A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox museum
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| image = Thomas D Shaffner Hall.jpg
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| caption = Thomas D Shaffner Hall, home to the museum as of 2011
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| coordinates = {{coord|47.1108|-88.5526|display=inline, title|type:landmark}}
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| established = {{Start date|1902|df=y}}
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| location = Houghton, Michigan
| type = Museum
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| director = John A. Jaszczak
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| curator = John A. Jaszczak
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| owner = Michigan Technological University
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| website = {{URL|http://www.museum.mtu.edu/}}
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The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, currently located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, is the official mineral museum of the state of Michigan and is a heritage site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.{{cite web |title = New Seaman Mineral Museum Dedicated |url = http://www.museum.mtu.edu/information/information.htm |publisher = AE Seaman Mineral Museum |access-date = September 5, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722062155/http://www.museum.mtu.edu/information/information.htm |archive-date = July 22, 2011 |url-status = dead }} The museum is named for professor Arthur Edmund Seaman, who worked at Michigan Tech in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the museum's curator from 1928 until 1937.
The mineral collection was established in the 19th century, and by 1890 numbered 27,000 specimens. The museum currently houses over 36,000 specimens from around the world. Many of these specimens are native generally to Michigan, and more specifically to the Lake Superior region. The Copper Pavilion just outside is home to the Guinness World Record holder for largest boulder of copper weighing 19 tons and pulled from the bottom of Lake Superior.{{Cite web |title=Lake and Float Copper {{!}} A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum |url=https://museum.mtu.edu/museum/copper-pavilion/lake_copper |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=museum.mtu.edu}}
History
File:Quincy Mine Machine Shop 2018.jpg
File:A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum portrait of Douglass Houghton.jpg in the museum]]
File:Copper-Silver-hbru-03b.jpg, Houghton County, Michigan, formerly in the Seaman Museum collections. Size: 5.6 x 2.8 x 3.2 cm.]]
File:A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum copper display.jpg at the museum entrance]]
The mineral museum first became a reality in 1902, when it was set up in the former Qualitative Laboratory room in Hubbell Hall{{cite web |title = History |url = http://www.museum.mtu.edu/information/history.htm |publisher = A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum |access-date = July 24, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722061520/http://www.museum.mtu.edu/information/history.htm |archive-date = July 22, 2011 |url-status = dead }} on Michigan Tech's campus. In 1908, a separate building (which would later become Tech's Administration Building) was constructed for the museum. The museum fully occupied the second floor of the building. In 1931, the museum was moved to Hotchkiss Hall.{{cite news |title = Vast Mineral Collection at Tech |work = The Daily Mining Gazette |date = February 4, 1987 |location = Houghton, MI |via = Seaman Museum Vertical File, Michigan Tech Archives }}{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}} The museum was renamed the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum in 1932.{{cite web |title = Seaman Mineral Museum |url = http://www.mg.mtu.edu/outreach.html |publisher = Michigan Technological University |access-date = September 5, 2011 }}
On June 17, 1976 the museum moved to the fifth floor of the Electrical Energy Resource Center at Michigan Tech,{{cite news |title = From Farm Boy to World Energy Leader Walker Cisler to Give Dedication Address at MTU |work = Michigan Tech Today |date = June 15, 1976 |via = EERC Vertical File, Michigan Tech Archives }}{{full citation needed|date=September 2018}} built on the site of Hotchkiss Hall. The museum was designated the "official Mineralogical Museum of Michigan" in 1990 by the Michigan Legislature.{{cite web |title = A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum |url = http://www.michigan.org/Property/Detail.aspx?p=G5161 |publisher = Pure Michigan |access-date = January 6, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110207015600/http://www.michigan.org/Property/Detail.aspx?p=G5161 |archive-date = February 7, 2011 |url-status = dead }}
