Copper Country Postcards: A View of the Past from the Keweenaw Peninsula
Local author Nancy Sanderson has created a wonderful treasure with her book, Copper Country Postcards: A View of the Past from the Keweenaw Peninsula. The book features almost 300 postcards from Sanderson's extensive personal collection. The book gives a glimpse of Copper Country in the first half of the twentieth century. A foreword by Peter Van Pelt gives a brief introduction to the region.
By the turn of the 20th century mines and mining towns were well established in Copper Country and many immigrants had settled in the area. The popularity of postcards boomed and captured many views of places, people and events. Many postcards were mailed to family and friends and others were kept in albums as mementos. Real photo postcards documented significant events of the era. Sanderson has included a brief history of the postcard and a helpful list of postcard publishers that printed views of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Sanderson grew up in Copper Country and has been a life member of the Keewenaw County Historical Society since the early 1980s. She has been active in the preservation of the area and in 2002 was awarded the Lauri W. Leskinen Memorial Award by the historical society for her role in developing a Commercial Fishing Museum located at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Museum.
Copper Country Postcards is a wonderful collection to be appreciated by postcard collectors or anyone interested in Upper Peninsula history. The full-size, full-color views are accurate reproductions of Sanderson's original postcards. The captions that the author has written for the cards give relevant background information to the views. Sanderson's generosity and commitment to the area is evident in the fact that the proceeds from the sale of the book will help fund preservation projects of the Keweenaw County Historical Society.