of the Osuustoimintalehti of Superior, Wisconsin, and was replaced by Edward I. Riippa, who had edited the now defunct Columbia Press in Astoria, Oregon, whose subscription list was taken over by the Minnesotan Uutiset, as was the subscription list of the Keskilännen Sanomat, a Minnesota newspaper. In the 1950s, the circulation of the Minnesotan Uutiset was greater than that of any other Finnish-language newspaper in the United States. A survey conducted by Carl Parta and Hans R. Wasastjerna in 1954 indicated that this newspaper played an important role in molding public opinion not only within the state but among Finnish-Americans throughout the Middle West. Carl Parta died in 1955. The firm also published the English-language weekly New York Mills Herald, which it had purchased from Wm. F. Ost in 1932. In 1960 the name of the Minnesotan Uutiset was changed to Amerikan Uutiset and is published twice weekly. Publisher since 1955 has been Russell O. Parta.

Another English language weekly had been published in New York Mills, the New York Mills Journal, by Matti Telin. Established in 1899, it operated for several years until the printing plant was destroyed by fire. Telin then sold his mailing list to the Perham Bulletin in the neighboring town to the west.

Promotion o f enlightenment and literature : At the turn of the century, journalism offered the only possibility for publication among the Finns of Minnesota. Gradually, however, modest pamphlets began to appear, then even a few books. If they were at times faulty grammatically and lacking in literary style, they were nevertheless evidence of the creative urge among the immigrants.

The earlier Finnish arrivals in the United States had an advantage over some other national groups insofar as in the 19th century most, and in the 20th century all, Finnish immigrants knew how to read and write their mother tongue. The Report of the Commissioner General of Immigration, 1896, stated that in 1895-96 there had been 5,576 Finnish immigrants and that among them there were only 274 persons unable to read Finnish with ease. This factor certainly influenced the demand among Finns in Minnesota, too, for reading materials in their own language. How this need was met by the colorful array of newspapers has already been discussed in these chapters. Books, however, presented problems, for they cost money, and miners and farmers never had much money in their pockets. Furthermore, what books were available were so variable in quality that some sort of guidance seemed in order to indicate which books were worth

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