Grand Opening Exhibit

THE FINNISH-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: PART ONE- THE IMMIGRANTSThe inaugural exhibit of the Finnish Heritage Museum is about Finnish immigrants.  It seems fitting that the first exhibit should focus on the people to whom we owe our presence here in the United States. They began the Finnish-American experience.  They brought what they had with them.  As far as personal belongings, it wasn’t much.  But, what they brought in abundance was character, determination, and a work ethic, second to none. 
The decision to leave your homeland and your family cannot be an easy one. But someone in every family’s history made that decision.  After much deliberation, (since we’re talking Finns here, I don’t think there was much discussion.); the decision was made.  The decision to go was often followed by years of separation before enough money could be saved to bring the rest of the family.  Sometimes it didn’t go according to plan.  For example, my grandmother, with three children, went to board the ship with tickets, purchased with money my grandfather had sent from America..  But, seeing the ship, my grandmother could not bring herself to get on board.  The boat was too small.  She returned  home.  She wrote my grandfather.  And he returned to Finland.  It wasn’t until years later that my father, now grown and married with a child, came to America. One young man received money from his father in America, purchased a ticket, made the journey to Ohio, only to find his father had left for Montana (where he died in a cattle stampede), and the money his father promised would be waiting for him had been spent, by a trusted friend.  Penniless, he walked from Ashtabula to Fairport Harbor, where he found work on the stone docks. Immigrants, regardless of nationality: Irish, German, Italian, or Finnish got the worst jobs, for the least pay. 
Sound familiar?  Some things don’t change.  They had no health care, no insurance, no job security.  The Finnish immigrants endured jobs as miners, lumberjacks, and dock workers. They worked from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, six days a week.   Factories needed manpower, this, they provided . Meanwhile, they built themselves houses. They founded churches.  They established social organizations, bands and a temperance society.  They realized the importance of education. They saw it as the key to a better job and therefore a better life. Education was emphasized, as were sports, music and other cultural pursuits.  Culture and traditions were considered sacred and were practiced, and handed down from generation to generation. The opportunity to benefit from your own hard work and initiative, brought the immigrants here. And soon after their arrival they would, invariably, become citizens. They embraced their citizenship, served their new country, and became “American”.  
Today, Finns have blended into the American landscape.  However, with the passage of time our appreciation deepens for the courage and determination of the immigrants.  Their heroic struggle, persistence, and ultimate success is worth remembering and celebrating. Theirs was the beginning of the Finnish-American experience.

Hakkarainen (Richards) Heikkinen Hill Hiltunen Kallio Kangas Kasari Katila Killinen Kultti Lillback Malkamaki Pakkala Penttila Ritari Saari Sirronen Steinback