The A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum has been a cultural staple of MTU for over 100 years. It is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5. p.m., and is free for all MTU students. Patricia F. Cobin, assistant director of the museum said, “We have the world’s best crystalized copper and great lakes’ minerals that students can see anytime with admission waived with their student ID.”
According to John A. Jaszczak, museum curator, the museum started when A.E. Seaman, the first geology professor at MTU, “set some of the minerals used for teaching purposes aside for public display.” Seaman’s collection quickly grew in size and he was even requested to bring a collection of minerals to the 1900 Paris Exhibition. This collection of minerals has been stored in a variety of different locations but is currently located on Sharon Ave. by the SDC. The collection has only grown in size over time, mainly with the addition of the University of Michigan’s mineral collection, which dates back to the 1830s. In 1990, the museum was recognized as the official Mineral Museum of Michigan.
Today, the museum showcases a collection of about 40,000 mineral specimens from the local region and from around the world. When asked why students should visit the museum, Patricia Cobin said, “One of the common reactions we have guests share with us is how they feel our mineral museum is better than the Smithsonian. What I think they are reacting to is that they never expected to find a world-class mineral collection in such a remote location.”
For more information regarding the museum, please check out the museum’s website at museum.mtu.edu/.
