View source for Finnish Americans

{{short description|Americans of Finnish birth or descent}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Finnish Americans
| native_name      = {{native name|fi|Amerikansuomalaiset}}<br>{{native name|sv|Amerikafinländare}}
| image            = {{switcher
|[[File: Finnish alone or in any combination by county 2020.svg|300px]]
|By county
|[[File: Finnish alone or in any combination by state 2020.svg|300px]]
|By state
|default=1
}}
| pop              = '''653,222''' (2019 U.S. Census Bureau est.)<ref name="USCensus">{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ancestry&t=Ancestry&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B04006|title=Table B04006 – People Reporting Ancestry – 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=September 26, 2020|archive-date=October 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024205033/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ancestry&t=Ancestry&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B04006|url-status=live}}</ref><br><small>
'''0.20% of the U.S. population'''</small>
| region1          = [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]
| pop1             = 288,178
| region2          = [[Western United States|West]]
| pop2             = 184,724
| region3          = [[Southern United States|South]]
| pop3             = 103,306
| region4          = [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]]
| pop4             = 77,014
----
| region5          = {{Flag|Minnesota}}
| pop5             = 100,545
| region6          = {{Flag|Michigan}}
| pop6             = 94,259
| region7          = {{Flag|Washington}}
| pop7             = 53,599
| region8          = {{Flag|California}}
| pop8             = 48,518
| region9          = {{Flag|Wisconsin}}
| pop9             = 39,698
| region10          = {{Flag|Florida}}
| pop10             = 29,337
| langs            = [[American English]]{{·}}[[Finnish language|Finnish]]{{·}}[[American Finnish|Fingelska]]{{·}}[[Swedish language|Swedish]]
| rels             = 
| related          = [[Finns]]{{·}}[[Finnish Canadians]]{{·}}[[Estonian Americans]]{{·}}[[Sami Americans]]{{·}}[[Scandinavian Americans]]{{·}}[[Findians]]
}}

[[File:Pct finnish4.png|thumb|450px|A map showing concentrations of Finnish American ethnicity in the United States.]]

'''Finnish Americans''' ({{langx|fi|amerikansuomalaiset}},{{efn|{{lang|fi|Amerikansuomalaiset}} (lit. "Finns of America") is used for Finns living in North America, i.e., it is used for both Finnish Americans and [[Finnish Canadians]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/amerikansuomalainen |title=amerikansuomalainen |website=[[New Dictionary of Modern Finnish]] |publisher=[[Institute for the Languages of Finland]] |language=fi |access-date=September 23, 2020 |quote=Pohjois-Amerikassa asuva suomalainen |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001181629/https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/amerikansuomalainen |url-status=live }}</ref>}} {{IPA|fi|ˈɑmerikɑnˌsuo̯mɑlɑi̯set|pron}}) comprise [[Americans]] with ancestral roots in [[Finland]], or [[Finns|Finnish people]] who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population is around 650,000.<ref name="USCensus" /> Many Finnish people historically immigrated to the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Upper Peninsula]] of [[Michigan]] and the [[Iron Range]] of northern [[Minnesota]] to work in the mining industry; much of the population in these regions is of Finnish descent.<ref name="VanCleef1918"/>

==History==
{{see also|History of Finland#Emigration trends|Canadians of Finnish ancestry}}
Some Finns, like the ancestors of [[John Morton (American politician)|John Morton]], came to the [[Sweden|Swedish]] colony of [[New Sweden]], located in [[Delaware]] in the mid-17th century. In [[Russian America]], Finns came to [[Sitka, Alaska|Sitka]] (when it was still called New Archangel) as migrant workers. [[Arvid Adolf Etholén]] was the first Finnish governor of Russian America, and the [[Sitka Lutheran Church|Lutheran Church]] was built for Finns.
 
