History of the Finns in Michigan

15. Cultural and Educational Achievements

15฀ Cultural฀and฀Educational฀Achievements By฀their฀very฀nature,฀churches,฀temperance฀societies,฀cooperatives ,฀labor฀organizations,฀and฀the฀Kaleva฀organization฀with฀their฀extensive ฀publishing฀activity฀fostered฀ the฀development฀ of฀important฀ cultural values.฀Because฀these฀groups฀and฀their฀activities฀have฀already฀been฀discussed ,฀ this฀ chapter฀ will฀ deal฀ with฀ miscellaneous฀ cultural฀ and฀ educational ฀forces฀that฀have฀had฀no฀direct฀connection฀with฀any฀special฀ group or฀ movement.฀ The฀ oldest฀ and฀ most฀ obvious฀ of฀these฀ are฀ the฀ Finnishlanguage ฀newspapers. Newspapers Over฀the฀years,฀many฀foreign-language฀ newspapers฀have฀ been published฀in฀Michigan.฀The฀first฀of฀these฀were฀French฀papers,฀of฀which there฀ were,฀between฀ 1809฀and฀ 1919,฀thirty-three฀ titles.1 ฀But฀ German, Swedish,฀Italian,฀and฀Finnish฀immigrants฀were฀also฀interested฀in฀having newspapers฀of฀their฀own.฀The฀foreign-language฀ newspapers฀in฀America suffered฀ a฀severe฀ blow฀in฀April฀ 1917,฀when฀ the฀ United฀ States฀ entered the฀war฀against฀the฀Central฀Powers.฀Congress฀established฀the฀ Committee ฀ on฀ Public฀ Information,฀ and฀ newspaperman฀ George฀ Creel฀ became its฀head฀ as฀civilian฀chairman.฀Under฀ the฀ direction฀ of฀this฀committee,฀a pro-war฀ propaganda฀ campaign฀ unique฀ in฀ the฀ history฀ of฀ this฀ country began,฀ accompanied฀ by฀ an฀ attitude฀ of฀ suspicion฀ toward฀ the฀ vast฀ field of฀foreign-language฀ newspaper฀ publishing฀in฀the฀country.฀Most฀ of฀ the newspapers฀ ceased฀ publication.฀ Although฀ censorship฀ was฀ strict,฀ the Finnish฀newspapers฀of฀Michigan฀managed฀to฀continue฀in฀business฀with366 Cultural฀and฀Educational฀Achievements฀ 361 out฀any฀major฀ difficulties,฀ for฀ by฀this฀time฀they฀had฀behind฀ them฀ forty years฀of฀history฀in฀America,฀so฀that฀despite฀their฀language฀they฀were฀in spirit฀and฀in฀their฀view฀of฀the฀world฀pretty฀well฀Americanized. The฀ first฀ Finnish-language฀ newspaper฀ in฀ Finland฀ was฀ published ฀ in฀Turku฀ in฀ the฀ fall฀ of฀ 1775฀ by฀Antti฀ Lizelius,฀ rector฀ of฀ Mynamaki .฀ It฀ was฀ titled฀ Suomenkieliset฀ Tieto-Sanomat฀ (Finnish฀ language news).฀ A฀ hundred฀ years฀ and฀ a฀ few฀ months฀ later,฀ Finnish฀ American newspaper฀publishing฀began฀under฀somewhat฀unusual฀ circumstances. In฀the฀fall฀of฀1875,฀H.฀Roernaes,฀the฀Norwegian฀pastor฀in฀Hancock ,฀received฀ a฀letter฀ from฀ a฀Finnish฀university฀student฀in฀New฀York, expressing฀a฀wish฀to฀come฀to฀the฀Copper฀Country฀to฀serve฀his฀countrymen ฀in฀their฀intellectual฀endeavors.