![Pct finnish4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Pct_finnish4.png)
Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise
Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
with ancestral roots from
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
or
Finnish people
Finns or Finnish people ( fi, suomalaiset, ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.
Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these ...
who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,000.
Many Finnish people historically immigrated to the
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
and the
Iron Range
The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...
of northern
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
to work in the mining industry; much of the population in these regions remains of Finnish descent.
History
Some Finns, like the ancestors of
John Morton, came to the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
colony of
New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
, located in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, that existed in the mid-17th century. In
Russian America
Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...
, Finns came to
Sitka
russian: Ситка
, native_name_lang = tli
, settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough
, image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg
, image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984
, image_size ...
when it was New Archangel as workers. Arvid Adolf Etholén was the first Finnish governor of Russian America, and the
Lutheran Church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
was built for Finns.
Finns first started coming to the United States in large numbers in the late 19th century, and continued until the mid-20th century. However, there were some Finns in the United States beforehand; in particular, they were instrumental in the development of the New Sweden colony on the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
, later absorbed into
New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
. Many townships were established by Finnish Americans, including Herman, located in
Baraga County
Baraga County ( ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 8,158, making it Michigan's fifth-least populous county. The county seat is L'Anse. The county is named after Bishop ...
, Michigan. The town is named for
Herman Keranen, of
Puolanka
Puolanka ( sv, Puolanka, also ) is a municipality in Finland located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
...
, Finland.
A significant number of Finnish immigrants also settled in northern
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, especially in the
Arrowhead Region
The Arrowhead Region is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota, so called because of its pointed shape. The predominantly rural region encompasses of land area and includes Carlton, Cook, Lake and Saint Louis counties. ...
, along with portions of
Aitkin,
Crow Wing, and
Carlton
Carlton may refer to:
People
* Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname
* Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy
* Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
counties, often working in the
region's iron mines. A number of the Finns fleeing the
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
efforts also immigrated to many of the mill towns of New England where they became known for their woodworking skills.
First migrants (1640–1870)
The first immigrants to North America arrived at the
New Sweden
New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...
colony by the lower
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
in 1640. Finland was an integrated part of the
Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
at the time, and a Swedish colony in the New World was bound to include subjects from Finland as well. In two years' time, the number of Finns in the settlement had grown to fifty, and was increasing. New Sweden changed hands to
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
control in 1655, but many Finns had already entered, and the Finnish community, while still small, was growing.
Among the Finnish settlers of New Sweden was Martti Marttinen, who came to North America in 1654 and changed his name to Morton.
John Morton, the politician who signed the
U.S. Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House (l ...
on behalf of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
in 1776, was his great-grandson.
Migration to North America from Finland continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was very sporadic in nature and only a few individuals and groups dared make the move. This was largely due to the long distance between Europe and America, and the difficulties associated with crossing it. However, as the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
began with the turn of the 19th century, bringing with it such technological innovations as
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s and
steam ship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
s, these obstacles slowly began to disappear.
While the rest of Europe was industrializing, Finland, by now a
Grand Duchy
A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess.
Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, was to a great extent excluded from the revolutionary process. The society was largely agrarian, and
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
was rising, resultant of population growth and the fact that there was now little land left to cultivate in the country. America, on the other hand, possessed abundant natural resources but lacked a workforce.
Rural life in Finland during the 1860s seemed doomed to remain laborious, stunted, and forever at the mercy of unpredictable weather. In 1867, a severe
crop failure
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
in Finland drove masses of Finns, especially from rural
Ostrobothnia, into migrating to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, from where they later moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Religion
The
Laestadian
Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperanc ...
Finns longed for a rural way of life and religious toleration which they believed they would find in America. So a group of Laestadian preachers and followers immigrated to the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
bringing their beloved sermons. In 1873 the Finnish Laestadians started their own congregation at
Calumet
Calumet may refer to:
Places United States
*Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana
**Calumet River
**Calumet Trail, Indiana
** Calumet (East Chicago)
* Calumet, Colorado
*Calumet, Iowa
* Calumet, Michigan
*Calumet, Minnesota
* Calumet ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. By 1906 the Laestadian or Apostolic Lutheran movement in America resulted in 68 churches and a communicant body of over 8,000. The denomination was a significant minority within the Finnish Lutheran community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most Finnish immigrants at the time joined the
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (commonly known as the Suomi Synod, ) was a Lutheran church body which existed in the United States from 1890 until 1962.
