The Torch Lake Oral History Project was led by Carol MacLennan, Professor of Anthropology at Michigan Technological University, and sought to capture the memories of residents of and workers in the towns lining Houghton County's Torch Lake. The western shores of this lake were once home to extensive industrial facilities constructed by Calumet & Hecla (C&H) and Quincy Mining companies, including a cumulative eight mills, a total of three reclamation plants, a power house, and a smelter; these divisions acquired greater significance as the companies curtailed their work at several other mine sites. Torch Lake remained a hub of industrial activity through the closure of C&H in 1968. Since the 1980s, the lake has been an intense area of focus for a different reason: the accumulation of industrial waste and the consequent deterioration of water quality.

Funded by the Keweenaw National Historical Park in 2013-2014, the project dispatched two graduate student interviewers to meet with ten individuals who lived or worked in these communities during their industrial heyday or who possessed knowledge of the environmental changes along the lake. MacLennan's team transcribed the interviews in 2015.