Copper Cliff Museum

Where else can that well-known phrase be better applied than to a study of the Finns in Sudbury? ?Rock? defines the physical reality of the Sudbury setting: rugged hills, mines, farms and forests set in the Precambrian Shield. ?Hard? defines the human setting: Finnish immigrants having to contend with the problems and stresses of relocating to a new culture, with livelihoods that required great endurance as well as a tolerance for hazardous conditions.

Mirrors of Stone delves into the many ethnic cultures that thrived in the mining areas of Northern Ontario from the 1920s to the 1960s. The stormy history of hardrock mining camps has never fit into the comfortable cliches by which Canada ?tells its story.? Angus unearths the dark sides of this history??the wild tales of bootleggers, mobsters, and prostitution rings? and in so doing opens up new ways of seeing Ontario?s history and culture.

Based on in-depth oral interviews with local residents, and rich archival sources,We Lived A Life and Then Some relates the common person?s struggle to overcome harsh working conditions and government neglect. The unique culture of the hardrock mining town of Cobalt is exposed through the eyes of retired miners, young welfare mothers, and grade-school children. Angus and Griffin reveal why, in spite of great adversity, Cobalt remains a distinctive and cohesive working-class community.