History
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (FELC) was ...
, which eventually became part of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
and remains in Calumet, Michigan, alongside various Apostolic (Laestadian) Lutheran churches.
The Great Migration (1870–1930)
The years between 1870 and 1930 are sometimes referred to as the Great Migration of Finns to North America. In the 1870s, there were only 3,000 migrants from Finland, but their number rapidly grew thereafter. New migrants often sent letters home, describing their life in the New World, and this encouraged more and more people to leave and try their luck in America. Rumors began of the acres of land that could be cleared into vast productive fields and the opportunity to earn "a barrel of American dollars" in mines, factories, and railroads.
There were also professional recruiters, or agents, employed by
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
and
shipping
Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...
companies, who encouraged Finns to move to the United States. More than 90% of the Finnish immigrants lived in urban centers. This activity was frowned upon by the authorities of the Grand Duchy, and was mostly done in secret. It was eventually brought to an end in the late 1880s by legislation in the United States, but the decade still saw a 12-fold increase in the number of Finnish migrants compared to the previous decade, as 36,000 Finns left their home country for North America.
The movement was strengthened even further in 1899, as the Russian government started an aggressive, coordinated campaign for the
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
of Finland. Many Finns chose to escape the repression by migrating to the New World, and, during the 1900s, there were 150,000 new migrants.
Most Finns who left for America came from the impoverished rural regions of
Ostrobothnia. Other prominent points of departure were
Northern Savonia
North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the regi ...
and the
Torne Valley
The Torne, also known as the Tornio ( fi, Tornionjoki, sv, Torne älv, , se, Duortneseatnu, fit, Tornionväylä), is a river in northern Sweden and Finland. For approximately half of its length, it defines the border between these two countr ...
. Many of the emigrants left by ship from the port town of
Hanko Hanko may refer to
People
*August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace
Places
*Hanko, Finland, town and municipality
*Hanko Peninsula, Finland
*Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway
*The asteroid ...
.
In the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, settlement was focused around three specific regions:
* Several pockets of Finnish settlement appeared in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
.
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Boston, Massachusetts were the prime destinations for scores of skilled and general laborers. Cities such as
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...
,
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, and
Monessen, Pennsylvania
Monessen is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,876 at the 2020 census. In 1940, 20,257 people lived there. In 1990 the population was 13,026. Monessen is the southwestern-most municipality of Westmore ...
attracted thousands of Finns to settle in both urban and rural settings. From about 1910–30,
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...
had a thriving community of some 3,000 Finnish granite quarry workers.
* In the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
, a similar pattern rapidly took shape. Due to the region's similar geographic and climatic features to Finland, the heaviest levels of Finnish Settlement were seen in an area known as the ''Finn Hook'', which includes northeastern
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, northern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
where Finns were heavily invested in mining and agriculture. At the same time, because of the connections between these sectors and Great Lakes shipping, another area of Finnish settlement formed in northeastern
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, with its core located in the port city of
Ashtabula
Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city ha ...
and the nearby towns of Conneaut, Painesville and Fairport Harbor. Today, the region is known as having the highest population of Americans of Finnish ancestry of any region in the United States; in the northwestern half of the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
they make up the plurality of the population.
* In addition, a number of rural and urban locations in the Northwestern United States contained a number of Finnish-settled areas. Cities such as
Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...
and
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...
were known for being prime destinations for Finnish immigrants.
The immigration of Finns gave birth to a strong Finnish-American culture, especially in cities such as
Duluth
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
and Ashtabula, Ohio. Many villages were named after places in Finland (such as
Toivola, Minnesota,
Savo, South Dakota, and
Oulu, Wisconsin
Oulu ( ) is a town in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 527 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Oulu, the fifth most populous city of Finland located in the North Ostrobothnia region.
Geography
According to th ...
).
