Women of Michigan

March is Women’s History month.  This column will focus on titles about Michigan women that are located in the Michigan Nonfiction and Adult Nonfiction section.  

Annie Clemenc & the Great Keweenaw Copper Strike, by Comstock, Lyndon.  2013. 
Lyndon Comstock writes about a young Slovian woman who was instrumental leader in early 20^th century. Annie Clemenc was a young heroic female activist who had an active leadership role in organizing support for miners during the copper mining strike in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, 1913-1914.  Supporters of the strikers often referred to Annie as the Joan of Arc of Calumet and her actions support this claim. Newspaper reports about this heroine include being arrested numerous times, an altercation with the Michigan Militia and carrying the American flag in posting parades. This biography provides an interesting read for those who like historical reflections about the copper mines. 

Recovering Ruth, A Biographer’s Tale, by Root, Robert. 2003.  
This Michigan Notable title is one author’s attempt at editing and annotating a nineteenth-century diary of time spent on Isle Royale written by Ruth Edgerton Douglass, wife of Columbus C. Douglass who assisted in the first geological survey of Michigan and was very active in exploring the Keweenaw Peninsula. Root writes an essay about the journey of dissecting and interpreting the nineteenth century woman’s life through books, historical papers and by foot, car and canoe, becoming entangled in her life almost as if he were a time traveler.

Remarkable Michigan Women, by Pferdehirt, Julia. 2007.
This title profiles the remarkable lives of twelve historical women born before 1915. Those profiled include Laura Haviland who was an abolitionist and Underground Railroad activist; Civil War veteran Sara Emma Edmonds, a solider, nurse, and spy; Magdaleine la Frambois a Metis fur trader and prominent business owner who played a vital role in the establishment of Mackinaw Island as a community.

The Sound the Stars make rushing through the Sky by Schoolcraft,  Jane Johnston. 2007. 
This collection of writings comes from the first American Indian literary writer, Indian woman writer, and Indian poet, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft who was born in 1800 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan with a native name of Bamewawagezhikaquy. An interesting aspect of the collection is the ability of the author to interpret these writings when there are no apparent organized manuscripts of her works. Superbly written, Schoolcraft’s writings are deep and meaningful for those readers seeking her cleverly arranged clues within the writings. 

--Diana Menhennick, Reference Department