Abstract
What follows is an overview of the Italian story scattered across the Lake Superior region in the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota and the Canadian province of Ontario and finally the state of Michigan. The role of the unskilled laborer seeking work on rail lines and other construction jobs that started in the 1880s came to an end by the 1920s when railroads no longer needed large numbers of construction crews.
The narrative will begin by focusing on railroad laborers in the Lake Superior basin, but the majority of the story will be centered in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Here details about Italian railroad laborers and others abound and provide information about life that was similar for workers in the Lake Superior region.
The narrative of “floating” Italian immigrants working on railroad, quarry, canal and tunnel projects has not been developed because of the difficulty in searching for and securing appropriate documentation. This study is based on newspaper and journal accounts, census data, government reports and limited published material.
Recommended Citation
Magnaghi, Russell
(2024)
"Italian Railroad, Construction and Timber Laborers in the Lake Superior Basin and Michigan, 1880s-1920s,"
Upper Country: A Journal of the Lake Superior Region: Vol. 12, Article 5.
Available at:
https://commons.nmu.edu/upper_country/vol12/iss1/5
