Jeffrey Manuel, author of “Taconite Dreams,” is a professor at Southern Illinois University who has specialized in researching the deindustrialization of America, particularly in steel towns and the Mesabi Iron Range.
This Tuesday, Nov. 29, I host a discussion at the Grand Rapids Public Library with Professor Jeff Manuel, author of “Taconite Dreams” and a well-respected voice researching deindustrialization in the United States.
Longtime readers might recognize Jeff’s name. I spoke highly of his book “Taconite Dreams” last winter. He’s one of the few people I’ve ever invited to write guest posts here at the blog.
In short, Manuel brings years of research about the taconite industry without the local Iron Range baggage and biases. He has fresh eyes the issues those of us who live here often overlook. A St. Paul native, Manuel is a history professor at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.
We had hoped that by scheduling this for Nov. 29, the high drama of the American election would have subsided. That might not entirely be the case, but we are embracing the timing. We’re going to discuss current events facing Northern Minnesota’s mining economy amid the changing national and state political scene.
Among our planned topics:
- a brief history of the Mesabi Iron Range taconite business
- prospects of value-added iron ore production in Northern Minnesota
- automation in the mining industry
- the effect of the 2016 election on mining politics
- the role a Trump Administration might play in the future of the steel industry
The talk starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the conference room of the Grand Rapids (Minn.) Public Library. Manuel will join us via the library’s new teleconferencing system from his office at Southern Illinois University.
The event is free and open to the public. MinnesotaBrown.com readers will surely be interested in the conversation.
Too bad it was a rainy, foggy night and it was 40 miles away from the nearest operating mine. How about a report on what he said, or were you fogged in too?
There used to be steelmaking and related heavy manufacturing in Duluth. I understand that the State of Minnesota demanded this as a condition of supporting the mining industry as much as it did. Is this correct, or have I been reading the wrong books? So a lot of the yak-yak about steelmaking in Minnesoa seem deja-vu. Did the state at some point lose focus, or lose the leverage to influence the steel people, or….?
Every product made at the Duluth steel mill is now made from scrap, not iron ore, or imported. yes, in the day, it was built to placate the state legislature and avoid paying even higher taxes on iron ore. By the time it was closed natural ore mining was on the way out and the taconite production tax was skyrocketing anyways. After WWII it never really was economically viable on its own.