The Finnish exodus took place after most of the available farmland in the United States was already taken and Canada's was largely still available. While many immigrants pursued
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
, others found employment in
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
,
construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
, and the
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
industry, while women usually worked as
maid
A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...
s. In the case of the Finnish-American enclave in the
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...
region south of
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
early in the 20th century, Finns left urban jobs in order to acquire farms that had been played out by previous owners.
The migration continued well into the 20th century, until U.S. authorities set up a quota of 529 Finnish immigrants per year in 1929. Initially, this led to an increase in Finnish migration to Canada. But as social and economic conditions in Finland improved significantly during this era, overall immigration decreased by the middle of the century.
The American revolutionary
James P. Cannon noted that a considerable part of these immigrants tended to the radical left in politics: "Under the impact of the Russian Revolution the foreign-born socialist movement grew by leaps and bounds. The foreign-born were organized in language federations, practically autonomous bodies affiliated with the Socialist Party.
mong othersthere were about 12 thousand Finns, organized in their own federation".
Return
Most Finnish migrants had planned to stay only a few years in North America, and then return to their native land once they had become rich. However, only about twenty percent of the migrants returned to
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Those who did managed to import new ideas and technologies into Finland and put them into use there.
Approximately ten thousand Finns returned from the New World, not to Finland but to the Soviet Union, in the 1920s and the 1930s to "build socialism" in the
Karelian ASSR
The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( rus, Каре́льская Автоно́мная Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respub ...
. This took place mainly for ideological reasons and was strongly supported by the political elite of the USSR.
Demographic concentrations
![Bilingual Signs in Hancock, Michigan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Bilingual_Signs_in_Hancock%2C_Michigan.jpg)
Today, the greatest concentration of Finnish Americans is in Michigan's
Upper Peninsula
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...
, where they form 16% of the population, and are the largest ancestral group in the peninsula's western counties.
Hancock Hancock may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Hancock, Iowa
* Hancock, Maine
* Hancock, Maryland
* Hancock, Massachusetts
* Hancock, Michigan
* Hancock, Minnesota
* Hancock, Missouri
* Hancock, New Hampshire
** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
, one city of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, could be considered a kind of "cultural capital" of the Finnish Americans. ''Finland Calling'', a weekly Finnish cultural television program hosted by Carl Pellonpaa, was broadcast on WLUC-TV in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In March 2015 the program's final episode aired, ending 53 years of weekly broadcasts.
Stanton Township, Michigan
Stanton Township is a civil township of Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,590 at the 2020 census. Stanton Township has the distinction of having the highest concentration of people with F ...
, is the place in the U.S. with the largest proportion of people with Finnish ancestry, at 47%. The median Finnish-American household income is $70,045.
Finnish Americans by metropolitan statistical area in 2019:
#
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA 49,006 (1.33%)
#
Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI MSA 29,120 (0.67%)
#
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA
The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierce ...
22,092 (0.55%)
#
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA 20,881 (0.83%)
#
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA 14,841 (0.08%)
#
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA 14,394 (0.15%)
#
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA 14,228 (0.29%)
#
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA 11,325 (0.09%)
Notable people
Eero Saarinen
Architect and product designer
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
immigrated to the United States in 1923 when he was thirteen years of age and grew up in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. His father was architect
Eliel Saarinen
Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish-American architect known for his work with art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Eero Saarinen.
Lif ...
, the first president of the
Cranbrook Academy of Art
The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of C ...
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He studied architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and later the
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
and graduated in 1934. After touring
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
for a couple of years he returned to the States and became a citizen in 1940. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Saarinen worked for
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
(OSS) which later became the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA). Saarinen is famous for his furniture and architectural designs. His designs include the
Gateway Arch
The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...
at the
Gateway Arch National Park
Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The memorial was established to commemorate:
*the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mov ...
in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, the
TWA Flight Center
The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal f ...
at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the main terminal of Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. Eero's son,
Eric Saarinen
Eric Saarinen (born 26 June 1942) is a Finnish Americans, Finnish American cinematographer and film director. His parents were the architect Eero Saarinen and his first wife, the sculptor Lilian Swann Saarinen.
Saarinen has photographed sev ...
