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| Koski family. Eino has glasses. |
Red Finns and White Finns in the U.P. ... Family Differences Caused Problems
Written by Elsie Koski Waterman
My parents were good to me despite the fact that there was much quarreling, much of it having to do with religion. There was much discrimination even within the Finnish community. There were Red Finns (who tended to be socialistic in their leanings), and White Finns who were extremely religious. I suppose my father's family would be considered "White Finns" as they held church services in their home and were instrumental in the building of the Lutheran Church near the Carlshend School. Occasionally, a minister from the Suomi Synod came from Gwinn to conduct church services. By then my vocabulary in Finnish was diminishing, but I can always remember the word "sin" in the sermons as very dominant. I did eventually become confirmed by that minister from Gwinn one summer when I was living in Rock. The confirmation classes required a great deal of memorization with public questioning on the Sunday of the Confirmation Day. During that confirmation, I also noted the emphasis on staying Lutheran. An emphasis was that we not date Catholics for fear of marrying one and being required that your children be raised Catholic.
My mother’s family was not exactly Red Finns, but they were not the very religious type either. One of the problems that had been encountered by my mother, as she was to marry, was that she had not been baptized. This was considered heathenish by the Suomi Synod Lutherans. I questioned my mother's mother about that one time. Her explanation was that her husband had become very disillusioned with religion in Finland. Ministers required that they receive pay for baptism. If they didn't have money, they would be required to give the minister a calf, if they owned one. I was surprised when my aunt told me that her mother (Aiti) would have liked to go to church but didn’t, because of her husband’s views.
My mother's parents were sometimes referred to as the Finn Hall Finns. My father's family looked on my mother's family as being Red Finns as there were many in the community where my mother lived. There was even a dance hall which was referred to as the "Communist Hall" which had a picture of Stalin in it. Some of the Finns did go back to Russia during that time thinking life would be better as the depression was taking its toll in this country. In Rock, there were actually two grocery stores—one connected to the Communist Hall and a regular Coop Store related to the Finn Hall. My grandfather was on the Board of Directors of both the Finn Hall and the Coop Store. Also, as I mentioned earlier, he was on the Board of the Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Company. My grandmother bragged that her husband had one of the biggest funeral processions for his funeral at the Finn Hall.
As I helped to start a Finnish-American Club in Northern Wisconsin, I found that all communities had the same problems. I was asked to give a speech at a meeting. I decided to tell about Rock, and its two Finnish Communities. It hit so close to home that the folks in this community were very annoyed to hear about it. It seemed to bring back bad memories for them too. I always said, in humor, that “I was almost run out of town on a rail for discussing it.”
My mother's family seemed to wish to learn English and Americanize more quickly. For instance, my maternal grandmother spoke English when necessary, whereas I don't believe I ever heard my father's mother speak a word of English. I learned English before I went to school, because my parents spoke English at home most of the time. In fact, I found out just a few years ago that my name had even been "Americanized." My birth certificate said "Elsi Maria," but I had always been encouraged to use "Elsie Marie." Perhaps the pressure came from the fact that we lived mainly amongst Swedes, and they did not speak Swedish too much.
My father's name also had been arbitrarily changed by his father as he came to this country. They had dropped the "nen" making it sound "less Finnish." In other words it was changed from Koskinen to Koski. There was another amusing incident, which took place in Carlshend, about another Finn who finding himself living amongst Swedes--many of them Johnsons. He decided that he could be a Johnson too. He went to the court house in Marquette and changed his last name from a Finnish name (which I don't know) to Johnson. Thereafter, he was known as "Finn Johnson."
Even the type of "sauna" was different between the families. My Koski grandparents had an old fashioned "smoke sauna" (one in which there was no chimney). Rather the fire was built in the stone stove and allowed to heat with the smoke staying in the building. They would open the doors for awhile after it had heated to let the smoke go out. How my eyes would sting after a trip to that smoke sauna. They also always had the birch switch (vihta) in it that was customary in the real Finnish saunas. Whereas, the Halmeoja sauna had a chimney to heat the building when you had your bath. For both families, however, the "sauna" was a social thing, which would be followed by visiting, coffee and wonderful baked goods. At my mother's home, there would be some card playing. Many a moonlit Saturday night, my father would put us on the sleigh and push us to Mummu's house for a sauna. When I went to where my father lived in Finland, I found that the family there had two saunas—a smoke sauna and the other kind as well. You could take your choice.
Growing up Finn in Skandia Township had its trials. However, I have grown very interested in my Finnish Heritage. In my studies at Finnfests and other places, I have found that other Finns too felt discriminated against wherever they lived. Other communities also had the two Coop Stores—one Communist and the other related to a Finn Hall. Though the Finns were very hard workers, some men felt that they were not accepted as Americans until they served in the military in World War II. Even though Skandia Township (infers Swedes only) there are many Finnish names on the tombstones in the cemetery on the hill including that of EINO JOHN KOSKI. THIS IS IN YOUR MEMORY, DAD!
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