I would like to share with the list information about the reprinting of a
hard-to-find novel on the Cornish immigrtant experience in Michigan -- The
Long Winter Ends by Newton G. Thomas.  Those working in mining areas will
find it of interest.


A reprint of the 1941 novel by Newton G. Thomas, The Long Winter Ends
(Wayne State University Press; introduction by William H. Mulligan, Jr.;
$16.95 paperback; pub. date: February 20, 1998) tells the story of a year
in the life of a young emigrant miner who leaves Cornwall, a peninsula at
the southwestern end  of England, to work in the copper mines of Michigan's
Upper Peninsula. Typical of emigrant miners drawn to the new mines in
America after copper and tin mine closings in Cornwall, Jim Holman journeys
to Michigan from Stoke, Cornwall, and spends his first year living in a
boarding house with other Cornish miners.
        Through Jim's story, The Long Winter Ends offers a glimpse into the
lives of an often neglected immigrant group that played an important role
in the development of the Great Lakes and American mining industries since
the 1840s. Drawing on his own experience as a young Cornish immigrant in
the mining communities of the Upper Peninsula, Thomas incorporated
firsthand knowledge of the work routines of underground mining, as well as
the inflections and patterns of Cornish speech, into this novel. With an
introduction providing information about the cultural history of the
Cornish, this narrative traces a Cornish emigrant's experience, including
details about the failure of the mines in Cornwall, his hopes to preserve
Cornish traditions in America, and then finally his acceptance of a future
in America.

Newton G. Thomas was born in Stoke, Cornwall, in 1878 and emigrated to
Michigan's Upper Peninsula as a child. He was on the faculty at
Northwestern University Dental School, taught histology at the University
of Illinois, and served as secretary of the College of Dentistry in Chicago.

William H. Mulligan, Jr., is a professor of history at Murray State
University.

To purchase a copy of The Long Winter Ends, visit your local bookstore or
call 1-800-WSU-READ.



William H. Mulligan, Jr. [[log in to unmask]]
Associate Professor of History
Director - Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute
Murray State University - Murray, KY 42071-0009
Phone:(502) 762-6571 Fax:(502) 762-6587
Pogue Institute web site:
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/Index.htm
Personal web site:
http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/mull-pers.htm