Art auction raises funds
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By ALEXANDRIA
BOURNONVILLE
Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE -- In a digital world, it has become even more important to make newspapers available online.
That's why, the Northern Michigan University Archives and the Peter White Public Library are working to digitize copies of The Mining Journal dating back to the 1860s.
PWPL held an art auction was held Thursday night.
NMU emeritus professors Russell Magnaghi and Diane Kordich spearheaded the project in 2021. The pair provided seed money to make the history of the area more accessible to the public for research purposes and pure historical interest. Not only will online versions of the newspaper be available at uplink.nmu.edu, they will be completely searchable to be more efficient.
However, the project costs over $250,000 when accounting for microfilm purchases, legal fees and payment to the digitizing company, Lyrasis. They're also raising money to endow the digitized Mining Journal papers "so that the digital file will be available forever and keep up with technology as it changes," said Heather Steltenpohl, development director at the PWPL.
To raise funds, a local artwork raffle and auction took place, with the art provided from a variety of sources: private collectors, area residents and even artists themselves. Visitors to the library were able to purchase tickets and place them in boxes corresponding to their desired piece of art in hopes of winning it during the raffle.
As of Friday, over $150,000 has been raised for The Mining Journal Digitization Fund. About $3,000 came from the well-attended artwork auction and raffle.
Currently, editions from 1868 through 1955 are available online.
"I think everybody wants this. This is good for The Mining Journal as a business, to be archived forever and for the history of our area. This is some of the most detailed information available from over the years ... I hope everybody gets a chance to get online and look ... It's really neat. It's very cool to just type in your last name and see what comes up, see if any relatives come up or crazy stories," Steltenpohl said.
Alexandria Bournonville can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is abournonville@miningjournal.net.