Nexus speaker Terry Reynolds to present history of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Mining Co. Apr. 21

HOUGHTON -- Dr. Terry S. Reynolds, professor of history in the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech University and a dedicated member of the Friends of the Library, will give an invited presentation at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library on the Michigan Tech campus.

Reynolds’s presentation, "The Survivor: Cleveland-Cliffs and Michigan’s Iron Ore Industry, 1847-2006," will look at the history of the only surviving independent iron mining company in the United States.

"In the late 19th century," Reynolds noted, "there were well over a hundred companies in the Lake Superior basin whose primary focus was iron ore mining. Today there is only one: Cliffs."

His new book, Iron Will: Cleveland-Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847-2006, is co-authored with Virginia P. Dawson and published by Wayne State University Press. The April 21 presentation will explore the importance of Michigan’s iron ore mining industry both to the Upper Peninsula and to the nation, the historical factors behind the Cliffs survival, and the sources on which the study was built. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

After a decade at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Reynolds came to the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech in 1983. He chaired the department for twelve years, 1990-2002, helping to develop its first graduate programs, before returning to teaching and research. He was the 2004 recipient of Michigan Tech’s distinguished teaching and has authored or edited numerous books and articles on aspects of the history of engineering and technology.

The event is part of the library’s events series, "Nexus: the Scholar and the Library," which illuminates ways scholars and scientists productively use libraries and archives. It is open to the public and is sponsored by the Van Pelt and Opie Library, the Friends of the Van Pelt Library, and the Michigan Tech Social Sciences Department. Free refreshments will be served. For further information call (906) 487-2500, email library@mtu.edu or visit www.mtu.edu/library.