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Courtesy George Robinson
A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum
The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Technological University in Houghton boasts an impressive mineral collection from unique geographic locations around the world.
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Courtesy George Robinson
A Gem of a Museum
The museum's mineral collection features the likes of (clockwise from left) a tourmaline crystal from California, a datolite nodule from Houghton County, and a faceted gemstone of sphalerite from Spain.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
A Gem of a Museum
The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum exhibits offer surprising shapes as well as magnificent specimens of minerals.
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Courtesy George Robinson
A Gem of a Museum
Regional minerals are among the charms of the collection. Here, clockwise from top left, are copper crystals from the Central Mine in Keweenaw County; chlorastrolite (greenstone) cabochon, Michigan’s state gemstone; thomsonites from Thomsonite Beach, Grand Marais, Minnesota; and a 2-inch aggregate of wire silver from the historic silver mine on Silver Islet, Ontario.
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Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
A Gem of a Museum
The gift shop in the museum offers mineral specimens, gifts made with rocks and, of course, books on geology and the region.
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Courtesy George Robinson
A Gem of a Museum
This rock cavity (tilted on its side) is lined with blue rosasite and comes from Mexico.
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Courtesy George Robinson
A Gem of a Museum
A 3-inch Lake Superior agate from near Keweenaw Point, Michigan.
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A Gem of a Museum
Director Theodore Bornhorst and retiring curator George Robinson.
It’s not often you expect to find diamonds, rubies, emeralds, agates and copper nestled alongside each other – especially in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
OK, maybe you’d expect the agates and copper … but every one of these minerals can be found at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton.
The origins of the museum stretch back to the 1800s, when the discovery of copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula triggered the first mining boom in the United States. By 1840 dozens of copper mines were operating in the Upper Peninsula, specifically the Keweenaw. The need for trained geologists and mining engineers was immediate and caused the Michigan State Legislature to create an act to establish the Michigan Mining School (now Michigan Tech) in 1885, with a directive to specifically establish a “complete collection of minerals of the Upper Peninsula and properly [classify] the same …”
Establishing a mineral collection was not just an idle suggestion. Minerals come from unique geographic locations. When mines close down and locations vanish, the minerals vanish with them – mined out, destroyed or no longer accessible. The Michigan Mining School was officially established in 1885 and its founders and early curators took the directive to “collect and catalog minerals” seriously.
The museum derives its name, and owes several of its founding collections, to its first curator, Arthur Edmond Seaman. In addition to being a passionate collector himself, he actively solicited private collections for the museum, enabling it to grow.
Seaman came to the U.P. in the 1880s as a lumberman-surveyor. Shortly after that he joined the Michigan Geological Survey, but when the survey departed the area in 1892, he decided to stay on. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Michigan Mining School and advanced through the ranks so rapidly that by 1899 he was a full professor and head of the geology department.
Respected within the college, Arthur was well liked by his students. His courses were extremely popular, despite his demanding requirement that any student taking his 16-week course should be prepared to identify 300 different minerals on sight. To offer some perspective, today’s one-semester courses usually require students to identify 50 minerals or less.
Arthur retired from teaching in 1928 but stayed on as curator of the museum, actively expanding its collection. In 1930 a rare mineral, seamanite, was named in his honor and two years later the museum was also named for him.
Private collections are the backbone of all museums, and during his tenure two of the museum’s most significant collections were acquired through purchase and donation: the Reeder and the Hubbard collections.
Those two men worked for the mines here,” says Theodore Bornhorst, museum director, “and they would buy specimens directly from the miners. These represent our core from our Copper Country collection; we are noted for having the world’s finest collection (of Copper Country minerals).”
These collections were available to the museum because of Arthur’s close friendship with both men. At least five more significant collections came to the museum because of his friendships and influence. Even his former students, working as mining engineers around the world, sent him specimens for the museum.
From relatively humble beginnings, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum currently boasts more than 34,000 specimens and the largest collection of Great Lakes mineral specimens on display. The original collection might not have looked much like a museum, but it has always been on public display. Established as a teaching tool, it was always available to students.