, is a cinematographer and film director, who has photographed and cinematographed several features, including ''
The Hills Have Eyes
''The Hills Have Eyes'' is an American horror franchise that consists of four horror films, as well as a graphic novel and merchandise. The first film was released in 1977, '' The Hills Have Eyes''; the series was rebooted in a 2006 remake. T ...
'', ''
Lost in America
''Lost in America'' is a 1985 American satirical road comedy film directed by Albert Brooks and co-written by Brooks with Monica Johnson. The film stars Brooks alongside Julie Hagerty as a married couple who decide to quit their jobs and travel ...
'', and ''
Exploratorium''.
Other notable individuals
Notable Americans of some Finnish descent also include several film stars such as actresses
Anna Easteden
Anna Easteden (born 29 November 1976) is a Finnish-American actress. Her film appearances include ''The House of Branching Love'' (2009) and ''Sideways'' (2009). She is known for her performance as "Bee Sting" in ''Who Wants to Be a Superher ...
,
Christine Lahti
Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film '' Swing Shift''. Her other film roles include '' ...And Justice for All'' (19 ...
,
Marian Nixon
Marian Nixon (born Marja Nissinen; October 20, 1904 – February 13, 1983) was an American film actress. Sometimes credited as Marion Nixon, she appeared in more than 70 films.
Career
Born in Superior, Wisconsin, to parents of Finnish descent, ...
,
Maila Nurmi
Maila Elizabeth Syrjäniemi (December 11, 1922 – January 10, 2008), known professionally as Maila Nurmi, was an American actress who created the campy 1950s character Vampira.
She was raised in Astoria, Oregon, where she worked in tuna and s ...
,
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997).
Anders ...
and
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...
, actors Albert Salmi,
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
,
Richard Davalos
Richard Davalos (November 5, 1930 – March 8, 2016) was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Early life
Davalos was born in New York City of Spanish and Finnish descent. At age six, he acted in a school performance of ''Cinderel ...
and
George Gaynes
George Gaynes (born George Jongejans; May 16, 1917 – February 15, 2016) was a Finnish-born American singer, actor, and voice artist. Born to Dutch and Russian-Finnish parents in the Grand Duchy of Finland of the Russian Empire, he served in the ...
, and director
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
. Other notable individuals are author
Jean M. Auel
Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Mag ...
, historian
Max Dimont
Max Isaac Dimont (August 12, 1912 – March 25, 1992) was a Finnish American Jewish historian, lecturer, publicist, and writer.
Early life
Dimont was born into a Jewish family on August 12, 1912 in Helsinki, Finland, one of five children. Some ...
(born in Finland of Russian Jewish parentage), politician
Emil Hurja, labor activist
T-Bone Slim
Matti Valentin Huhta (February 14, 1880 – May 15, 1942), better known by his pen name T-Bone Slim, was an American humorist, poet, songwriter, hobo, and labor activist, who played a prominent role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW ...
,
U.S. Communist Party
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
leader
Gus Hall
Gus Hall (born Arvo Kustaa Halberg; October 8, 1910 – October 13, 2000) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and a perennial candidate for president of the United States. He was the Communist Party nominee in the ...
(originally Arvo Kustaa Halberg), Finnish-Kiowa-Comanche US Attorney
Arvo Mikkanen, mathematician
Lars Ahlfors
Lars Valerian Ahlfors (18 April 1907 – 11 October 1996) was a Finnish mathematician, remembered for his work in the field of Riemann surfaces and his text on complex analysis.
Background
Ahlfors was born in Helsinki, Finland. His mother, S ...
, musicians
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has relea ...
,
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...
,
Einar Aaron Swan
Einar Aaron Swan (born Einar (Eino) William Swan; March 20, 1903 – August 8, 1940) was an American musician, arranger and composer. He is known for writing songs including " When Your Lover Has Gone" and " In the Middle of a Dream".
Early life
S ...
,
Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...
and
Mark Hoppus
Mark Allan Hoppus (born March 15, 1972) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the rock band Blink-182, being the only constant member and the only one to appear on every album. ...