Finns started coming to the United States in large numbers in the late 19th century, and this movement continued until the mid-20th century. However, there were some Finns in the United States before this; they were instrumental in the development of the New Sweden colony on the [[Delaware River]], later absorbed into [[New Netherland]]. Many townships were established by Finnish Americans, including Herman, located in [[Baraga County]], Michigan. The town is named for [[Herman Keranen]], of [[Puolanka]], Finland.<ref>Wargelin Brown, K. Marianne. "Finnish Americans." ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America'' pp. 137–151.</ref>

A significant number of Finnish immigrants also settled in northern [[Minnesota]], especially in the [[Arrowhead Region]], along with portions of [[Aitkin County, Minnesota|Aitkin]], [[Crow Wing County, Minnesota|Crow Wing]], and [[Carlton County, Minnesota|Carlton]] counties, often working in the [[Iron Range|region's iron mines]]. A number of the Finns fleeing the [[Russification]] efforts in their native country also immigrated to many of the mill-towns of New England, where they became known for their woodworking skills.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

=== First migrants (1640–1870) ===
The first immigrants to North America arrived at the [[New Sweden]] colony by the lower [[Delaware River]] in 1640. Finland was an integrated part of the [[Kingdom of Sweden]] at the time, and a Swedish colony in the New World thus had subjects from Finland as well. In two years' time, the number of Finns in the settlement had grown to fifty, and was increasing. New Sweden changed hands and came under [[Netherlands|Dutch]] control in 1655 and the Finnish community, while still small, was growing.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Among the Finnish settlers of New Sweden was Martti Marttinen, who came to North America in 1654 and changed his name to Morton. [[John Morton (American politician)|John Morton]], the politician who signed the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] on behalf of [[Pennsylvania]] in 1776, was his great-grandson.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Migration to North America from Finland continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, but it was very sporadic in nature and only a few individuals and groups dared make the move.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} This was largely due to the long distance between Europe and America, and the difficulties associated with crossing it. However, as the [[Industrial Revolution]] began with the turn of the 19th century, bringing with it such technological innovations as railroads and [[steam ship]]s, these obstacles slowly began to disappear.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

While the rest of Europe was industrializing, Finland, by now a [[Grand Duchy of Finland|Grand Duchy]] of the [[Russian Empire]], was to a great extent excluded from the revolutionary process. The society was largely agrarian, and [[unemployment]] was rising, thanks to population growth and the fact that there was now little land left to cultivate in the country. America, on the other hand, possessed abundant natural resources but lacked a workforce.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Rural life in Finland during the 1860s seemed doomed to remain laborious, stunted, and forever at the mercy of unpredictable weather. In 1867, a severe [[Finnish famine of 1866–1868|crop failure]] in Finland drove masses of Finns, especially from rural [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]], to migrate into [[Norway]], from where they later moved to the [[United States]] and [[Canada]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of the Finns in Michigan|last=Holmio|first=Armas Kustaa Ensio|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2001|isbn=0814329748|location=Detroit, Michigan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyoffinnsin0000holm/page/77 77]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffinnsin0000holm/page/77}}</ref>

==== Religion ====
The [[Laestadianism|Laestadian]] Finns longed for a rural way of life and religious toleration which they believed they would find in America. Thus, a group of Laestadian preachers and their followers immigrated to the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan]], bringing their faith with them. In 1873 the Finnish Laestadians started their own congregation at [[Calumet, Michigan|Calumet]], [[Michigan]]. By 1906 the Laestadian or Apostolic Lutheran movement in America had 68 churches and a communicant body of over 8,000. The denomination was a significant minority within the Finnish Lutheran community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most Finnish immigrants at the time joined the [[Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America]], which eventually became part of the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] and remains in Calumet, Michigan, alongside various Apostolic (Laestadian) Lutheran churches.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

===The Great Migration (1870–1930)===
The years between 1870 and 1930 are sometimes referred to as the Great Migration of Finns to North America. In the 1870s, there were only 3,000 migrants from Finland, but their number rapidly grew thereafter. New migrants often sent letters home, describing their life in the New World, and this encouraged more and more people to leave and try their luck in America. Rumours began of the acres of land that could be cleared into vast productive fields, and the opportunity to earn "a barrel of American dollars" in mines, factories, and railroads.

There were also professional recruiters, or agents, employed by [[mining]] and [[shipping]] companies, who encouraged Finns to move to the United States. More than 90% of the Finnish immigrants lived in urban centers. This recruitment activity was frowned upon by the authorities of the Grand Duchy, and it was mostly done in secret. It was eventually brought to an end in the late 1880s by legislation in the United States, but the decade still saw a 12-fold increase in the number of Finnish migrants compared to the previous decade, as 36,000 Finns left their home country for North America.

