From Finland to the U.P.: SISU, Socialism, Saunas
From Finland’s rocky farms to the copper mines and forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Finnish immigrants brought more than strong backs and “SISU” to America. They brought faith, saunas, traditions—and fierce arguments over labor, capitalism and socialism that divided “Church Finns” and “Red Finns” more than a century ago. Their remarkable story of immigration, revolution, war and assimilation helped shape northern Michigan and reminds us that many of the political debates Americans wrestle with today are anything but new.