Description
Winner of the Midwestern History Association’s 2016 Hamlin Garland Prize
The Iron Range earned its name honestly: it was once among the world’s richest iron ore mining districts. The Iron Range propelled the U.S. steel industry in the late nineteenth century, and iron mining sustained generations in the region with work and a strong economy. But long before most other parts of the country faced the realities of industrial decline, Minnesota’s Iron Range was already striving to maintain its core industry.
In Taconite Dreams: The Struggle to Sustain Mining on Minnesota’s Iron Range, 1915–2000, Jeffrey T. Manuel examines how the region fought the dislocation that came with economic changes, technological advances, and global shifts in industrial production. On the Iron Range, efforts included the development of taconite mining as a technological fix for the drop in hematite mining. Manuel describes the Iron Range’s modern history and how the downturn was opposed by individuals, civic groups, and commercial interests. The first book dedicated to thoroughly exploring this era on the Iron Range, Taconite Dreams demonstrates how the area fit into a larger story of regions wrestling with deindustrialization in the twentieth century. The 1964 taconite amendment to Minnesota’s constitution, the bruising federal pollution lawsuit that closed a taconite plant, and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board’s economic development policy are all discussed.
Ultimately, the resistance against economic decline is also a battle over mining’s memory and legacy, one that continues today. Manuel’s history sheds much-needed light on this important yet widely overlooked mining region as well as the impact of the past century’s struggles on the people who call it home.
About the Author
Jeffrey T. Manuel, a Minnesota native, is associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Details
- Publisher : Univ Of Minnesota Press (October 12, 2015)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 312 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0816694303
- ISBN-13 : 978-0816694303
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
Robin Gaither –
I was going to be visiting Itasca and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota, and wanted to learn more about the iron range. I stumbled on this book (that’s what happens with Amazon), bought it, and couldn’t put it down once I started it. I thought that the way the book was organized made it very easy to understand varying viewpoints in the discussion of mining in general, and not just in the way that Taconite impacted the Iron Range community. I didn’t pay much attention to the description of the book when I bought it – I just wanted something about the iron range. Then, when I read the “introduction,” I realized that it was more of an executive summary of the book, and that this was undoubtedly the result of doctoral research. But it is not boring or too technical or academic at all. I was definitely not ready to stop reading about the Iron Range when I finished this book. I would really have liked to have had something to continue this author’s insights up to the present day in 2017. Excellent book for anyone interested in the Iron Range at any intellectual level.
Immer –
Jeffrey T Manuel’s Taconite Dreams- The Struggle to Sustain Mining on Minnesota’s Iron Range, 1915-2000 is an informative book documenting iron mining, the boom and bust of iron mining, the deindustrialization of the iron range, the rise of the taconite industry, foreign competition, attempts at recovery and tourism to revitalize the region, and the specter of copper nickel mining looming at the headwaters of the BWCA, broken down into five chapters over its 229 pages of text. This is followed by 32 pages of reference notes and a 14 page index.The book documents the continued rise and fall of Minnesota iron mining and the repercussions of the northeastern portion of the state’s economic dependence hinging on one major industry, iron mining. After reading Taconite Dreams, it’s easy to feel empathetic for the region and it’s people, yet the reliance on a single industry, accompanied by a veiled feeling of entitlement, and hints of xenophobia also haunt the region. As Aaron Brown writes in 2020, “about 85% of American iron ore comes from northern Minnesota, and as long as the US produces steel, it will include ores from Minnesota. But, every time a mine closes, it reopens leaner and more automated.” Productivity has increased, yet employment numbers are down, and with new technologies, this evolution of fewer, but more technological trained workers will continue.Manuel also documents the regions attempts at diversification, mainly through tourism. Yet, one hand doesn’t appear to know what the other hand is doing, and the rancor between factions is a constant. The book was copyrighted in 2015, and over the past seven years nothing has really changed. The author quotes the advice one LTV employee gave his children in the wake of a mine closure, “I told them, get a good trade, but don’t necessarily go to the mine… They all listened.”Jeffrey T. Manuel’s Taconite dreams is a history of the downfall of hematite mining ( rock contains 50-70% iron) and replaced with taconite (rock contains 20-30% iron as magnetite) and the processes where taconite supplanted hematite. The booms and busts of mining are discussed, as well as foreign competition influencing the busts (oh but the merits of capitalism coming back to roost). The book is a rather non-partisan history, well done, but not much more. If readers are looking for the rah-rah of “we support mining, mining supports us”, or the it’s time to move into 21st century, diversify and move on, they may be disappointed.
Kelly McKay-Semmler –
Taconite Dreams is a dramatic tale one region’ struggle against the overwhelming of power of global big business against the people who build it.
Paul S. Posey –
Book is a well written review of recent (1915+) Iron Range history, environmentalism, economic redevelopment, and the “nostalgic heritage-political-industrial complex” (my phrase). Even the chapter on taxes was interesting. Manuel is good with details.
DennisR_SD –
Historically significant, and well written. Provides great insight into the process of de-industrialization as related to an American natural resource extraction business.