The movement was strengthened even further in 1899, as the Russian government started an aggressive, coordinated campaign for the [[Russification]] of Finland. Many Finns chose to escape the repression by migrating to the New World, and, during the 1900s, there were 150,000 new migrants.

Most Finns who left for America came from the impoverished rural regions of [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Ostrobothnia]]. Other prominent points of departure were [[Northern Savonia]] and the [[Torne Valley]]. Many of the emigrants left by ship from the port town of [[Hanko, Finland|Hanko]]. Judging from municipalities of origin and later linguistic statistics, it is estimated that about 20-22% of all Finnish emigrants from 1893 to 1929 were [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland|Finland Swedes]] of which two thirds came from the Swedish-speaking coastal parts of Ostrobothnia, and also many from the [[Åland|Åland Islands]] which had a high share of emigrants relative to population.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Myhrman |first=Anders |title=Finlandssvenskar i Amerika: = The Finland-Swedes in America |date=1972 |publisher=Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland |isbn=978-951-9017-04-4 |series=Skrifter utgivna av Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland |location=Helsingfors}}</ref> This would mean an over-representation of Swedish speakers emigrating from Finland at the time.

[[Image:Astoria - Suomi Hall - CRW 3281.jpg|thumb|250px|Suomi Hall, a meeting hall of Finnish immigrants, in [[Astoria, Oregon]].]]

In the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, settlement was focused around three specific regions:
* Several pockets of Finnish settlement appeared in [[New England]]. [[New York City]] and [[Boston, Massachusetts]] were the prime destinations for scores of skilled and general laborers. Cities such as [[Fitchburg, Massachusetts]], [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], and [[Monessen, Pennsylvania]] attracted thousands of Finns to settle in both urban and rural settings. From about 1910–30, [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]] had a thriving community of some 3,000 Finnish granite quarry workers.
* In the [[Upper Midwest]], a similar pattern rapidly took shape. Due to the region's similar geographic and climatic features to Finland, the heaviest levels of Finnish settlement were seen in an area known as the ''Finn Hook'', which includes northeastern [[Minnesota]], northern [[Wisconsin]], and the [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan]], where Finns were heavily invested in mining and agriculture.<ref name="VanCleef1918"/> At the same time, because of the connections between these sectors and Great Lakes shipping, another area of Finnish settlement formed in northeastern [[Ohio]], with its core located in the port city of [[Ashtabula, Ohio|Ashtabula]] and the nearby towns of Conneaut, Painesville and Fairport Harbor. Today, the region is known as having the highest population of Americans of Finnish ancestry of any region in the United States; in the northwestern half of the Upper Peninsula of [[Michigan]] they make up the majority of the population.
* In addition, a number of rural and urban locations in the Northwestern United States contained a number of Finnish-settled areas. Cities such as [[Aberdeen, Washington]] and [[Astoria, Oregon]] were known for being prime destinations for Finnish immigrants.

The immigration of Finns gave birth to a strong Finnish-American culture, especially in cities such as [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]] and Ashtabula, Ohio. Many villages were named after places in Finland (such as [[Toivola, Minnesota]], [[Savo, South Dakota]], and [[Oulu, Wisconsin]]).

The Finnish exodus took place after most of the available farmland in the United States was already taken and Canada's was largely still available. While many immigrants pursued [[farming]], others found employment in [[mining]], [[construction]], and the [[forest]] industry, while women usually worked as [[maid]]s. In the case of the Finnish-American enclave in the [[Finger Lakes]] region south of [[Ithaca, New York]] early in the 20th century, Finns left urban jobs in order to acquire farms that had been sold by their previous owners.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fingerlakesfinns.org/spenfinn/reason.htm |title=History of the Spencer Finns – Reasons |access-date=September 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070506/http://www.fingerlakesfinns.org/spenfinn/reason.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The migration continued well into the 20th century, until U.S. authorities set up a quota of 529 Finnish immigrants per year in 1929. Initially, this led to an increase in Finnish immigration to Canada. But as social and economic conditions in Finland improved significantly during this era, overall immigration decreased by the middle of the century.

