The Kankkonen Brothers in Astoria, Oregon
Excerpts from “Egen lyckas smed” by K-G Olin.English translation by June Pelo. There was a gloomy mood in Astoria, Oregon in the spring of 1896. The…
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Swede Finn Junction
Edvin Edberg Found His Roots in Ostrobothnia
Submitted by June Pelo. Based on Stig Svens article in Norden, August 31, 1995. This summer [1995] Edvin Edberg from Scottsdale, AZ found over 50 relatives…
Erik Sigurd Lärka
Written by Erik Nix for the Norden, March 5, 2009. Translated into English by June Pelo. Erik Sigurd Lärka was born in Gottböle, Närpes, Finland on…
Ethnic Puzzle (Schnyder’s Dystrophy)
Story by Patricia Anstett, medical writer for the Detroit Free Press. Submitted by June Pelo. For 14 years, Dr. Jayne Weiss has tried to find…
Erik Lindholm – On a Visit to His Homeland After 68 Years in America
This story was written by Mr. Jimson for a Swedish Finn newspaper and then translated by June Pelo. In 1902 crofter’s son Erik Lindholm from Bredvik…
Swedish Estonians
by Karen Anderson Pockets of languages survive all over the world largely due to the efforts of the native speakers and their resilience. These groups add…
Vörå Descendant Finds His Roots
By Maria Holmström, Helsingfors for Norden, 2 March 2000. Submitted by June Pelo. Most Finlanders have some relatives in the US. While some have had contact with…
Finland Facts
By June Pelo, 1982 ‘Sisu’ is an ancient Finnish word that has no exact counterpart in other languages. ‘Sisu’ has preserved the Finns as a race…
The Creativity of the Finns
Written by Giles C. Ekola, The Finnish American Reporter, Oct. 1998. Submitted to SFHS by June Pelo. Images updated to meet attribution standards in 2021. The…
Customs and Traditions of Karlö, Finland
This information was excerpted by June Pelo from material supplied by former SFHS member, Bernice Korpi. People who lived in houses often owned clocks, but people…
The Christian Tradition
By June Pelo. From Finnish Folk Culture by Ilmar Talve. The Catholic Church occupied a strong position in the 15th century and played a leading role…
Old Church Customs
By June Pelo; excerpt from Karleby Sockens Historia. I recently read about some church customs in Finland in the 1700’s which seem rather strange in today’s…