, singer-songwriter Amelia Presley, science fiction author
Hannu Rajaniemi, computer scientists
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds ( , ; born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish software engineer who is the creator and, historically, the lead developer of the Linux kernel, used by Linux distributions and other operating systems such as Android. He also c ...
and
Alfred Aho
Alfred Vaino Aho (born August 9, 1941) is a Canadian computer scientist best known for his work on programming languages, compilers, and related algorithms, and his textbooks on the art and science of computer programming.
Aho was elected into ...
, former Google executive and CEO of Yahoo
Marissa Mayer
Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a p ...
, co-founder of Apple
Mike Markkula
Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. (; born February 11, 1942) is an American electrical engineer, businessman and investor. He was the original angel investor, first chairman, and second CEO for Apple Computer, Inc., providing critical early f ...
, chairman and CEO of General Motors
Mary Barra
Mary Teresa Barra (née Makela; born December 24, 1961) is an American businesswoman who has been the chair and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors since January 15, 2014. She is the first female CEO of a 'Big Three' automaker. In D ...
, astronaut
Timothy L. Kopra, special forces officer
Larry Thorne
Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names.
Larry may refer to the following:
People Arts and entertainment
* Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer
*Larry Boone ...
, ice hockey player
Matt Niskanen
Matthew Norman Niskanen (born December 6, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia ...
and serial killer
Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Carol Wuornos (; born Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. In 1989–1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, she shot dead and robbed seven of her male clients. W ...
. Porn actress
Puma Swede
Johanna Jussinniemi (born 13 September 1976), better known by her stage name Puma Swede, is a Swedish pornographic actress and feature dancer. The first part of her stage name comes from the sports car, the Ford Puma. Since 2005, she has appea ...
is of Finnish descent although she was born in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Culture
FinnFest USA
FinnFest USA is an annual festival, typically held in the summer, in locations throughout the United States, United States of America. Aiming to celebrate Finland, Finnish America, and Finnish culture, the festival is organized by a 501(c)(3) non ...
is an annual festival held to celebrate Finnish heritage and culture in the United States. Organized by a non-profit organization of the same name, FinnFest USA has been held in a different location each year since 1983, often incorporating regional cultural elements of the local site into the year's event. To date there have also been three FinnGrandFests, a collaboration between Finnish-Americans and Finnish-Canadians: 2000 (
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
), 2005 (
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...
) and 2010 (
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay.
The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...
).
Finnish American culture is also celebrated at
Finlandia University
Finlandia University is a private Lutheran university in Hancock, Michigan. It is the only private university in the Upper Peninsula. Founded in 1896 as The Suomi College and Theological Seminary, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Ch ...
in
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County, Michigan, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is across the Keweenaw Waterway from the city of Houghton, Michigan, Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 United ...
, formerly Suomi College, which has been the only Finnish American institution of higher learning in the United States since the closing of
Work People's College
Work People's College ( fi, Työväen Opisto) was a radical labor college (a type of a folk high school governed by the worker's movement) established in Smithville (Duluth), then a suburb of Duluth, Minnesota, in 1907 by the Finnish Socialist Fed ...
in
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
in 1941. Finlandia was established by the
Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (commonly known as the Suomi Synod, ) was a Lutheran church body which existed in the United States from 1890 until 1962.
History
The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (FELC) was ...
and is now affiliated with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
.
Salolampi Finnish Language Village is a
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
immersion
Immersion may refer to:
The arts
* "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard
* ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux
* Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
in
Bemidji
Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Founded in 1978, it is a member of the
Concordia Language Villages
Concordia Language Villages (CLV), previously the International Language Villages, is a world-language and culture education program. Since beginning in 1961, it has grown to offer summer camp in 15 modern languages and school-year weekend progr ...
, and celebrates Finnish and Finnish-American heritage, culture, and language.
Politics
Finnish-Americans historically favored
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
candidates, owing to their frequent employment in mining and other blue-collar industries. This has changed in recent decades as many of the rural regions in which they are numerous have swung to the
Republican Party. In 2010, the three congressional districts with the highest concentrations of Finnish Americans (Michigan 1st, Wisconsin 7th, and Minnesota 8th), all adjacent to Lake Superior, flipped from Democratic to Republican control.
See also
*
Anti-Finnish sentiment
Anti-Finnish sentiment (sometimes known as Fennophobia) is the hostility, prejudice, discrimination or racism directed against Finns, Finland, or Finnish culture.
