Big Annie left a big impression on the Copper Country. While for many years, her name was seldom talked about, her story stayed alive through historical accounts of the 1913 Copper Strike. Many years after Clemenc moved to Chicago, and settled down, she was recognized by the Michigan women’s hall of fame. And soon enough will have a statue in her honor erected in Calumet.
Her great granddaughter and her great-great granddaughter are coming to this event from Chicago. We’re very excited about that. But they had no idea. They had no idea of what an impact their great grandmother had left here in this area. Over time, laws were put into place to protect the strikers. What she did, she helped push for that change in making it legal for the American people to speak out and go on strike peacefully. – Vada Riederich, Co-chair, Big Annie Statue Project
Team Big Annie co-chair Vada Riederich adds she’s been surprised by the number of young people just finding out about Anna Klobuchar-Clemenc. The statue fund has raised close to 123,000 dollars to date for the project. Mostly through individual donations during community events, or through the project’s fiduciary partner with the Keweenaw Community Foundation.
On October 25th the Big Annie Stature Project will host a toast to big Annie at the Calumet Theatre. The evening will include a free screening of the PBS documentary Red Metal, followed by a reservation dinner in the ballroom. Riederich says at event the team plans to share more details on what stage the statue is in for casting, and a presentation on big Anie’s life and legacy from Steve Lehto.
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