The first home for the collection was the Houghton Fire Hall (currently the Continental Fire Company, a bar/restaurant in downtown Houghton). Then in 1889 the collection moved into Hubbell Hall, on the campus of Michigan Tech. It was shuffled and moved several more times before obtaining its own dedicated building in 2011. Seaman died in 1937, but his granddaughter, Jeanne Seaman Farnum, was able to attend the August 2011 dedication of the new building.
In a curious piece of coincidence, the museum now sits on an actual copper mine – the Mabbs Mine. During the mining boom of the 1800s, the Mabbs brothers owned the mine. But the lode was unprofitable and the two brothers shut it down, forgetting about it. As did everyone else – until October 2010 when the mine was rediscovered while excavating the footings for the current museum building. The mine shaft was capped a few days later with 600 tons of reinforced concrete.
George Robinson, curator of the museum for 17 years, oversaw moving the collections into the new building and was instrumental in arranging the exhibit space that visitors see today. His wife, artist and geologist Susan Robinson, is an honorary curator at the museum, who influenced and developed displays.
“Our new exhibits have been arranged to accommodate both students and visitors,” says George. “All the teaching collections are still in place, but we’ve also tried to make the museum interesting for public visitors with no mineral knowledge.”
In keeping with its location and original directive, about one-third of the museum is devoted to Michigan minerals and specimens from the Lake Superior region.
The other two-thirds feature educational and thematic exhibits, displays of glitzy gems from around the world and fun exhibits such as the one demonstrating the significance of minerals in our lives by showing minerals found in common household items from Oreos to toothpaste and cleaning products. “People don’t understand that we’re dependent on minerals for our lifestyle,” says Ted, who also is a geology professor. Displays like these help to make the connections.
The popular display of fluorescent minerals is a huge hit with children of all ages. Visitors walk into a darkened room using low standard lighting to find display cases of ordinary, even dull-looking, rocks. But push a button to change the lighting to ultraviolet and presto – it’s a magic cave of neon-colored glowing rocks.
Two extremely needed and helpful additions with the new space are a parking lot with ample free spots and the expanded gift shop.
Mineral specimens and fossils from around the world are available for purchase, as well as books, games and other educational and just plain fun items.
The museum is the official “Minneral Museum” of Michigan and is also now a heritage site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.
Over the years the nature of the museum’s displays has changed. In the early years, the displays were organized by specific private collections. Today, displays are developed after surveying the museum’s entire collection, then building exhibits to satisfy audience needs, expectations and the educational mission.
Another big change will come to the museum this year with George’s retirement in June.
Before he came to work for the museum 17 years ago, he had been a private mineral dealer early in his career and was curator at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa for 14 years. He’s also authored more than 100 articles and updated, authored or co-authored four books.
Asked about George’s contributions to the museum, Ted replies, “How long do you want to listen?” Given George’s reputation within the geological community, he brought prestige to the museum just by joining the staff, Ted says. “It was a solid museum when he arrived, and we had a goal to make our museum nationally recognized and we are.”
Ted says the museum gained a package deal with George, too, since his wife, Susan, is an outstanding nature artist who specializes in rocks and minerals. “He and his wife together, the two of them combined, just built some tremendous layouts and tremendous exhibits.”
The International Mineral Association recently approved naming a mineral after George: georgerobinsonite. The mineral was discovered in the early 1940s by Dan Mayer in the Mammoth-St. Anthony Mine in Arizona. The Robinsons plan to return to George’s home state of New York.
Both George and Ted expect good things for the future of the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum. Visitation also should be increasing with the new, easily accessible building. Plus, with more than 34,000 specimens from which to choose, only about 10 percent of the permanent collection is on display at any given time. Different specimens are rotated in, based on aesthetics, rarity and scientific or historic significance.
That means that the rocks do roll at the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum and that there will be something new to see at every visit to this Keweenaw gem.
Lesley DuTemple must be a rockhound. She lives on the Lake Superior shore in Eagle River.