WORKSHOP CONTENT AND FOCUS

The history of Minnesota's Iron Range, its contributions, and its people is rarely, if ever, told. It is absent from general treatments of American history, absent from examinations of industrial America, and absent from studies of the U.S. military build-ups in the first and second world wars; the Iron Range appears as only a footnote in historical treatments of the American steel industry.

The history of the people who came to work these mines is the history of America; it is the story of immigrants, of conflict and assimilation, of people creating lives for themselves, their families, and others.

Minnesota's Iron Range is the historic region or main “landmark” central to the Minnesota Humanities Center's National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop, Building America: Minnesota's Iron Range, U.S. Industrialization, and the Creation of a World Power.

The workshop will focus on the history and activities that took place on the Vermilion and the Mesabi Iron Ranges. Participants will be provided with resources and new content knowledge for introducing the history of Minnesota’s Iron Range region, its contributions, and its people into their current American history curriculum. In order to make this easier, the workshops will be based on national history standards and national social studies standards and will be organized around three central themes that align with those standards. These three themes are: 1) The Natural History of the Landmark: Geography and Geology; 2) The Mines and their Contributions to American History; and 3) The People and the Mines. Opportunities to work one-on-one with the lead teachers will be available throughout the course of the week.


Teachers will begin their examination of the importance of this place by studying the Natural History of the Landmark: Geography and Geology. The history of the Range will be introduced and participants will hear presentations on the natural history of the area by Dr. Richard Ojakangas along with discussion led by the program’s lead scholars Dr. David Lanegran and Ms. Pamela Brunfelt.


The history and significance of this mine in local and national contexts will be discussed. Teachers will tour the Soudan Underground Mine on the Vermilion Range, the oldest and deepest iron mine in Minnesota. The group will travel one-half mile into the earth. This tour will help teachers focus their energies on experiencing what daily life was like for those who worked the mines. Afterward, teachers will participate in a discussion about how the Iron Range contributed to building industrial America. Opportunities to work one-on-one with scholars and the program’s lead teachers will be available throughout the course of the week.



With the introduction of the third theme – The People and the Iron Range – teachers will study the diverse populations who worked the Range. The day will begin with an exploration of Jewish life at the B.nai Abraham Synagogue, the only remaining of four original synagogues on the Iron Range, along with a presentation on immigrant populations on the Range by David Lanegran and Arnold Alanen. The afternoon shifts focus from the Jewish to the Finnish populations that entered the Iron Range. During and after lunch, at Kaleva Hall, teachers will get a deeper look into company towns and communities on the Range.

Teachers will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive workshop on how the Range contributed to industrialization and the history of the United States. Participants will be asked to imagine America without the ore and the Iron Range. They will learn how to make this learning relevant for their classroom instruction through small group work and large group interaction.

A chartered train tour from Two Harbors to Duluth-Superior will move us from looking at the relationship of The People and the Mines to the relationship between the Mines and the Ports. Teachers will learn where in the world all the ore has been distributed and used. Our time in Duluth will include a stop at Canal Park.

WHAT ARE THE SEMINAR OUTCOMES?
The following teacher outcomes are expected. Teachers will:

• Increase their content knowledge and appreciation for the contributions Minnesota’s Iron Range and its people have made to American history;
• Become better prepared to teach the history of Minnesota’s Iron Range in American history courses using specific national history standards and national social studies standards.

WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS OF PARTICIPANTS?

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