In 2005, Michigan Tech purchased the blacksmith shop and machine shop buildings at the Quincy Mine site, with the intent of moving the museum there.{{cite news |title = Board OK's Land Purchase for Museum |url = http://www.mtu.edu/techalum/oldarchives/2005_06/05_10_03.htm |access-date = September 1, 2018 |work = TechAlum News |date = October 3, 2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180901033809/http://www.mtu.edu/techalum/oldarchives/2005_06/05_10_03.htm |archive-date = September 1, 2018 |url-status = live }}{{cite news |last1 = Hauglie |first1 = Kurt |title = Historic buildings seek use |url = http://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2015/06/historic-buildings-seek-use/ |access-date = September 1, 2018 |work = The Daily Mining Gazette |location = Houghton, MI |date = June 19, 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180901033938/http://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2015/06/historic-buildings-seek-use/ |archive-date = September 1, 2018 |url-status = live |df = mdy-all }} The roof of the machine shop was replaced, but Tech decided instead to build a new building, and sold the buildings back to the Quincy Mine Hoist Association. In 2011, the museum moved to the new{{cite web |title = A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum Complex |url = http://www.museum.mtu.edu/museum_complex/museum_complex.htm |publisher = AE Seaman Museum |access-date = July 23, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722062030/http://www.museum.mtu.edu/museum_complex/museum_complex.htm |archive-date = July 22, 2011 |url-status = dead }} Thomas D Shaffner Hall, across from the Advanced Technology Development Complex. It is named for Thomas Shaffner, a Michigan Tech alumnus who donated $1 million for the new museum.{{cite news |last = Creager |first = Ellen |title = You haven't lived here until ... you've visited the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech |url = http://news.morningstar.com/all/acquire-news/ff8080813489486e0134bccbd58a7a1d/you-havent-lived-here-until-youve-visited-the-ae-seaman-mineral-museum-at-michigan-tech-detroit-free-press.aspx |access-date = January 30, 2012 |newspaper = Detroit Free Press |date = January 8, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140723151749/http://news.morningstar.com/all/acquire-news/ff8080813489486e0134bccbd58a7a1d/you-havent-lived-here-until-youve-visited-the-ae-seaman-mineral-museum-at-michigan-tech-detroit-free-press.aspx |archive-date = July 23, 2014 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }} Since 2015 under the Michigan Mineral Alliance, the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum also curates and co-owns the University of Michigan mineral collection.{{Cite journal |last1=Bornhorst |first1=Theodore J. |last2=Poulsen |first2=Christopher J. |date=2015-09-03 |title=Michigan Mineral Alliance |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00357529.2015.1059093 |journal=Rocks & Minerals |language=en |volume=90 |issue=5 |pages=450–453 |doi=10.1080/00357529.2015.1059093 |bibcode=2015RoMin..90..450B |issn=0035-7529}}
Curators
- Arthur Edmund Seaman (1928–1937)
- Kiril Spiroff (1938–1943, 1964–1975)
- Wyllys Seaman (1943–1948)
- Jean Peterman Kemp (1975–1986)
- Stanley J Dyl II (1986–1996)
- George Willard Robinson (1996–2013)
- John A. Jaszczak (interim 2013)
- Christopher J. Stefano (2013–2019)
- Theodore J. Bornhorst (interim 2019–2020)
- John A. Jaszczak (2020–present)
Publications
- {{cite book |last1=Heinrich |first1=E.W. |last2=Robinson |first2=G.W. |origyear=2004 |isbn=9780974881607 |date=February 18, 2010 |title=Mineralogy of Michigan by E.W. Heinrich |edition=2nd |publisher=A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum, Michigan Technological University |location=Houghton, Michigan}}
References
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External links
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- [http://www.museum.mtu.edu/ Official webpage]
- [http://www.agiweb.org/smmp/ Society of Mineral Museum Professionals (SMMP)]
{{Michigan Technological University}}
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Category:Michigan Technological University
Category:Museums established in 1902