Finnish American labor and political organizations collection, 1890s-1990s.

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Finnish American labor and political organizations collection, 1890s-1990s.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/206872725

Manuscript papers, minute books, financial ledgers, publications, and historical ephemera of different Finnish American labor and political organizations. The collection of Finnish Workers Federation plays and role manuscripts (K.6-10, about 5.5 linear ft.) includes 92 titles (of which 36 are complete plays), mostly of Finnish origin, but there are also some Finnish American pieces and translated German and Russian works. Additionally, music scores from the Finnish Workers Group include some 224 pieces of music. The Work People's College series (K.11) from 1917 to 1941 includes minutes and financial reports, a drama catalog, a semester report, some notes on the history of the WPC, as well as some correspondence. The Work People's College was founded in 1903 as the Finnish People's College and Theological Seminary and renamed in 1907 when the focus shifted to socialism and worker education. By 1921 Work People's College was closely identified with the Industrial Workers of the World until its final year of operation in 1941. The Communist Party series (K.12) consists of many newspaper clippings, press releases, and some correspondence from 1938 to 1953. There are several articles and an FBI report about Gus Hall, a Finnish American who was a leader of the Communist Party and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. He was indicted under the Smith Act on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government in 1948. Hall spent eight years in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. The Työmies Society and Finnish American Reporter series (K.15a-K.15f, about 6.5 linear ft.) dating from the 1910s to the 1990s includes many financial records and minutes, certificates of membership for various societies, legal documents, correspondence, bills and invoices, applications for positions and internships, as well as issues and manuscripts of Työmies Eteenpäin. There is also a folder on the establishment of a bail fund for Knut Heikkinen, who was an editor of Työmies Eteenpäin and was arrested in 1949 and rearrested in 1950 for past membership in the Communist Party. On 12 Oct. 1953 Heikkinen was arrested for failure to deport himself. He was convicted to a ten year sentence, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1958, and Heikkinen was exonerated.

ca. 20 linear ft. (16 manuscript cartons, 4 archival clamshell boxes, and one envelope)

eng,

fin,

Finnish American Historical Archive and Museum

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7000053

Related Entities

There are 17 Entities related to this resource.

Communist Party of the United States of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r31rnp (corporateBody)

The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), a Marxist-Leninist party aligned with the Soviet Union, was founded in 1919 in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution by the left wing members of the Socialist Party USA. These split into two groups, with each holding founding conventions in Chicago in September 1919: one which established the Communist Labor Party, and a second which established the Communist Party of America. In a 1920 Joint Unity Convention, a minority faction of t...

Agitation Committee of Upper Michigan.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jx6vvx (corporateBody)

Industrial Workers of the World

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jb0098 (corporateBody)

The IWW is a labor organization dedicated to uniting laborers around the world into a single large union. From the description of Collection 1916-1939. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 778701431 Established in Chicago in 1905 by sponsors of socialism and the remnants of previous labor unions, including the Knights of Labor, Western Federation of Miners and the American Labor Union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), or "Wobblies", evolved into a radical industrial unio...

Finnish Workers' Federation of the United States

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63f8pvr (corporateBody)

The Finnish Workers' Federation of the United States was organized in 1927 and incorporated in New York City in 1932. It was the political, cultural and educational organization of the Finnish American Communists and actively supported militant labor unions, farmers' organizations, the cooperative movement and the unemployed movement. In 1941, the Federation joined the International Workers' Order, as the Finnish American Mutual Aid Society. When the International Workers' Order dissolved in the...

Heikkinen, Knut

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66q23bd (person)

Työmies Society (U.S.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6nw8089 (corporateBody)

Work People's College (Duluth, Minn.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69g9mf4 (corporateBody)

In 1903, leaders of the Finnish National Lutheran Church of America opened the Finnish People's College and Theological Seminary (Suomalainen Kansan Opisto ja Teologinen Seminaari) in Minneapolis, Minnesota to provide training for clergy and a liberal education for Finnish Americans in general. The college in Minneapolis soon failed and was moved to the Duluth suburb of Smithville, Minnesota where more Finnish Americans had settled. Finnish American Socialists were strong supporters of the schoo...

Hall, Gus

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g16n0n (person)

Finnish Workers' Society of De Kalb (De Kalb, Ill.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rp1pm8 (corporateBody)

Iron County League of Finnish Voters (Crystal Falls, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67b2kp6 (corporateBody)

Crystal Falls Workers Club (Crystal Falls, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dg56cp (corporateBody)

Toivola's Workers' Society (Toivola, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g81vhc (corporateBody)

Supporters of Industrialisti in Iron River (Iron River, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tj72gj (corporateBody)

Finnish Club (Munising, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63p0jkw (corporateBody)

Workers Club of Iron River (Iron River, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6425cbp (corporateBody)

Toivola Peoples Hall Association (Toivola, Mich.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fv721d (corporateBody)