Previous Page | Search Again | Next Page |
distribution throughout the country. Later, Carl H. Salminen became Duluth distributor for Suomi Films, and he brought many films into Minnesota in the years up to 1935, and he also sent to Finland a couple of films of his own, documentaries showing Finnish summer festivals and everyday life of the Finnish-Americans of Minnesota.
Swedish-Finnish Organizations : Mention has been made in the preceding pages of Finnish organizations in Duluth over the decades, but of the Swedish-Finnish organizations, in West Duluth particularly, only their congregations have been mentioned. There were, of course, other organizations as well. One of them, the temperance society Ljusstralen, was established in September 1904, and it became Chapter 34 of the Svensk-Finska Nykterhetsförbundet av America. It had a sewing circle and a chorus, named Echo; chairman of the society for years was one E. Johnson. In December 1912 there was founded the Norden Society, which in turn became Chapter 20 of the Swedish-Finnish Benevolent Association of America organization. In 1920 the Norden Society had a membership of 160, but at this point the Jjusstralen and Norden groups joined together, to form the local chapter (No. 21) of the Runeberg Orden. Almost simultaneously, a Runeberg Orden chapter (No. 30) was organized in Duluth proper. In 1954, Chapter 21 had 101 members and Chapter 30 had 84. The West Duluth chapter adopted English as its official language in 1928. In August 1939, Chapters 21 and 30 together served as hosts for the Grand Lodge convention, bringing together delegates from the entire country, and in 1950 Chapter 21 was host to the 12th Central District Convention. Chapter member Carl O. Gustafson served for years as the Central District chairman.
Newspapers and Periodicals : As the center of so many and diverse activities, Duluth has also formed the most important center for the Finnish journalistic activities in Minnesota. The leftist newspapers have already been mentioned, but there were also other newspapers, magazines, other occasional publications and a very extensive publishing activity in general. The Finnish newspapers published in Duluth have gone through many colorful and complicated phases, and often the threads to give a complete story of their careers have to be sought outside the state.
In 1891, for example, three Finnish newspapermen happened to meet in Astoria, Oregon: Adolf Riippa, who had gained his newspaper experience in Finland; Alex Ketonen, typesetter and
309
Previous Page | Search Again | Next Page |