A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum Collection

Collection — Box: 1-30

Identifier: MTU-092

Staff Only

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Collection, 1905-2004, of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, the official Mineral Museum of Michigan, located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. Includes correspondence, financial reports, collection catalogs, collection documentation, mineral show papers, visitor records, photographs, awards, and other printed ephemera.

Dates

1905-2004

Access

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

Biography

The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum, the official Mineral Museum of Michigan, is located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. The collection started as a teaching tool for geology and mining courses in the late 1800s. It was reconfigured as a museum in 1902. Arthur Edmund Seaman became the curator in 1928 when he retired from active teaching, a post he held until his death in 1937. In 1976 the museum collections were relocated to the 5th floor of the Electrical Energy Resources Center, a move intended to be temporary until a visitors center was built. Thirty-five years later, the museum moved into a permanent home on Sharon Avenue with a gift shop and 14 galleries.