After a long five days being stuck inside, your faithful multimedia editor turned (as many do) to the computer, where I found that the North Wind’s entire catalog of print editions from 1972 to 2005— when we went digital— had been helpfully uploaded to UPLINK, the Upper Peninsula digital archive collection. So I’ve gone digging into what the staff’s forebears were publishing fifty years ago: during the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a presidential election, a Summer Olympics, and an exciting year on campus. Let me take you back to March of 1976, when John X. Jamrich wasn’t a name on a building but a university president, and the PEIF was brand-new.

“Flu Subsides”

Reporter Mark Corcoran was thrilled to announce that the influenza apparently plaguing the campus was finally past its peak. Speaking to NMU’s campus physician, roles now held by Christopher Kirkpatrick and Kayleen Papin, he reported that the medical staff actually sent cultures to the State Health Department. White told students to consider getting flu shots in 1977.

“WBKX Goes Cable”

Before WUPX, there was WBKX, which began as an AM-only station in 1970. After six years on campus, the staff managed to get the station off-campus through the Iron Range Cable Company. The station was advised by the dean of students, Robert Maust, who was out of the country in March 1976, leaving station manager Jeff Landis floundering. “FM cable is an increasingly popular method of providing static and interference-free reception of radio signals,” the North Wind boasted, adding that the station would not require students to become FCC licensed. Landis asked students to get the cable hookup and tune into their regular news broadcasts and music, and to send student feedback to the station. The trial period worked— the station remained on cable until 1993, when they became 91.5 on FM and changed their name to WUPX. Landis, who eventually became a lawyer and musician before his passing in 2016, would surely have been proud today.

“Typewriters Sales Rentals and Repairs”

It’s true that in 1976, there was no computer-lending program. Located on Third Street, across from what is now Snowbound Books, Altmann Typewriter Service helped students stay on top of schoolwork— and much more. The Altmanns were generous community members, particularly concerned about residents who suffered from house fires. June Altmann, who had experienced loss in a house fire as a girl, often quietly gave money and care to neighbors trying to rebuild their lives after tragedy. A graduate of Northern Normal School (as it was called in its early years), she was a teacher before she became bookkeeper at her husband’s store. She and her husband were NMU hockey fanatics who planned their lives around the Wildcats schedule and once followed the team on a road trip to Alaska.

“Conference to Explore Women’s Legal Rights”

In 1976, second-wave feminism was crashing over campus, and the Women’s Center for Continuing Education (which had been organized four years prior) hosted a conference discussing women’s legal rights at what was then called the Don H. Bottum University Center. Notably, they offered free childcare at the student Catholic center, now the Catholic Campus Ministry— demonstrating how common it was for women on campus to juggle marriage, motherhood, and studies. Featuring women from around Michigan who worked as attorneys, congresswomen, and Title IX consultants, the conference featured workshops where “topics will be education, employment, criminal law, financial rights and marriage, divorce and obligations to children.” The organizer, Holly Greer, eventually became the first woman on the Marquette City Commission.

Personals of the Past

I’ll finish off with some gossip from way back when— personal ads have fallen out of fashion, but in 1976, the North Wind was the place to go if you had something to share. Happy birthday, Lois, from your roomies and all of us at the modern-day North Wind. Please DM us on Instagram if you know anything about the bronze framed glasses. For fast, cheap, efficient typing, call Erika…

The full archives of the North Wind are available on UPLINK for you to peruse at your leisure.