Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Abigail Church—East Tawas, Michigan
By June Pelo; based on the 75th Anniversary Program of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Abigail Church; 1961. An organizational meeting took place June 20, 1886 with…
Learn about culture, traditions, and history.
Swede Finn Junction
Aina Carlson Lived in Two Worlds—Närpes & Florida
By Bjarne Smeds, Norden, 7 Aug 2003. Translated by June Pelo.Photo by Karl Alfred Nyström, courtesy of The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland. [As of…
Folk Belief
By June Pelo, excerpts taken from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar Talve. Image courtesy of the Finnish Heritage Agency, 1915. Traditionally in the Middle Ages, it…
Food Traditions in Finland
June Pelo has taken excerpts from “Finnish Folk Culture” by Ilmar Talve for this article. The country people usually slaughtered animals once a year, between the…
Johan Nilsson Bastubacka, One of Finland’s Foremost Church Artists
By June Pelo with excerpts from “ÅGLIIDE 3” by Ole Granholm.Photo by Martti Jokinen, courtesy of the Finnish Heritage Agency. The transition to the 1700’s brought major changes…
Gold Miners from Finland
By June Pelo.Photo courtesy of NARA. In 1895 a young man from Karleby, Finland traveled to America to search for gold and strike it rich. His…
Finnholms in Washington State
By Gösta Svenfelt in Suomi-USA, Jan 2005. Translated by June Pelo.Photo by Blazeblaze, CC BY SA 2.5. For nearly 100 years, when emigration from Finland was greatest, the…
Hangö Remembers the Epoch When Emigrants Traveled to America
Birgitta Ekström and archivist Marketta Wall have put together a living history about an important epoch in the city’s history. Submitted by June Pelo. Image courtesy…
I Remember
By Marge Mattsson Beaver. Marge Mattsson Beaver wrote this about her parents, Johan Mattsson, 1875-1957, married to Sofia Abrahamsdotter Bastubacka-Bast, 1878-1958. Johan was from Esse, Finland…
History of Currency in Finland
By June Pelo. Sources include the National Archive – Old Handwriting and Documents; Kalevi Kiesi and the internet. Monetary unit in the Middle Ages: The unit…
Reunion with Wisconsin guests at Småbönders
Written by Anette Forsstrom for the Norden, August 5, 2004. Translated by June Pelo. Descendants of Ingvald and Gerda Storbacka Gather Jannis farm is located at…
Finnish Immigrant Farm Women in NE Minnesota
Previous title of this article submitted by June Pelo: ‘Finnish Immigration to North America and Northeastern Minnesota’. It is based on the works of JoAnn Hanson-Stone,…