The American revolutionary [[James P. Cannon]] noted that a considerable part of these immigrants tended towards the radical left in politics: "Under the impact of the Russian Revolution the foreign-born socialist movement grew by leaps and bounds. The foreign-born were organized in language federations, practically autonomous bodies affiliated with the Socialist Party. [Among others] there were about 12 thousand Finns, organized in their own federation".<ref>James P. Cannon, "The History of American Trotskyism", Ch. 1</ref>

=== Return ===
Most Finnish migrants had planned to stay only for a few years in North America, and then return to their native land once they had become rich. {{citation needed|date=September 2014}} However, only about twenty percent of the migrants returned to [[Finland]]. Those who did, managed to import new ideas and technologies into Finland and put them into use there.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

Approximately ten thousand Finns returned from the New World, not to Finland but to the Soviet Union, in the 1920s and the 1930s to "build socialism" in the [[Karelian ASSR]]. This took place mainly for ideological reasons and was strongly supported by the political elite of the USSR.

==Demographic concentrations==
[[File:Bilingual Signs in Hancock, Michigan.jpg|thumb|Bilingual street signs in English and Finnish in [[Hancock, Michigan]], former home of [[Finlandia University]].]]
[[File:Finnish Emigrants to America - geograph.org.uk - 4101817.jpg|thumb|Finnish Emigrants maritime memorial]]
Today, the greatest concentration of Finnish Americans is in Michigan's [[Upper Peninsula]], where they form 16% of the population, and are the largest ancestral group in the peninsula's western counties.<ref>[//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg]</ref> [[Hancock, Michigan|Hancock]], one city of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, could be considered a kind of "cultural capital" of the Finnish Americans.<ref>{{cite book|first=Richard, Zacher, Christian, and Cayton, Andrew R.L.|last=Sisson|title=American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Indiana University Press]]|year=2007}}</ref> ''Finland Calling'', a weekly Finnish cultural television program hosted by Carl Pellonpaa, was broadcast on WLUC-TV in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In March 2015 the program's final episode aired, ending 53 years of weekly broadcasts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-53-years-tvs-finland-calling-is-finnished-1427414613|title=After 53 Years, Mr. Pellonpaa Is Finnished|first=Anne|last=Steele|date=March 27, 2015|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=March 7, 2017|archive-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106180733/http://www.wsj.com/articles/after-53-years-tvs-finland-calling-is-finnished-1427414613|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Stanton Township, Michigan]], is the place in the U.S. with the largest proportion of people with Finnish ancestry, at 47%.