What people assume you know but were never taught.
False facts; verifiable facts. With the help of Finnish and American History data, we’ll look at the 160 years of migration of Finnish peoples to America. We’ll define the communities that they formed and identify the communities that exist today. How do the histories of the individuals and families that you know reflect the larger narrative of both Finland and Finnish America? Did Finnish immigrants really migrate to places that felt like Finland? What does “Red Finn” mean? Who were “White Finns?” Who are the Finnish Americans today? Where can we find it?
Presenter Bio:
K. Marianne Wargelin is a researcher and educator working in Cultural History. She uses interdisciplinary materials to study ethnicity, cultural pluralism, and the survival and change of small cultures within large, dominant cultures, particularly Finland and Finnish America in the context of Europe and the USA. She has co-authored Women Who Dared: The History of Finnish American Women, published four encyclopedia essays as well as articles on Finnish and Finnish American folklore, popular culture, and the high arts, A graduate of Suomi College, she earned degrees in English language literature at Augustana College (Illinois), and the University of Michigan and studied American Studies at the University of Minnesota. Earlier an educator in American higher education, she later became associated, both as instructor and student, with the History department at the University of Tampere. From 1999 to 2019, she served as the Honorary Consul of Finland in Minnesota and South Dakota.