News broke yesterday that Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan would close after the spring semester. Founded in 1896 as Suomi College, an institution founded by Finnish Americans. The news is devastating on some many fronts – for the faculty, staff, students, town, and region. Hancock is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, an isolated and beautiful place. My own family has ties there in the past and some of our records are contained in the Finnish American Center’s archives.
I visited the area before my final year of grad school and the experience was transformative. It was the first place that I could visit to trace my family roots to the Finnish American community there. We visited the Suomi Restaurant (located in Houghton – just across the lift bridge from Hancock) that serves Finnish foods and is a meeting spot for many in the town. Nearby street signs are in English and in Finnish. The university’s gallery space and even center was filled with historic Finnish textiles. My first exposure to many of the weaving traditions of Finland that would keep me busy to this day researching them. A visit to the university bookstore sent me home with a rich selection of reading to begin my research.
Ryijy (Rya Rug) hanging in the Finnish American Center.
Suomi Restaurant
I knew I would return one day to explore more, but with life and the pandemic those plans were halted many times. What happens with a small university town when that school closes? My heart feels heavy in contemplating how things will change.
I am currently auditing a class through Finlandia – a class on the Kalevala the national epic of Finland. The class has been so fascinating with Finnish history woven into the lectures as well as history of the Upper Peninsula and the Finnish Americans. I have so much to learn about my heritage, and I am so grateful of the chance to learn. I had no idea how fleeting this opportunity would be.
Ryijy - Heroes of the Kalevala. Woven in Kajaani, Finland in 1936. Hanging in the Finnish American Center.