<ref>U.S. census data as compiled by [http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Finnish.html eopdunk.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107090554/http://www.epodunk.com/ancestry/Finnish.html |date=November 7, 2007 }}</ref> The median Finnish-American household income is $70,045.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! State<br> !!  Finnish-American population<ref>{{cite web |title=PEOPLE REPORTING ANCESTRY |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ancestry&t=Ancestry%3APopulations%20and%20People&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B04006&moe=false |website=United States Census Bureau |access-date=June 2, 2022 |archive-date=June 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602131359/https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Ancestry&t=Ancestry:Populations%20and%20People&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B04006&moe=false |url-status=live }}</ref><br> !! Percent Finnish American<br>
|-
| style="background:silver" | {{Flag|United States}} || style="background:silver" | 653,222 || style="background:silver" | 0.20%
|-
| {{Flag|Minnesota}} || 100,545 || 1.78%
|-
| {{Flag|Michigan}} || 94,259 || 0.94%
|-
| {{Flag|Washington}} || 53,599 || 0.70%
|-
| {{Flag|California}} || 48,518 || 0.12%
|-
| {{Flag|Wisconsin}} || 39,698 || 0.68%
|-
| {{Flag|Florida}} || 29,337 || 0.14%
|-
| {{Flag|Oregon}} || 23,510 || 0.56%
|-
| {{Flag|Massachusetts}} || 22,556 || 0.33%
|-
| {{Flag|Texas}} || 20,578 || 0.07%
|-
| {{Flag|New York}} || 18,131 || 0.09%
|-
| {{Flag|Ohio}} || 15,978 || 0.14%
|-
| {{Flag|Illinois}} || 14,146 || 0.11%
|-
| {{Flag|Arizona}} || 13,869 || 0.19%
|-
| {{Flag|Colorado}} || 13,807 || 0.24%
|-
| {{Flag|North Carolina}} || 10,224 || 0.10%
|-
| {{Flag|Pennsylvania}} || 8,124 || 0.06%
|-
| {{Flag|New Hampshire}} || 7,152 || 0.53%
|-
| {{Flag|Virginia}} || 7,142 || 0.08%
|-
| {{Flag|Maine}} || 7,045 || 0.52%
|-
| {{Flag|South Carolina}} || 6,944 || 0.13%
|-
| {{Flag|Montana}} || 6,872 || 0.64%
|-
| {{Flag|Georgia (U.S. state)}} || 6,100 || 0.06%
|-
| {{Flag|New Jersey}} || 6,093 || 0.07%
|-
| {{Flag|Utah}} || 5,668 || 0.18%
|-
| {{Flag|Maryland}} || 5,612 || 0.09%
|-
| {{Flag|Indiana}} || 5,599 || 0.08%
|-
| {{Flag|Connecticut}} || 5,487 || 0.15%
|-
| {{Flag|Tennessee}} || 4,870 || 0.07%
|-
| {{Flag|Nevada}} || 4,758 || 0.15%
|-
| {{Flag|Idaho}} || 4,459 || 0.25%
|-
| {{Flag|Missouri}} || 3,585 || 0.06%
|-
| {{Flag|Iowa}} || 2,572 || 0.08%
|-
| {{Flag|Alabama}} || 2,555 || 0.05%
|-
| {{Flag|Oklahoma}} || 2,204 || 0.06%
|-
| {{Flag|Kansas}} || 2,198 || 0.08%
|-
| {{Flag|New Mexico}} || 1,856 || 0.09%
|-
| {{Flag|Arkansas}} || 1,839 || 0.06%
|-
| {{Flag|Louisiana}} || 1,574 || 0.03%
|-
| {{Flag|Nebraska}} || 1,533 || 0.08%
|-
| {{Flag|Hawaii}} || 1,458 || 0.10%
|-
| {{Flag|Kentucky}} || 1,357 || 0.03%
|-
| {{Flag|Rhode Island}} || 961 || 0.09%
|-
| {{Flag|West Virginia}} || 713 || 0.04%
|-
| {{Flag|District of Columbia}} || 494 || 0.07%
|-
| {{Flag|Delaware}} || 490 || 0.05%
|-
|}

