Rural Voices

Rural Voices” shares cultural, educational, economic and artistic views of people who have lived and thrived in the Upper Peninsula. Each of our authors in Rural Voices may be living here in the U.P. or living someplace around the globe, but the U.P. is an important part of who they are and what their beliefs and values are today. Rural Voices wants to share the voices of our neighbors and friends about life and experiences in the UP.

Recently Published

Rural Voices: Don Wotruba

In the latest Rural Voices column, Upper Peninsula Native Don Wotruba gives an account of how his small-town upbringing in Carney-Nadeau provided a valuable foundation that has served him well in the years since he left the UP.

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Gender and Factory Work in the Upper Peninsula – Part Two

In Part Two of this two-part series, Dr. Russell Magnaghi explores gender and employment jobs during the industrial development of the Upper Peninsula’s mining regions: the Marquette, Menominee, and Gogebic Iron Ranges, as well as the Copper Country.

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Gender and Factory Work in the Upper Peninsula – Part One

A thorough history of the non-mining industries in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan has not been fully developed over the years, and the story of female factory workers has rarely been mentioned. Part One of this two-part series by Russell Magnaghi provides new insights into the history of women’s heritage in this region.

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Trust the Compass

“The compass was always there, steady and true. I looked at it often and knew my headings to each location by heart. I never doubted the compass when I could see clearly–but when the fog rolled in, so did my doubts and fear.” Read more from Marquette native and current Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA Police Chief Paul Tomasi in this edition of Rural Voices.

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Rural Voices: Jon G. LaSalle

“I was raised on our family’s homestead near Fayette Historic State Park on the Garden Peninsula. I attended school in a two-room schoolhouse in Fairbanks Township called “Mud Lake School” that had K-4 in one room and 5th-8th grades in the second room.” Read Jon G. LaSalle’s fascinating account of growing up in the Upper Peninsula in his Rural Voices piece.

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