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Edwin J. Collins Collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MS-055

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Collection, 1897-1956, of Edwin J. Collins, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, a 1903 graduate of the Michigan College of Mines (later Michigan Technological University) and eventual member of the board of directors for the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company. Includes diaries, photographs, textbooks, instruments and mine maps of properties he worked on as well as several souvenir spoons and service medals from the Spanish-American War.

Dates

  • 1897-1965

Access

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

Biography

Collins was born in 1875 in Greenland, Michigan near Ontonagon. His father, who owned a dry goods store, died when he was seven years old. His mother moved Edwin and his brother to Calumet to live with her parents. Collins attended local schools and worked in mine offices before enlisting to fight in the 1898 Spanish American War. When he returned, he attended the college and graduated in 1903 as a mining engineer. The grandfather whom Collins went to live with was Captain Thomas Hoatson, a well-known superintendent at the Calumet and Hecla Mine. Uncles James and Thomas H. Hoatson would rise to even higher fame as the founders of the Calumet and Arizona Copper Company, one of the biggest players in the developing copper district around Bisbee, Arizona. With this extended family—and a high-quality education from the Michigan College of Mines—Collins embarked on a fascinating career that took him to some of the world’s best-known mining districts, including Bisbee, Arizona; Tonopah, Nevada; and Butte, Montana. Collins married Edith Cook in 1906 and built a home in Tonopah. After their first son was born, Edith insisted the family move back to civilization and her family in Duluth. Collins left his uncles’ employment and opened an office in Duluth as an independent mining engineer. After the birth of his third son, Collins moved the family to Calumet and he took up work again for his uncles. He served on the board of directors for the Calumet and Arizona and participated in negotiations that sold C and A to Phelps Dodge in 1931. He also served with the Bureau of Mines during the Second World War. Edwin Collins remained a committed alumnus of the college throughout his life. He never missed a class reunion, maintained contact as part of a worldwide network of Tech’s mining engineering alumni, and even served on the Board of Control from 1929 to 1935. Although he and his wife relocated to Berkeley following the war, Collins died here in the Copper Country. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage right here on the Tech campus while attending the 1956 class reunion (excerpted from Michigan Tech Magazine, Fall 2007).

Extent

4 Cubic Feet (8 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Collection, 1897-1956, of Edwin J. Collins, a veteran of the Spanish-American War, a 1903 graduate of the Michigan College of Mines (later Michigan Technological University) and eventual member of the board of directors for the Calumet and Arizona Mining Company. Includes diaries, photographs, textbooks, instruments and mine maps of properties he worked on as well as several souvenir spoons and service medals from the Spanish-American War.

Processing History

Elizabeth Russell,5/18/2010

Title
Edwin J. Collins Collection
Author
Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Russell
Date
5/18/2010
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Description is in English

Repository Details

Part of the Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton 49931 U.S.A. US