Finnish American
Encyclopedia : F : FI : FIN : Finnish American
Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number at about 700,000. Finns first started coming to the United States in large numbers in the late 19th century, and continued until the mid 20th century. However, there were some Finns in the United States beforehand; in particular, they were instrumental in the development of the New Sweden colony on the Delaware River, later absorbed into New Netherland. Today, the greatest concentration of Finnish Americans is in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where they form 16% of the population. In the peninsula's western counties, they are the largest ethnic group. Many townships were made by Finnish, including Herman, located in Baraga County, Michigan. The town is named for Herman Keranen, of Ylivieska, Finland.
An early Ethnic Finn was John Morton, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Notable Finnish Americans include historian Max Dimont, and Gus Hall (originally Arvo Gustav Halberg), U.S. Communist Party leader.
See also
- Finnish immigration to North America
- Swedish colonization of the Americas
- Swedish American
- List of Finnish Americans
External links
- [Finnish American Lives], a documentary film exploring traditional Finnish-American culture (free download)
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