This Small Grant for Exploratory Research will support an investigator to examine three collections from the Arctic Coal Company (ACC)records stored in separate archives located in Michigan. ACC was one of the early 20th century companies that set up mining operations on Svalbard Island, Norway. As one of the early efforts of industrialization of Svalbard, the ACC participated in technology transfers and international social organizational efforts that have left a legacy on natural resource development in northern environments. The researcher is looking for materials that will give new insights into the ACC's technological and organizational adaptation and innovation in the Arctic environment. In addition, the records may give new insights into the internationalism of the Svalbard experience and how that affected ACC personnel and organization. This project is part of a much larger IPY project, LASHIPA (LArge Scale HIstoric exploitation of Polar Areas), that includes a number of international interdisciplinary teams exploring approached to understand industrial-scale human activities in Polar Regions.
