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University M icrofilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8315451 Dickerson, Don Willis THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT, SOCIAL HALLS, INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY: HOUGHTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN, 1837-1916 Michigan State University PH.D. 1983 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Copyright 1983 by Dickerson, Don Willis All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages. 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print ^ 3. Photographs with dark background ^ 4. Illustrations are poor copy 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page ______ 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages t S 8. Print exceeds margin requirements. 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine ______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print ______ 11. Page(s)___________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)___________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered __________ . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages ______ 15. Other____________________________________________________________ ___ University Microfilms International THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT, SOCIAL HALLS, INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY: HOUGHTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN, 1837-1916 By Don Willis Dickerson A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Interdisciplinary Studies, Departments of History, Art, and Human Environment and Design, College of Arts and Letters 1983 ABSTRACT THEATRICAL ENTERTAINMENT, SOCIAL HALLS, INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY: HOUGHTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN, 1837-1916 By Don Willis Dickerson In 1895 Ransom E. Olds built a gasoline automobile in Lansing, Michigan; and the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company treated 1,248,051 tons of rock, produced 32,620,976 pounds of copper and paid 2,000,000 dollars in dividends. These two seemingly diverse events shaped much of the history and the future of the State of Michigan. A large percentage of the automotive industry was fi­ nanced with capital gained through the lumbering and mining ventures in the State of Michigan, rather than from the banks of the East Coast of America. But the East, and Boston in particular, did supply the money and industrial management of the copper mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and these mines produced the affluence needed to build some of the most magnificent theaters in the Midwest of 1900. These theaters drew artists from the East Coast of America, the continent of Europe and from down the street, while enter­ taining one of the most diverse populations in America. The Keweenaw Peninsula, located on the northern shore of the Upper Peninsula, contained the richest deposit of copper anywhere on the globe. The area saw one giant in­ dustrial complex emerge as the dominating force. And one man, Alexander Agassiz, ruled the company and the county with an iron hand through a policy of "benevolent paternalism." This policy was directly responsible for the construction of houses, hospitals, and schools. It also supported a cultural explosion that rocked the state and welded a population of immigrants together as no other force could. All this ac­ tivity took place in an area so harsh and remote that it is inaccessible for almost one half the year, and yet fostered millions of dollars of dividends and salaries. It hosted Sarah Bernhardt, the Quincy Brass Band and thousands of other entertainers. Sixty thousand people worked, played and built together for a short span of time and then disappeared. The only signs that remain of the past grandeur are silent structures that stand like sentinels of a past age. FOR MY DAUGHTER AMANDA ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Dissertation was made possible in part by the collection of historical materials at the Library Archives of Michigan Technological University at Houghton, Michigan. I am particularly indebted to Theresa Sanderson Spence for her help and assistance in locating many items of importance. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................... iv LIST OF TABLES.......................................... v LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS..................... vi INTRODUCTION - COPPER AND OPERA ....................... 1 CHAPTER I - THE TIME.................................... 6 CHAPTER II - THE SETTING................................ 12 CHAPTER III - THE EARLY COMPANY ....................... 21 CHAPTER IV - THE MAN.................................... 31 CHAPTER V - THE COMPANY AND COMMUNITY................. 40 CHAPTER VI - THE PEOPLE ................................ 48 CHAPTER VII - THE ETHNIC HALLS......................... 58 CHAPTER VIII - THE THEATERS ............................ 75 CHAPTER IX - THE ARCHITECTURE......................... 97 CHAPTER X - THE STRIKE.....................................178 SUMMARY - THE PLACE, THE TIME, AND THE MAN................ 184 APPENDIX I - MINE MATERIAL................................ 186 APPENDIX II - A LIST OF THEATERS AND HALLS................ 196 APPENDIX III - ENTERTAINMENT IN ETHNIC HALLS.............. 198 APPENDIX IV - LIST OF ETHNIC HALLS AND SOCIETIES THAT USED THEM IN 1900 ................. 201 FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTERS .................................. 204 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................. 215 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Population of Calumet School System in 1897. ................................ 45 Table 2. General Census of Upper Peninsula 1840- 1910........................................ 48 Table 3. Immigrants to U.S.A......................... 30 Table 4. Immigrants to the Upper Peninsula......... 51 Table 5. Ethnic Population in 1900 in Calumet Township................... 52 Table 6. Expenses for Theater 1900 ......... 86 Table 7. Theaters of Houghton County Shortly Before and After 1900.............................. 88 Table 8. National and Regional Touring Companies and the Theaters They Played............... 89, 90 Table 9. Local Entertainment Around 1900 in Houghton County ............................ 91, 92 v LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Log Cabin outside of Jacobsville............... 5 2. Lutheran Church at Jacobsville.................... 11 3. Keweenaw Peninsula.................................14 4. Mine Building ..................................... 20 5. Section of Cliff M i n e ............................ 26 6. Alexander Agassiz .............................. 30 7. Worker's Homes..................................... 39 8. Summer Outing ..... ................. ... 47 9. Men's Club......................................... 57 10. Tableaux from Miller's H a l l ...................... 68 11. Playbill from Parents Meeting at Otter Lake Agricultural School. ..... ............... 69 12. Playbill from Germania H a l l ...................... 70 13. Playbill from Germania H a l l ...................... 71 14. Calumet Theater ................................... 74 15. Calumet Theater ................................... 77 16. Red Jacket Opera House............................ 81 17. Advertisement for the Lake Linden Opera House............................................. 83 18. Lake Linden Opera House .......................... 84 19. Calumet Theater Showing Division of Theater and Town Hall................................