Finnish Americans by metropolitan statistical area in 2019:
#[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul|Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA]] 49,006 (1.33%)
#[[Duluth MN–WI Metropolitan Area|Duluth, MN-WI MSA]] 29,881 (10.33%)
#[[Metro Detroit|Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI MSA]] 29,120 (0.67%)
#[[Seattle metropolitan area|Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA]] 22,092 (0.55%)
#[[Portland metropolitan area, Oregon|Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA]] 20,881 (0.83%)
#[[New York metropolitan area|New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA]] 14,841 (0.08%)
#[[Chicago metropolitan area|Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI MSA]] 14,394 (0.15%)
#[[Greater Boston|Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH MSA]] 14,228 (0.29%)
#[[Greater Los Angeles|Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA MSA]] 11,325 (0.09%)

==Notable people==
{{main list|List of Finnish Americans}}
{{Category see also|American people of Finnish descent|Finnish expatriates in the United States}}

===Eero Saarinen===
Architect and product designer [[Eero Saarinen]] immigrated to the United States in 1923 when he was thirteen years of age and grew up in [[Michigan]]. His father was architect [[Eliel Saarinen]], the first president of the [[Cranbrook Academy of Art]] in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He studied architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and later the [[Yale School of Architecture|Yale University]] and graduated in 1934. After touring [[Europe]] and [[Africa]] for a couple of years he returned to the States and became a citizen in 1940. During the [[World War II|Second World War]] Saarinen worked for [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS) which later became the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA). Saarinen is famous for his furniture and architectural designs. His designs include the [[Gateway Arch]] at the [[Gateway Arch National Park]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]], the [[General Motors Technical Center]] in [[Warren, Michigan]], the [[TWA Flight Center]] at [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]], and the [[Dulles International Airport Main Terminal|main terminal]] of [[Dulles International Airport]] near Washington, D.C. Eero's son, [[Eric Saarinen]], is a cinematographer and film director, who has photographed and cinematographed several features, including ''[[The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film)|The Hills Have Eyes]]'', ''[[Lost in America]]'', and ''[[Exploratorium (film)|Exploratorium]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2017/10/23/dokumentin-kuvaaminen-opetti-eric-saarisen-tuntemaan-isansa-arkkitehti-eero |title=Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future |website=Adfilmfest |date=October 23, 2017 |access-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110004944/https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2017/10/23/dokumentin-kuvaaminen-opetti-eric-saarisen-tuntemaan-isansa-arkkitehti-eero |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://adfilmfest.com/site/speakers_ny2016/7199 |title=Dokumentin kuvaaminen opetti Eric Saarisen tuntemaan isänsä, arkkitehti Eero Saarisen |website=Yle |access-date=November 8, 2017 |language=fi |archive-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005205/http://adfilmfest.com/site/speakers_ny2016/7199 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Other notable individuals===
Notable Americans of some Finnish descent also include several film stars such as actresses [[Anna Easteden]], [[Christine Lahti]], [[Marian Nixon]], [[Maila Nurmi]], [[Pamela Anderson]], [[Leslie Mann]] and [[Jessica Lange]], actors [[Albert Salmi]], [[Matt Damon]], [[Richard Davalos]] and [[George Gaynes]], and director [[David Lynch]]. Other notable individuals are author [[Jean M. Auel]], historian [[Max Dimont]] (born in Finland of Russian Jewish parentage), cook and cookbook author [[Beatrice Ojakangas]], politician [[Emil Hurja]], labor activist [[T-Bone Slim]], [[Communist Party USA|U.S. Communist Party]] leader [[Gus Hall]] (originally Arvo Kustaa Halberg), Finnish-Kiowa-Comanche U.S. Attorney [[Arvo Mikkanen]], mathematician [[Lars Ahlfors]], musicians [[Dave Mustaine]], [[Jaco Pastorius]], [[Einar Aaron Swan]], [[Jorma Kaukonen]] and [[Mark Hoppus]], science fiction author [[Hannu Rajaniemi]], computer scientists [[Linus Torvalds]] and [[Alfred Aho]], former Google executive and CEO of Yahoo [[Marissa Mayer]], co-founder of Apple [[Mike Markkula]], chairman and CEO of General Motors [[Mary Barra]], astronaut [[Timothy L. Kopra]], special forces officer [[Larry Thorne]], ice hockey player [[Matt Niskanen]] and serial killer [[Aileen Wuornos]]. Porn actress [[Puma Swede]] is of Finnish descent although she was born in [[Sweden]].<ref name="iafd">{{iafd name|id=PumaSwede|gender=female|name=Puma Swede}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[FinnFest USA]] is an annual festival held to celebrate Finnish heritage and culture in the United States. Organized by a non-profit organization of the same name, FinnFest USA has been held in a different location each year since 1983, often incorporating regional cultural elements of the local site into the year's event. To date there have also been three FinnGrandFests, a collaboration between Finnish-Americans and Finnish-Canadians: 2000 ([[Toronto|Toronto, Ontario]]), 2005 ([[Marquette, Michigan]]) and 2010 ([[Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario]]).

