The Women of the Copper Country
In 1913, the seeds for the copper mine union are sown by the death of a Finnish drill operator. Led by the intrepid Anna Clements (“Big Annie”) and fueled by the fury of the many women left behind, the relatively new national union movement is given a fresh push by activities in Calumet, Michigan against the most successful and wealthy copper mine in the country. Through perseverance and horrific setbacks culminating in the deaths of dozens of children at the Christmas Italian Hall disaster, the union eventually experiences some success against the immigrant-hating and single-minded direction of the copper mining operators of the Midwest.
As a female coppersmith, I was immediately drawn to this title. I found myself deeply empathetic to the conditions of the miners, though the novel relates the particulars of their situation in a vague manner. As a Wisconsinite, I was excited to read about the history of the copper mining industry mere miles from where I live. The novel is loosely informative, and it took me about one-third of the novel to care about the characters, given the lack of dialogue and character development throughout. I also was disappointed to realize that much of the activity, drama, and romance are not based in actual events or letters or historical data, and many pivotal characters are entirely fabricated. I did not understand this novel’s purpose: as a dramatic historical novel with some fictional characters, it falls flat. It is also less than successful as an accurate portrayal of historical events; even the name of the main historical character, Anna Clemenc, has been altered. While full of excellent information and a story long forgotten in American history that needs a voice, I do not know how to categorize this book. For me, as a coppersmith, it was an important read. But, there are not many coppersmiths.
