The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Thursday, July 19, 2007 Print Article | Close Window Quincy Mine kicks off exhibit By JANE NORDBERG, DMG Writer QUINCY TOWNSHIP — A new exhibit at the Quincy Mine site features not the world’s largest steam hoist, but a typically cramped miner’s home. The “Miner’s Kitchen” exhibit is a reconstruction of a typical mining family’s kitchen in the early part of the 20th century. In connection with the exhibit, Michigan Tech University Prof. Kim Hoagland will present opening remarks Friday at 6 p.m. at a company house at the Quincy Mine site. Hoagland and students in her material culture class have completed the process of furnishing a Quincy Mining Co. home. One of the goals of the class, she said, was to give the master’s level students an opportunity to take their learning of material culture outside of the classroom. “In identifying a real family who lived in the home and how they lived their daily lives, the students better understood what material things meant to them,” Hoagland said. The students used historic photos, period sales catalogues and inventory from a similar home to amass objects appropriate to that time and place. “It’s always great when you can use the classroom to produce something real,” Hoagland said. “The students were enthusiastic and deserve a great deal of credit for identifying and collecting the objects displayed.” The house has been occupied by a number of mine employees over its history, including Cornish immigrants Joshua and Flora Martin, and their nine children, who occupied the home from 1913 to 1925. There is a sink with running water but no electricity or gas. Heat was provided by the coal-burning stove, which also served as the source of hot water for the entire house. Oil or kerosene lamps were a source of light. Keeping a family of eleven clothed and fed would have been a full-time occupation for Flora, Hoagland said, and the bulk of her day would probably have been spent in the kitchen. “Flora’s day would have been spent preparing meals for 11 people, without refrigeration, and having to fetch the fuel and clean up, washing all of the children and their clothes, repairing and even making the clothes for her family,” Hoagland said. “All of that would have taken place in the kitchen.” Joshua Martin himself would spend little time in the house he worked so hard to maintain; he worked long hours in the mine to pay for the rent and food his family depended on. “We know of the Quincy (mine site) as workplace for men in the mining industry,” Hoagland said. “This exhibit showcases the woman’s workplace, a workplace women all over the country and the world are familiar with.” The new exhibit represents a partnership effort between the Social Sciences Department at MTU, the Houghton County Historical Society who loaned objects to the exhibit and the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne’s in Calumet, whose exhibits “Key Ingredients/Michigan Foodways” served as an inspiration. The exhibits at the KHC are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Aug. 26. “We appreciate the people who loaned objects to this exhibit and the Houghton County Historical Society, which has a wonderful collection of daily-use items,” Hoagland said. “This project has been a great partnership between the MTU students working at a historic site with the assistance of a local historical organization and inspiration from a national exhibit.” The miner’s house exhibit is located to the left of the 1918 red brick hoist house. For detaila, call the Quincy Mine Hoist at 482-5569. Jane Nordberg can be reached at jnordberg@mininggazette.com