A statue honoring one of Calumet’s most influential historical figures will be unveiled this summer after years of community effort and $150,000 in fundraising.
Anna “Big Annie” Klobucher-Clemenc played a central role in the Keweenaw Peninsula’s Copper Strike of 1913, leading the women’s auxiliary of the miners’ union. She marched at the front of several processions carrying the American flag and later traveled across the Midwest delivering speeches on workers’ rights before settling in Chicago. Her story was rediscovered in the 1990s, making her the first woman inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
A small group of Calumet residents launched the effort to build a statue in her honor in 2023. The Big Annie Statue Committee announced the project will reach its milestone on Aug. 22, when the statue will be officially unveiled to the village.
The Big Annie Statue Committee, Keweenaw Community Foundation, Village of Calumet and Keweenaw National Historic Park will invite the Copper Country to mark the occasion. Learn more about the Big Annie Statue project here.