฀The฀letter-writer฀also฀informed฀ the reader฀that฀he฀did฀not฀have฀money฀for฀his฀fare.฀Roernaes฀read฀the฀letter at฀ a฀worship฀ service฀ of฀his฀Finnish-Swedish-Norwegian฀ congregation. The฀ Finns฀were฀immediately฀interested,฀ thinking฀that฀now฀they฀would acquire฀ a฀preacher฀ who฀ spoke฀ their฀ own฀ language,฀ and฀ they฀ collected the฀money฀needed.฀The฀ student฀was฀Antti฀J.฀Muikku. Muikku,฀ the฀son฀of฀a฀carpenter,฀ was฀born฀ on฀March฀ 22,฀1846, in฀Liperi,฀from฀where฀the฀family฀moved฀to฀Joensuu.฀After฀his฀graduation from฀ the฀ lyceum฀ at฀Jyvaskyla,฀Muikku฀ entered฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ Helsinki ฀to฀study฀mathematics.฀His฀studies฀there฀ended฀because฀of฀a฀lack฀of funds.฀After฀ working฀in฀several฀places,฀including฀the฀Pulkova฀ Observatory ฀near฀ St.฀Petersburg,฀ "broken฀ in฀luck,"฀ as฀Akseli฀ Rauanheimo฀ described ฀ him,฀ he฀ drifted฀ to฀ America.฀ He฀ arrived฀ in฀ Hancock฀ on฀ a Saturday฀ and฀ was฀ present฀ at฀ church฀ services฀ the฀ following฀ morning. Pastor฀Roernaes฀invited฀him฀to฀preach,฀or฀to฀greet฀the฀Finns฀who฀were present฀in฀large฀numbers฀on฀this฀occasion.฀Muikku฀made฀excuses,฀complaining ฀ of฀ weariness฀ after฀ his฀ long฀ journey.฀ He฀ finally฀ succeeded฀ in overcoming฀ his฀shyness฀ and฀ made฀ a฀speech฀which฀ has฀been฀ preserved in฀ the฀ following฀ form:฀ "I฀ left฀ Finland฀ and฀went฀ to฀ London,฀ and฀ from London฀ I฀ came฀ to฀ New฀ York฀with฀ the฀ help฀ of฀a฀Norwegian฀ minister; from฀ there฀ I฀came฀here฀ to฀Hancock,฀ where฀I฀may฀possibly฀be฀of฀some service฀to฀my฀ countrymen." The฀ newcomer฀was฀by฀no฀means฀a฀preacher฀ or฀speaker฀of฀any kind.฀What฀Muikku฀had฀in฀mind฀was฀a฀newspaper฀to฀serve฀the฀ growing Finnish฀ population฀ of฀the฀Copper฀ Country.฀The฀first฀newspaper฀ to฀be published฀ in฀Hancock฀was฀the฀English-language฀ Hancock฀ Times,฀which was฀published฀ between฀ 1870฀and฀ 1872.฀It฀was฀followed฀ in฀ 1872฀ by฀the Northwestern฀ Mining฀ Journal฀ These฀ papers฀ had฀ hardly฀ any฀ Finnish readers฀ during฀ this฀ early฀ period฀ of฀ immigration.฀ Muikku฀ spent฀ the winter฀ of฀ 1875-76฀ soliciting฀funds฀ and฀subscriptions.฀He฀ got฀ 300฀subscribers .฀ He฀ named฀ his฀ weekly฀Amerikan฀ Suomalainen฀Lehti฀ (Finnish 368฀ CHAPTER฀15 American฀ paper).฀ The฀ new฀ newspaper฀ came฀ out฀ on฀ Fridays.฀ It฀ was small,฀consisting฀ of฀four฀ four-column฀ pages฀ IIV2฀by฀ 17฀inches฀in฀size. The฀ price฀was฀two฀ dollars฀ a฀year.฀ It฀was฀printed฀ on฀ a฀press฀ owned฀ by German-born฀E.฀P.฀Kibbee,฀which฀had฀the฀letters฀a...