Writers with Northern Michigan University connections are well-represented on the 2023 listings of Michigan Notable Books and U.P. Notable Books. Phyllis Michael Wong, a campus and community fixture during her husband Les' tenure as NMU president, earned both distinctions for her historical account of the Gossard Girls, who sewed corsets and bras at factories in Ishpeming and Gwinn from the early 20th century to the 1970s. Several NMU alumni and faculty members contributed to a poetry anthology that was also named a U.P. Notable Book.
As the Upper Peninsula's mines became increasingly exhausted and its stands of timber further depleted, the Gossard Girls' income sustained both their families and the local economy. During this time, the workers showed their political and economic strength, including a successful four-month strike in the 1940s that capped an eight-year struggle to unionize.
Wong drew on dozens of interviews with surviving workers and their families to write We Kept Our Towns Going: The Gossard Girls of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The book highlights the daily challenges and joys of these mostly first- and second-generation immigrant women. It also illuminates the way the Gossard Girls navigated shifting ideas of what single and married women could and should do as workers and citizens. From cutting cloth and distributing materials to getting paid and having fun, Wong gives readers a rare ground-level view of piecework in a clothing factory from the women on the sewing room floor.
“I learned so much from the Gossard assembly workers, and I am honored to share the inspirational stories of these remarkable women,” Wong said. “They worked hard. They significantly supported their families and their communities. I realized early their lives were important lessons even for today's world, and especially the world of today's young working women.
“They richly deserve to be recognized, and the honor they deserve is long overdue. Rest assured their families and communities are proud of them. I am so pleased that their stories are reaching readers in the Midwest and around the world.”
Both Wong and Eugene Milhizer, author of the 2023 U.P. Notable Book, Dissecting Anatomy of a Murder, both relied heavily on the Central U.P. and NMU Archives collection for historical research. NMU Library & Instructional Support also hosted both authors for programs held over the past year.
The Marquette Poets Circle made the U.P. Notable Books list for Superior Voyage, a 10-year anthology that features 42 contributors. For more than a decade, the Marquette Poets Circle has held workshops, open mics and readings, and collaborated on community events. It was named the 2021 Community Arts Organization by the City of Marquette. This volume follows a five-year anthology, Maiden Voyage, published in 2018.
NMU alumni and/or faculty and staff members who contributed to Superior Voyage are: Martin Achatz, Erin Anderson, Esther Ayers, Lynn Domina, Claudia Drosen, Genean Granger, Alex Vartan Gubbins, John Gubbins, Kathleen Heideman, John Hilden, Tara Channtelle Hill, Jesse Koenig, Matt Maki, Susan Morgan, Jane Pirto, Robert Polzin, the late Helen Haskell Remien, Rebecca Tavernini and Russell Thorburn.
