Finnish Americans

Finnish American
Amerikansuomalaiset

Notable Finnish Americans: 'Matt Damon' 'David Lynch' 'Linus Torvalds' 'Alex Steffen' 'Jaco Pastorius'
Regions with significant populations
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Lake Worth, Florida
Languages
American English, Finnish, Swedish
Religion
Protestant (mainly Lutheran),
Related ethnic groups
Finnish people, Estonian Americans

Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.

A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States, mainly in Upper Michigan and Minnesota.

History

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, later absorbed into New Netherland. Many townships were established by Finnish Americans, including Herman, located in Baraga County, Michigan. The town is named for Herman Keranen, of Ylivieska, Finland. A significant number of Finnish immigrants also settled in Northern Minnesota, often working in the region's iron mines. A number of the Finns fleeing the Russification efforts also emigrated to many of the mill towns of New England where they became known for their woodworking skills.

Suomi Hall, the meeting hall of Finnish immigrants, in Astoria, Oregon

Demographic concentrations

Today, the greatest concentration of Finnish Americans is in Michigan Upper Peninsula, where they form 16% of the population, and are the largest ancestral group in the peninsula's western counties.[1] The largest Finnish community in the United States, and the largest outside of Scandinavia, is in Lake Worth, Florida, north of Miami [2].

Notable individuals

John Morton

An early Ethnic Finn was John Morton, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The original name of the family was Marttinen, of which Morton is an anglicized version. The Marttinen/Morton family came originally from Rautalampi municipality in the region of Northern Savonia, province of Eastern Finland.

Eero Saarinen

Product designer Eero Saarinen emigrated to United States in 1923 when he was thirteen years of age and grew up in Michigan. He studied architecture at Yale University and graduated in 1934. After touring Europe and Africa for couple of years he returned to the States and become a citizen in 1940. During the Second World War Saarinen worked for Office of Strategic Services which later became the CIA. Saarinen was well known from his furniture and architectural designs and one of the best known designs is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch) in St. Louis, Missouri.

Eija Merilä

Eija Merilä is one of the well known Finnish American singers. In 1971 she recorded Lynn Andersons Rose Garden which became a great success. After being born again in mid 1970's Eija left her career as an entertainment singer. However, she continued singing christian music and one of her albums, Konsta Jylhän hengellisiä lauluja, sold a timanttilevy (means: Diamond record, Highest music award in Finland based on quantities sold). In 1990's Eija and her family moved to Florida where she is a music pastor in Finnish American church, Kotikirkko.

Other notable individuals

Notable Finnish Americans also include an actor Matt Damon, historian Max Dimont, writer Alex Steffen and U.S. Communist Party leader Gus Hall (originally Arvo Gustav Halberg).

Culture

An annual festival is held to celebrate Finnish heritage. The festival is called FinnFest and has been held in a different city each year since the festival was established in 1983. There have also been two FinnGrandFests where American and Canadian groups consolidate their festivals. The 2007 FinnFest was held in Ashtabula, Ohio, July 26-28

Finnish American culture is also celebrated at Finlandia University in Michigan, 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 in Minnesota in 1941. Finlandia is operated by the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

See also

• European American
• Finglish
• Finnish immigration to North America
• Hyphenated American
• List of Finnish Americans
• Saint Urho's Day
• Sauna
• Swedish American
• Swedish colonization of the Americas

External links

• Finnish American Lives, a documentary film exploring traditional Finnish American culture (free videostream)
• The Finnish American Reporter, a monthly journal from Finlandia University
• Finnish American Genealogical Resource
• Finnish American Virtual Museum
• Kotikirkko - Finnish American church in Florida

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