Arthur Douglas DeFoe Correspondence

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MS-677

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Correspondence, 1915-1918, between Arthur Douglas DeFoe and colleagues at the Michigan College of Mines in the years just before and during World War I. Includes correspondence with A.E. Seaman, geology professor, J.B. Cunningham, metallurgy assistant professor and Arthur Sweet, metallurgy professor. Also includes photographs of the Houghton area.

Dates

1915-1918

Access

Available for use in the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections.

Biography

Arthur D. DeFoe was only the second instructor of technical writing at the Michigan College of Mines. While in Houghton, DeFoe developed lasting friendships with many faculty members, particularly geology professor A.E. Seaman. Although DeFoe was only with the college for three years, these were important years, as the nation and the world were plunged into World War I.

In April 1917, shortly after the United States was drawn into the war with Germany, the Michigan College of Mines offered its facilities to the federal government for the purpose of military instruction and special training of men in technical fields. The DeFoe letters open an unexpected door on this period of time at Michigan Tech (from article by Erik Nordberg, Michigan Tech Alumnus, Volume 39, Number 1, January 2002).