Britain
The Finnish people have been discriminated against in Britain during B ...
*
Finglish
The term Finglish was coined by professor Martti Nisonen in the 1920s in Hancock, Michigan, to describe a mixture of Finnish and English he encountered in America. The word is first recorded in English in 1943.
As the term describes, Finglish ...
*
Heikki Lunta
Heikki Lunta is the embodiment of the Finnish snow god character who originated in the mythology of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The character of Heikki Lunta is a product of the heavy Finnish-American presence in Michigan's Keweenaw Upper Pen ...
*
Mesaba Co-op Park
*
New Finland, Saskatchewan
*
Sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
*
Sisu
SiSU (SiSU information structuring universe or Structured information, serialized units), is a Unix command line-oriented framework for document structuring, publishing and search.
Usage
Using markup applied to a document, or a collection of do ...
*
St. Urho's Day
*
Swedish Americans
Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedes, Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants.
...
*
Swedish colonization of the Americas
Sweden established colonies in the Americas in the mid-17th century, including the colony of New Sweden (1638–1655) on the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, as well as two possessions in the Caribb ...
General:
*
European Americans
European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
*
Finnish diaspora
The Finnish diaspora consists of Finnish emigrants and their descendants, especially those that maintain some of the customs of their Finnish culture. Finns emigrated to the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Argentina ...
*
Hyphenated American
In the United States, the term hyphenated American refers to the use of a hyphen (in some styles of writing) between the name of an ethnicity and the word "American" in compound nouns, e.g., as in "Irish-American". Calling a person a "hyphenated ...
Notes
References
Further reading
* Hoglund, A. William. ''Finnish Immigrants in America, 1880–1920''. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1960)
* Holli, Melvin and A. Kostiainen. ''Finnish Identity in America'' (1990, University of Turku)
* Holmio, Armas K.E. ''History of the Finns in Michigan'' (2001)
* Jalkanen, Ralph. ''The Faith of the Finns: Historical Perspectives on the Finnish Lutheran Church in America'' (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1972)
* Kivisto, Peter, and Johanna Leinonen. "Representing Race: Ongoing Uncertainties about Finnish American Racial Identity," ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' (Fall 2011), 31#1 pp. 11–33.
* Kolehmainen, John I. (1945). "Finnish Overseas Emigration from Arctic Norway and Russia" ''Agricultural History, 19''(4), 230–232.
*
*
*
* Ross, Carl. ''The Finn Factor in American Labor, Culture, and Society'', 2nd edition. (New York Mills, Minnesota: Parta Printers, 1978)
* Stebbins Craig, Peter (1996)
"Mårten Mårtensson and His Morton Family" Swedish Colonial Society. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
* Wargelin Brown, K. Marianne. "Finnish Americans." ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America,'' edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 137–151
online
Immigrant experiences
* Beck, J. Robert. ''Well, Here We Are! The Hansons and the Becks''. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2005. . A history of a Swedish-Finnish immigrant family.
* Dloniak, Miriam Kaurala, and Diane M. Hohl. ''Miriam: Daughter of Finnish Immigrants''. Denver, Col.: Outskirts Press, Inc., 2009. .
In Finnish
* Heliölä, Mikko and Ruuskanen, Esa (2000)
"Suuri Amerikan-siirtolaisuus (1870–1930)" Retrieved September 6, 2005.
* Kauppi, Jorma J. (2001)
Retrieved September 6, 2005.
External links
''Finnish American Lives'' a documentary film exploring traditional Finnish American culture
*
The Finnish American Reporter', monthly journal from
Finlandia University
Finlandia University is a private Lutheran university in Hancock, Michigan. It is the only private university in the Upper Peninsula. Founded in 1896 as The Suomi College and Theological Seminary, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Ch ...
Finnish American Genealogical ResourceFinnish American Virtual MuseumFinnFest USAAn annual celebration of Finnish America
–
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Finnish AmericansThe FinnsSite of first Finnish settlement in AmericaFinnishImmigrants.orgRecords on approx. 25,000 passengers to USA from Finland between 1834 through 1897
{{Finnish diaspora
European-American society