Author explores black history in the U.P.

When you think of the multicultural history of the Upper Peninsula, you probably think of Finnish, Scandinavian, Italian, German, English and Irish immigrants. But African-Americans also were a part of building the U.P., especially in the western U.P. community of Elmwood. The North Wind talks to author Valerie Bradley-Holliday about her research on this overlooked part of our local history.

Excerpt: Few people know just how closely tied the Upper Peninsula is to African-American history. Author Valerie Bradley-Holliday hopes to shed some light on this subject during her upcoming presentation at the Peter White Public Library.

Specifically, she said that she will be telling the story of the Elmwood logging camp that was located along the Paint River, near the Iron River and Crystal Falls area. Elmwood was an African-American homesteading community in the Upper Peninsula from 1926 to 1930.

For the rest of the article, read it here.

Source: The North Wind