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31
2010
From NPR last week, a story on the census bureau’s creation of a nifty (well, if you’re into that sort of thing) interactive map to track percentage of census form return around the country. The map is updated daily and through it you can view percentages at the state, city, and all the way down to the neighborhood level. If your household hasn’t done so already, get that census form filled out and dropped off at the post office now!
Mar
31
2010
Meryl Streep’s wistful reference during the last episode of Henry Louis Gates’ program Faces of America to the “invisible histories of the women” resonated deeply with me. Although that moment was an obvious reminder of why I initially became involved in genealogy, even more so it was the thought-provoking realization that it was wanting to grasp those elusive stories not so readily visible or accessible which first sparked my interest in history decades ago. It has effectively driven my academic/creative – and in some respects, personal – life ever since; I am forever wanting to see beneath and beyond.
It is what caused me to spend countless hours researching the use of red ochre as a paleolithic pigment and trying to understand what its symbolic meaning in prehistoric cultures might have been. It is what led me to an archaeology class dubbed Dirt Bags 101, where we exhaustively tweezered out, sorted and mapped tiny fragments from site sample bags in an attempt to compile a picture at the micro level of a historic Chinook household. More recently it was behind my need to finally piece together the story of my mother’s adoption as well as being responsible for my ongoing fascination with genealogy mysteries and all things DNA.
And so: there’s a blog for that. Or at least my own take on those stories that are typically beneath the surface, whether that be literally or in general.
Like me, the blog will have an eclectic bent and be at moments unapologetically Finn-centric. And will inevitably involve food because let’s face it, nothing revs up the appetite more than sitting in front of the computer all day in my pajamas.
Mar
31
2010
Via the Finlander Forum and Ilmari Kivinen, word that Finland’s National Archives has scanned and uploaded for viewing signature pages from the Great Petition of 1899. The petition includes signatures from over 500,000 people, taken during March of 1899 to protest Russian czar Nicholai II’s February declaration of his sole right to rule over Finland.
The archive is searchable for relatives’ signatures first by province, then by parish. An amazing resource.
Mar
30
2010
Long a home to Native Americans (particularly the Algonquin), in the 1800s and first part of the 1900s and largely due to its mining, timber and available land Michigan became a magnet for those immigrating to America, including a large number from Finland. For some it functioned as a brief stopover before they moved on to other parts of the US, while some have stayed in Michigan since the arrival of their family’s first immigrants.
Seeking Michigan is a searchable website with the following, constantly growing collections: Architecture, Civil War (manuscripts, photography and service records), Death Records 1897-1920, Early Photography, Governors of Michigan, Lighthouses and Life-Saving Stations, Maps, Main Streets, Music of Michigan, Oral Histories and WPA Property Inventories.
Mar
30
2010
FinnFest 2011 will be held in San Diego, California from the 11th through the 14th of August, 2011. I have been asked to organize an event for the Finland DNA Project and would also like to arrange an informal get-together for project members and any who are interested in learning more about what we are doing. Ideas for what you would like to see in a presentation on the project are most welcome; beyond the basics of who, what, when, where, why and how, are there any specific questions you would like answered? Let me know! Please post here in comments and/or email me directly.
Mar
26
2010
I was startled to come across this photograph in the Oregon Historical Society’s archives because the man smiling at the camera looks so like all my Koski/Koskela relatives. The accompanying article also reminds me I have much to learn about the history of Finns in Oregon, let alone Finns in America.
Mar
25
2010
While the 2008 genetic map of Europe/Euroopan geneetinen kartta simply showed Finland as a stark outlier compared to other European countries, the genetic atlas recently created by Finland’s Institute for Molecular Medicine provides a look at the complexity of genetic differences within Finland itself. The work was overseen by the late geneticist Leena Peltonen-Palotie and based on analysis of over 40,000 DNA samples. Some commentary here (Suomeksi) and here (English). 2008 article “Correlation between Genetic and Geographic Structure in Europe” here. [h/t Raija, Jennifer and Marja]
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