Finnish American culture was also celebrated at [[Finlandia University]] in [[Hancock, Michigan]] before its closure,<ref>{{Cite web |title='Deeply saddened': Community reacts to Finlandia's closure |url=https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2023/03/deeply-saddened-community-reacts-to-finlandias-closure/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230612001443/https://www.mininggazette.com/news/local-news/2023/03/deeply-saddened-community-reacts-to-finlandias-closure/ |archive-date=June 12, 2023 |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref> which has been the only Finnish American institution of higher learning in the United States since the closing of [[Work People's College]] in [[Duluth, Minnesota]] in 1941. Finlandia was established by the [[Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America]] and is now affiliated with the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]].{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Finlandia Foundation National, based in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]], CA is working with the Finnish American Heritage Center to preserve their archives and continue the Finnish American Reporter newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://finlandiafoundation.org/finlandia-university-ffn-cultural-assets/ |title=Saving Finland in America |access-date=July 10, 2023 |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605062454/https://finlandiafoundation.org/finlandia-university-ffn-cultural-assets/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Salolampi Finnish Language Village is a [[Finnish language]] [[Language immersion|immersion]] [[Summer camp|camp]] in [[Bemidji, Minnesota|Bemidji]], [[Minnesota]]. Founded in 1978, it is a member of the [[Concordia Language Villages]], and celebrates Finnish and Finnish-American heritage, culture, and language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salolampi.org/about/history/|title=History – Salolampi Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=September 5, 2016|archive-date=September 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914200341/http://www.salolampi.org/about/history/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salolampi.org/about/|title=About the Salolampi Foundation – Salolampi Foundation|newspaper=Salolampi Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=September 5, 2016|archive-date=September 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914200137/http://www.salolampi.org/about/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Karelian pasty]] is a popular food among Finnish Americans.<ref name="d858">{{cite book | last=Long | first=Lucy M. | title=Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia: 2 Volumes | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | date=Jul 17, 2015 | isbn=978-1-4422-2731-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBzYCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA199 | access-date=Aug 18, 2025 | page=}}</ref>

==Politics==
Finnish-Americans historically favored [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] candidates, owing to their frequent employment in mining and other blue-collar industries. This has changed in recent decades as many of the rural regions in which they are numerous have swung to the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. In 2010, the three congressional districts with the highest concentrations of Finnish Americans (Michigan 1st, Wisconsin 7th, and Minnesota 8th), all adjacent to Lake Superior, flipped from Democratic to Republican control.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/25/in_2010_sweep_even_the_finns_voted_republican_108060.html|title=In 2010 Sweep, Even the Finns Voted Republican|date=November 25, 2010|access-date=June 2, 2021|archive-date=June 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623051127/https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/25/in_2010_sweep_even_the_finns_voted_republican_108060.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Finland|United States}}
* [[Finland–United States relations]]
* [[Anti-Finnish sentiment]]
* [[Danish Americans]]
* [[Finglish]]
* [[Heikki Lunta]]
* [[Mesaba Co-op Park]]
* [[New Finland, Saskatchewan]]
* [[Norwegian Americans]]
* [[Sauna]]
* [[Sisu]]
* [[St. Urho's Day]]
* [[Swedish Americans]]
* [[Swedish colonization of the Americas]]

