Harju, Walter A. b.1900-

Walter A. Harju (b. 1900) was born in Brown County, South Dakota. A writer, carpenter, and historian, Walter A. Harju was extensively involved with the cooperative movement and the labor movement. During the 1930's, Harju was employed by the WPA Federal Writers Program. His History of Meeker County, Minnesota and his History of Wright County, Minnesota were based upon studies begun while he worked for the WPA. He wrote many articles on Finns in America and Minnesota; on cooperativism, particularly the left-wing faction, and on trade unionism. He often wrote under the pseudonymns "Vincent Ignatius" and "John Carpenter". Harju worked for the Central Co-operative Exchange (Superior, Wis.), later the Central Cooperative Wholesale, served as the California correspondent for the Työmies-Eteenpäin (Superior, Wis.), and was active in the Centennial of Finnish Immigration (1963-1964), and the 50th Anniversary of Finnish Independence (1967). He also collected numerous oral histories of Finnish American "pioneers."