

The Northern Michigan University Press was established in 1962 by Roy Heath, who was a chemistry professor.  That year the press published its first book, Academic Heraldry in America, by NMU faculty member Kevin Sheard.

In the 1970s and 1980s the press was inactive. In 1993, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Michael Marsden, formed an advisory committee to explore options for reviving the University Press. This committee eventually became an editorial board. Members included James Carter, Leonard Heldreth, Stephen Hirst, Peggy House, Ronald Johnson, Paul Lehmberg, Russell Magnaghi, Beverly Matherne, John Smolens, Raymond Ventre and Harry Whitaker. The operation of the press moved to the College of Arts and Sciences in 1994.

Of the 28 titles published prior to 1999, 19 were either authored or edited by members of the NMU faculty, staff or student body. Two others were authored by persons having direct involvement on campus—one was a visiting professor, the other presented a workshop. Two additional titles were authored by persons having an indirect connection to NMU: a former member of the faculty and an individual who represented one of the university's largest benefactors.

Prior to 1999, the press, while drawing upon the talents of those connected with the university, was committed to publishing works that involve the history and culture of the Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior region.

In fall 1999, Harry Whitaker, professor and then head of the Psychology Department, was named press director, and Teresa Hunt, professor and then interim head of the English Department, was named associate director. The press' editorial advisory committee was comprised of Russell Magnaghi, Neil Cumberlidge, John Smolens, Beverly Matherne and Leonard Heldreth. Its latest mandate was to publish creative and scholarly work in the humanities and sciences. In summer 2006, Whitaker resigned as director. The press is currently not publishing titles.

 

 

Northern Border Front Cover

Northern Border

Northern Border: History and Lore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Beyond is a collection of essays and historical research honoring longtime Northern Michigan University professor and historian Russell Magnaghi. It features 15 articles and dozens of photos, ranging from mining and lumbering to labor movements and literature. 

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Voice on the Water front cover

Voice on Water

Voice on the Water is an anthology of the contemporary American Indian experience in Michigan. Told through fiction, poetry, prose, art and craft, Voice on the Water features the works of 88 authors and artists. Pieces address themes of the land, the lakes, family, the search for center, ideas of time and the past, communalism and our Native communities on and off reservation homelands, along with storytelling, Indian education, the Michigan urban Indian experience, ceremony and ritual, persistence of traditional arts and lifeways, and new cultural ways of being. Learn more about Voice on the Water here

A sense of time cover

Have questions about NMU?

Find answers in A Sense of Time: The Encyclopedia of Northern Michigan University. The book chronicles 100 years of NMU's history, including information about academic affair, student life and Northern's fascinating facts. It establishes a record of past traditions of the institution, before they are lost to memory. The encyclopedia is an exciting way to experience the transition of NMU from Northern Normal School to a state university.

Roy E. Heath, 1962-66; John Pat Farrell, 1966-68; Earl A. McIntyre, 1968-72; James L. Carter, 1972-93; Michael T. Marsden, 1993-1999; Harry Whitaker, 1999-2006

(Source: A Sense of Time, page 298)

The following works have been published by the NMU Press, dating back to its first book in 1962. People interested in reading the works can borrow them from the NMU Olson Library or contact the NMU Bookstore for available titles for purchase.

  • Northern Border: History and Lore of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Beyond. In honor of Russell Magnaghi edited by Robert Archibald (2014)
  • Voice on the Water: Great Lakes Native America Now edited by Grace Challier (2011)
  • Poems Sacred and Profane by William Watt (2002)
  • Ezra Pound’s Letters to William Watt edited by William Watt (2001)
  • A Sense of Time: The Encyclopedia of Northern Michigan University by Russell Magnaghi (1999)
  • A Sense of Place—Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: Essays in Honor of William and Margery Vandament edited by Russell M. Magnaghi and Michael T. Marsden (1997)
  • Lake Superior Place Names: From Bawating to the Montreal by Bernard C. Peters (1996)
  • Hard Maple, Hard Work by John Gagnon (1996)
  • Railroads in Michigan: A Catalog of Company Publications, 1836-1980 by Le Roy Barnett (1986)
  • Mining in Michigan: A Catalog of Company Publications, 1845-1980 by Le Roy Barnett (1983)
  • Lake Superior Journal: Bela Hubbard’s Account of the 1840 Houghton Expedition edited by Bernard C. Peters (1983)
  • Utopia in Upper Michigan by Olive Anderson (1982)
  • From the Mississippi to the Pacific: Essays in Honor of John Francis Bannon, S.J., edited by Russell Magnaghi (1982)
  • Words and Images: 31 Lesson Plans for Reading, Art and English Teachers, Grades K-12 by Thomas Cappuccio et al. (1980)
  • Sentinels of the Rocks: From ‘Graveyard Coast’ to National Lakeshore by Dennis R. Noble and T. Michael O’Brien (1979)
  • Organization, Training, Search and Recovery Procedures for the Underwater Unit by Thomas R. Lewis (1979)
  • Tuning the Historical Temperaments by Ear by Owen Jorgensen (1977)
  • Flaming Brands: Fifty Years of Iron Making in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 1848-1898 by Kenneth D. LaFayette (1977)
  • Cohodas: The Story of a Family edited by Wilbert H. Treloar (1977)
  • Listen to Me: An Anthology of Upper Peninsula High School Writing edited by Christine Johnson et al. (1976)
  • Reflections by Praeceptor Humilis and Luther S. West (1975)
  • Northern Michigan University: The First 75 Years by Miriam Hilton (1975)
  • Language and Culture: A Book of Readings edited by Robert B. Glenn et al. (1974)
  • An Annotated Bibliography of Musca domestica Linnaeus by Luther S. West and Oneita Beth Peters (co-published 1973)
  • Ojibwa Indian Legends, Wah-Be-Gwo-Nese by Cheryl Mills King Schauffler (1972)
  • ALD: A New Test for Aphasia by Lon Emerick (1971)
  • Browning’s Analysis of a Murder: A Case for The Inn Album by John Hitner (1969)
  • American Voyageur: The Journal of David Bates Douglass edited by Sydney W. Jackman et al. (1969)
  • Wendell Willkie: Fighter for Freedom by Ellsworth Barnard (1966)
  • America’s Shame and Redemption by Dwight Lowell Dumond (1965)
  • Current Research in British Studies edited by Anthony H. Forbes (1964)
  • The Free-Living Protozoa of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by Francis C. Lundin and Luther S. West (1963)
  • Academic Heraldry in America by Kevin Sheard (1962)