CALUMET – For Lyndon Comstock, the story of Anna “Big Annie” Klobuchar Clemenc hasn’t been told thoroughly enough, and because of that, he recently wrote a book called “Annie Clemenc and the Great Keweenaw Copper Strike.”
Because of her efforts on behalf of copper miners and their families before, during and after the 1913-14 copper strike, Comstock nominated Clemenc for induction into the Labor’s International Hall of Fame. The nomination was accepted, and at 7 p.m. July 26, Comstock will be part of the ceremony to honor her induction, which will take place at the Keweenaw National Historical Park Calumet Visitor Center. The ceremony is taking place in Calumet as part of the observance of the centennial of the strike, which started July 23, 1913.
Comstock said he became aware of Clemenc’s importance to the miners during the copper strike while doing research for his cousin, Joanne Thomas, who created an exhibit about her now on display at the Coppertown USA Mining Museum in Calumet Township.
Comstock said he and Thomas had Croation ancestors involved in the strike, so they both felt a connection to the period. Thomas, who lives in Bolinas, Calif., but grew up in Muskegon, said as a result of working with Thomas, he decided to write the book. “That really came out of doing that research,” he said. Thomas said Clemenc, who was born in 1888 in Calumet to Slovenian immigrant parents, was unique for her involvement with the strike.
“Annie was one of the first women of Slavic background to get a leadership role in the Calumet area,” he said.
Before the strike, Comstock said Clemenc was involved with Slavic fraternal organizations, and during the strike, she was president of the women’s auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners, the union which lead the strike.
In 1910, Comstock said Clemenc started a women’s lodge for one of the fraternal organizations, and that involvement carried over to the strike.
“The women of that lodge, I think, all followed her into the strike,” he said.
Although many people in the Copper Country or United States labor activists may have some knowledge of Clemenc and her activities before, during and after the strike, Comstock said that knowledge may be superficial.
“There’s a tendency to regard her as a media phenomena without substance,” he said. “As I looked at her, I thought, ‘No. There’s substance here.'”
Comstock said another reason he nominated Clemenc to be in the Labor’s International Hall of Fame was because her importance to the strike and labor was appreciated by too few people.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.mininggazette.com/page/content.detail/id/530408/Big-Annie-s-legacy-honored.html?nav=5006