Miners Ball Fundraising Dinner and Dance for The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums

PLATTEVILLE, Wis., Jan. 19, 2019 – You don’t have to be a miner to get excited about the Miners Ball dining and musical event this month. One of Platteville’s most anticipated annual social events from 1938 to 2006, the Friends of the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums are bringing the Miners Ball tradition back to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus on January 19 from 5-10 p.m. at Velzy Commons in Ullsvik Hall.

This elegant black-tie-optional multigenerational event includes dinner and a silent auction with big band music performed by the full Ken Kilian Orchestra where couples of all ages can dress up, dance and have fun in style while celebrating Platteville pride and raising funds for The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums. Like a prom for grown-ups, the Miners Ball is a modern expression of a longstanding Platteville tradition as deeply engrained in the local culture as the annual lighting of the giant “M” on Platteville Mound.

“We are so excited to bring back the Miners Ball to Platteville in partnership with the UW-Platteville with a formal dinner and dance for all ages,” said Deb Jenny, president of the Friends of the Mining & Rollo Jamison Museums. The Friends Board reintroduced the Miners Ball as a fundraiser and a way to draw attention to the deep connections between the Museums and the historic roots of the university.

Almost a century ago, before the merger of a mining trade school and college into a single institution, dances were an important part of extra-curricular life each spring since at least 1926, and the Miners Ball — or M-Ball as some called them — became the annual opportunity to enjoy some of Chicago’s best dance bands with stars like Lawrence Welk and Perry Como. 

The Miners Ball was so big that, after World War II, the giant “M” would be illuminated with torches the night of Miners Ball, after having been whitewashed on the Thursday before. Tickets could be very difficult to come by, and fun-loving engineering students would outdo one another over the generations with designs for ever-more elaborate crystal or mirrored balls to ornament the hall — and they weren’t always round! 

The mission of the Museums is to continue in the pursuit of excellence in the areas of regional and mining history and, although the university phased out the mining engineering program in the late 1980s, the mining industry still resonates as a core part of Platteville’s identity. Displays at the Miners Ball will crystallize some of the connections between the Museums and the university’s mining legacy.

The cost of the event is $50 per person, and space is limited. Tickets are available at mining.jamison.museum or in person at the Museums, Platteville Realty, Platteville Regional Chamber, and Mint Hair Studio.