Francophone Labour and Migrations in and out of the Industrial Keweenaw Peninsula

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-11-2025

Department

Department of Social Sciences

Abstract

This study builds on previous scholarship on French-Canadian migration in Michigan during the industrial period to analyse how Francophone labour changed over time in one of the earliest and largest mining regions in the United States. This study analyses a sample of Francophones in Michigan’s Houghton and Keweenaw Counties classified from the U.S. Census between 1870 and 1940. The sample features multiple subcategories to allow for nuanced definitions of Francophones and French Canadians, which facilitate an examination of changing occupations across two generations, as well as out-migration at the beginning of deindustrialization. Overall findings indicate that Francophones gained skills within the region’s copper mining industry, which some transferred to other industrial regions over time.

Publication Title

Recherches sociographiques

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