The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Thursday, April 10, 2008 Print Article | Close Window Making their mark on the landscape By JANE NORDBERG, DMG Writer HOUGHTON — The life and work of architects in the Copper Country is the topic of a new Web site to be unveiled at a public event Monday at 7 p.m. in Room 139 of Fisher Hall on the Michigan Technological University campus in Houghton. The event is free and open to the public as part of the Archival Speakers Series sponsored by the MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections. Kim Hoagland, professor of history and historic preservation in the MTU Social Sciences Department, will provide an illustrated presentation on research examining more than two dozen architects who have been active in the Keweenaw. Students in Hoagland’s “History of American Architecture” class researched numerous local architects, providing the basis for the Web site. Undergraduate Research Fellow Julie Matijega helped edit the work, partially funded through a mini-grant from the Michigan Tech Center for Teaching, Learning, and Faculty Development. Hoagland said the Web site and presentation will shed some light on some of the more familiar but underappreciated Copper Country structures. “We move among them every day, but often overlook the variety of distinguished buildings in our cities and towns,” she said. “Not only do we have some notable work by homegrown or regionally known architects, but we also have many buildings designed by internationally renowned architects. You see much more once you know what you’re looking at.” The event will include the unveiling of a new Web site with photographs, biographies and building lists for many of the architects who worked in the Copper Country. The site will be available at www.social.mtu.edu/CopperCountryArchitects. Michigan Tech’s Archival Speakers Series highlights current research utilizing the Archives’ collections. The MTU Archives, a department of the J. Robert Van Pelt Library, hosts a wide variety of researchers and research topics. The presentation is free and open to the public. The Archives reading room is located on the ground floor of the J. Robert Van Pelt Library, in the heart of the Michigan Tech Campus. For more information, contact the MTU Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections at 487-2505 or at copper@mtu.edu. Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com