From the Ashes of the Old: The History, Loss, and Memory of the Finnish Labour Temple

The Annual General Meeting of the Thunder Bay Finnish Canadian Historical Society will be held April 27, beginning at 2pm, at the Thunder Bay Museum.

The AGM portion of the meeting will follow the speakers. All are invited to attend, and new memberships will be welcome at the meeting.

Please download and consult the President’s Report and Treasurer’s Report prior to the meeting; limited copies will be available on paper.

Presidents Report 2024 TBFCHS AGM.docxDownload

2023.12.31_treas.report.stmt.xls – Sheet1Download

Finnish Labour Temple Time Capsule

On April 26, 2022 the time capsule from the foundation of the Finnish Labour Temple was opened among community members and media.

The capsule and its contents were brought to Lakehead University Archives immediately after, for cleaning and preservation.

All items have been digitized, and can be viewed at: https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/exhibits/show/time-capsule/items

The time capsule, opened

Työkansa newspaper, printed on a sheet of silk

Työkansa Online

Complete digitized issues of the Työkansa newspaper are now available online at:

https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/exhibits/show/tyokansa/

The Finnish-language socialist paper was founded in 1907 in Port Arthur. It ceased publication June 1915, due to bankruptcy.

Työkansa, Front Page, October 21, 1909

Digital Collections at Lakehead University

While this site isn’t being updated often since our project funding is over, Lakehead University Archives is frequently adding newly scanned photographs and other material to Digital Collections. Check in regularly, and contact the Archives if you have any questions or requests!

Raija Warkentin fonds available at the Archives

Friends of this project will be glad to learn that the Raija Warkentin fonds, consisting of oral history interviews with immigrants to & from Eastern Karelia, have been deposited at Lakehead University Archives. A short finding aid is available.

The records include audio cassettes, approved and unapproved transcripts, correspondence, notes, and photographs. All these materials were generated through an oral history project conducted circa 1999-2002. Some interviews are restricted access; others are fully available. The language of most materials is Finnish.

Finnish Socialist Organization’s Third Representative Assembly Minutes, February 1922

Now available in translation:

Finnish Socialist Organization’s Third Representative Assembly Minutes. Drafted at the Finnish Socialist Organization’s Representative Assembly held in Toronto, Ontario, February 15, 16, 20, and 21, 1922. Published by the Finnish Socialist Section of the Workers’ Party of Canada. Introduction and translation by Saku Pinta.

Introduction:

From Social Democracy to Leninism: The Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada, 1901-1922

By Saku Pinta

The Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö (FOC; Finnish Organization of Canada) is the oldest nation-wide Finnish cultural organization in Canada. Founded in 1911 as the Canadan Suomalainen Sosialisti Järjestö (FSOC; Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada), the organization passed through several stages and political affiliations in its formative years, but none as important as its longstanding association – both formal and informal – with the Communist Party of Canada.

CTKL Rules

CTKL Rules
Translated by Saku Pinta

1. The name of this organization is the Industrial Unionist Support League and its purpose is to create and maintain united action for the benefit of industrial unionism amongst the working-class and youth.

2. The C.T.K.L. is composed of those local industrial unionist supporting associations that voluntarily adhere to observing the mutually agreed upon League rules. Local associations may use their own by-laws in their internal affairs but these may not contradict League rules nor the industrial unionist endeavours in general.

Public Event: May 3

We’re celebrating the conclusion of this project with a public event.

“Increasing Access to Finnish-Language Archives”
Celebrating heritage, history, and culture, and sharing the results of our DHCP-funded project.

Friday, May 3, 6pm
Finnish Embassy, 314 Bay Street

RSVP: contact@tbfinnishhistory.ca
Thunder Bay Finnish Canadian Historical Society

Refreshments and cash bar

Hoito Restaurant Constitution and By-Laws

The Constitution and By-Laws of the Hoito Restaurant, as included in our Translation of the Minutes of the Hoito Restaurant, 1918-1920.

The Constitution of the Hoito Co-operative Restaurant

1. This consumers’ co-operative restaurant is in Port Arthur and began operations on May 1, 1918.
2. The purpose of this co-operative restaurant is to purchase and serve food for payment in cash.
3. This co-operative restaurant’s membership is composed of all the co-operative restaurant’s patrons.
4. This co-operative restaurant began operations by taking five dollar ($5.00) loans from its members until the required start-up sum was collected. These loans will be repaid later.*
5. Those individuals who have provided a $5.00 loan and those who pay for meals in advance through the purchase of weekly tickets shall have voting rights for all issues concerning this co-operative restaurant.
6. This co-operative restaurant shall not pay dividends to its membership and large sums of capital will not be accumulated. Only a small reserve fund of $300 to $500 will be necessary to maintain the restaurant year-round.
7. The membership of this co-operative restaurant shall elect from among themselves a manager, a 7-member Board of Directors, and other necessary officials.
8. The duties of the manager are to handle the co-operative restaurant’s finances, maintain bookkeeping, and fulfill tasks as instructed by the Board of Directors. The manager must also obtain a bond in an amount determined by the membership.
9. The Board of Directors will be elected and that during every monthly meeting two members will vacate their positions and be replaced by two elected members and every three months three members will be replaced. In this way the term for a member of the Board of Directors will be three months. The Board of Directors is responsible for all of the co-operative restaurant’s assets.
10. These rules can be amended or supplemented at a membership meeting by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote.

Minutes of the Hoito Restaurant, March 27, 1918 to May 2, 1920

We now have available the Minutes of the Hoito Restaurant, March 27, 1918 to May 2, 1920, newly translated and with an introduction by Saku Pinta. The minutes can be downloaded as a 99 page PDF file.

Introduction: The Origins of the Hoito Restaurant: A History from Below

By Saku Pinta

Then Slim headed to Bay Street, where he read a sign upon a door
Inviting the world workers up onto the second floor
Come right in Fellow Worker, hang your crown upon the wall
And eat at the Wobbly restaurant, you’ll pay no profits there at all
– “The Second Coming of Christ” by Pork-Chop Slim [1]

In continuous operation in the same location for over 100 years, the Hoito Restaurant has served Finnish and Canadian food in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario while also serving as an important local landmark and gathering place. The restaurant the New York Times called “arguably Canada’s most famous pancake house” has, since it opened on May 1, 1918, occupied the bottom-floor of the 109-year old Finnish Labour Temple on 314 Bay Street – a building formally recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada in 2011. [2]