Ethnicity

Title: Report on the Ethnicity of the Miners
Type: Data
Date: December 20, 1907
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This section of a larger table shows information about the ethnic background of the workers who were at the various mines in Hibbing.

Activities:

1. Why would a mining company want to compile these statistics?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This information would help them to know what kinds of resources they would need for their employees. For example, if there were many Italian-speaking employees in an area, they would need to consider hiring an Italian interpreter or translator for work in that mine. The mining companies also thought that certain nationalities were better suited to certain kinds of jobs. Some nationalities were even considered more likely to go on strike than others.
2. Which nationalities are not found on the Mesabi Range? How could we find out why this is true?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: There are no Arabians, Bulgarians, Danes, Hebrews (Jews), Hollanders, or American Indians working for the Oliver Mining Company on the Mesabi Range at this time. We can't know for sure why this is true, but we might guess that there were fewer immigrants from these areas at that time.
3. Which nationality on the range has the largest number of members, according to this chart?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The chart lists 1,299 Austrians (South Slavs) working on the Mesabi Range. The actual largest group on the range was the Finns.
4. What challenges might the number of immigrants pose for the mining companies?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The companies would need to hire some translators to help hire and train those who don't speak English. Many immigrants may have had little or no familiarity with mining.