Cradle to Grave: Life, Work, and Death at the Lake Superior Copper Mines

by Larry Lankton

Concentrating on technology, economics, labor, and social history, Cradle to Grave documents the full life cycle of one of America's great mineral ranges from the 1840s to the 1960s. Lankton examines the workers' world underground, but is equally concerned with the mining communities on the surface. For the first fifty years of development, these mining communities remained remarkably harmonious, even while new, large companies obliterated traditional forms of organization and work within the industry. By 1890, however, the Lake Superior copper industry of upper Michigan started facing many challenges, including strong economic competition and a declining profit margin; growing worker dissatisfaction with both living and working conditions; and erosion of the companies' hegemony in a district they once controlled. Lankton traces technological changes within the mines and provides a thorough investigation of mine accidents and safety. He then focuses on social and labor history,
dealing especially with the issue of how company paternalism exerted social control over the work force. A social history of technology, Cradle to Grave will appeal to labor, social and business historians.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

348 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 1991

Reviews

[Rachel Adrianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard print from the library

So good! After reading The Women of Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell last year, I wanted to read a nonfiction book about the copper mines in Michigan's UP. This book did not disappoint- written in 1991, the writing stands up because of the historical subject matter. Lankton does a phenomenal job crafting the history of not only this mining community, but also the historical context of it, into a narrative that is easy to understand.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in Michigan history, geology, or mining.

[Ariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a densly informative book, almost a textbook historical recording of life and mining operations from the 1840s until 1970. Parts were very dry but the social and labor history was more interesting and I started reading more quickly the further I got into it. The history is interesting and an important part of not only Michigan's industrialization but the entire world's.
The Keweenaw held the world's largest deposit of native copper. From the mid 1840s to 1865, Lake Superior copper accounted for 75% of all copper produced in the US.

[Marilee · Rating 3 out of 5]

skimmed parts

[Mike Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of the copper mining industry in Upper Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. This is a more scholarly, detailed affair than Murdoch's "Boom Copper."

[ERIC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book ever. This useless professor made his students buy his book and then waste their time with his liberal propaganda. Hope you see this comment Larry. You suck!

[ERIC]

Worst book ever. This useless professor made his students buy his book and then waste their time with his liberal propaganda. Hope you see this comment Larry. You suck!

[Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at the paternalistic policies of the mine bosses in Michigan's Copper Country.