'''General:'''
* [[European Americans]]
* [[Finnish diaspora]]
* [[Hyphenated American]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist |refs=
<ref name="VanCleef1918">{{cite journal |last=Van Cleef |first=Eugene |author-link=Van Cleef Memorial Medal |date=September 1918 |title=The Finn in America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/207814 |journal=[[The Geographical Review]] |volume=VI |number=3 |publisher=[[American Geographical Society]] |pages=185–214 |doi=10.2307/207814 |jstor=207814 |bibcode=1918GeoRv...6..185C |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
* Hoglund, A. William. ''Finnish Immigrants in America, 1880–1920''. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1960)
* Holli, Melvin and A. Kostiainen. ''Finnish Identity in America'' (1990, University of Turku)
* Holmio, Armas K. E. ''History of the Finns in Michigan'' (2001)
* Jalkanen, Ralph. ''The Faith of the Finns: Historical Perspectives on the Finnish Lutheran Church in America'' (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1972)
* Kivisto, Peter, and Johanna Leinonen. "Representing Race: Ongoing Uncertainties about Finnish American Racial Identity," ''Journal of American Ethnic History'' (Fall 2011), 31#1 pp.&nbsp;11–33.
* Kolehmainen, John I. (1945). "Finnish Overseas Emigration from Arctic Norway and Russia". ''Agricultural History'', '''19'''(4), 230–232.
* {{cite book |editor= Kostiainen, Auvo |title= Finns in the United States: A History of Settlement, Dissent, and Integration |publisher= Michigan State University Press |date= 2014 |isbn= 978-1-61186-106-8 }}
* {{Cite book
  | publisher = New Finland Historical and Heritage Society
 |editor=Mattson Schelstraete, Nancy
  | title = Life in the New Finland Woods: A History of New Finland, Saskatchewan
  | place = Rocanville, Sask.
  | year = c. 1982
  | volume = I
  | format = digitized online by Red Lauttamus and Julia Adamson
  | url = http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/Finnish/History/Volume1/
  | isbn = 978-0-88864-968-3}}
* {{Cite book
  | publisher = New Finland Historical and Heritage Society
 |editor=Mattson Schelstraete, Nancy
  | title = Life in the New Finland Woods: A History of New Finland, Saskatchewan
  | place = Rocanville, Sask.
  | year = c. 1982
  | volume = II
  | format = digitized online by Red Lauttamus and Julia Adamson
  | url =http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/Finnish/History/Volume2/
  | isbn = 978-0-88864-968-3}}
* Ross, Carl. ''The Finn Factor in American Labor, Culture, and Society'', 2nd edition. (New York Mills, Minnesota: Parta Printers, 1978)
* Stebbins Craig, Peter (1996). [https://web.archive.org/web/20081006140109/http://www.colonialswedes.org/Forefathers/Morton.html "Mårten Mårtensson and His Morton Family"]. Swedish Colonial Society. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
* Wargelin Brown, K. Marianne. "Finnish Americans", ''Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America'', edited by Thomas Riggs (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp.&nbsp;137–151. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3273300073/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=65e95ae0 online]

=== Immigrant experiences ===
* {{Cite book |last=Beck |first=J. Robert |year=2005 |title=Well, Here We Are! The Hansons and the Becks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1o60iww3cqYC |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=0-595-35772-5}} A history of a Swedish-Finnish immigrant family.
* {{Cite book |last1=Dloniak |first1=Miriam Kaurala |author2=Diane M. Hohl |year=2009 |title=Miriam: Daughter of Finnish Immigrants |location=Denver, Col. |publisher=Outskirts Press |isbn=978-1-4327-2294-4}}.

===In Finnish===
* Heliölä, Mikko and Ruuskanen, Esa (2000). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070323190415/http://www.student.oulu.fi/~mheliola/info2/ "Suuri Amerikan-siirtolaisuus (1870–1930)"]. Retrieved September 6, 2005.
* Kauppi, Jorma J. (2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930225118/http://koti.mbnet.fi/loge/siirtol/emihist.htm "Suomalaisten siirtolaisuus Pohjois-Amerikkaan"]. Retrieved September 6, 2005.

==External links==
* [https://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=35 ''Finnish American Lives''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923221939/http://www.folkstreams.net/film-detail.php?id=35 |date=September 23, 2020 }}, a documentary film exploring traditional Finnish American culture
* ''[https://www.finlandia.edu/far/ The Finnish American Reporter]'', monthly journal from [[Finlandia University]]
* [https://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/main6e.htm Finnish American Genealogical Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002000831/https://www.genealogia.fi/emi/art/main6e.htm |date=October 2, 2020 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141217074105/http://favm.net/ Finnish American Virtual Museum]
* [https://finnfest.us/ FinnFest USA] An annual celebration of Finnish America
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/european/FinnsAmer/finchro.html Finns in America] – [[Library of Congress]]
* [http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Finnish-Americans.html Finnish Americans]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070308124318/http://ethnicity.lib.mtu.edu/groups_Finns.html Finnish immigration to Michigan's copper district]
* [https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/scandinavian/the-finns/ The Finns]
* [https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-1E Site of first Finnish settlement in America]
* [http://www.finnishimmigrants.org/ FinnishImmigrants.org] Records on approx. 25,000 passengers to the U.S. from Finland between 1834 through 1897
*[http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/youth-languages/finnish-language-village Salolampi Finnish Language Village]

{{European Americans}}
{{Finnish diaspora}}

[[Category:Finnish diaspora in the United States| ]]
[[Category:American people of Finnish descent| ]]
[[Category:European diaspora in the United States]]