Records of an oral history project conducted with people who travelled to Soviet Karelia. Includes approved and unapproved transcripts, audio cassette recordings, agreements with researchers, and related documentation.

Many of the documents include information that interviewees wish to be kept private. Access will be restricted, except for approved transcripts, and when appropriate measures or agremeents are in place.

Raili Margaret (Virta) Charnesky (1936-2022) was born and raised in Port Arthur to parents Kalle and Impi Virta, both immigrants from Finland. Raili worked in the Mining Recorders Office, Ontario Department of Mines, in Thunder Bay, and became the Mining Recorder for the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in Sudbury and Toronto. She retired in 1993 after 40 years of public service.

These records primarily reflect family relationships, particularly the early death of her brother Olaf in 1951, and the deaths of her parents Kalle (1961) and Impi (1983). Records include family & genealogical information, photographs, memorial books and sympathy cards.

St. Urho's Day is celebrated on March 16 each year in Thunder Bay, as well as in many Finnish-Canadian and Finnish-American Communities. These records relate to both the wider holiday and to its celebration in Thunder Bay.

St. Urho is a [fictional] Finnish saint, renowned for driving the grasshoppers (or, in early legends, frogs) out of the Finnish vineyards. The story of St. Urho originated in Minnesota in the 1950s, and it has over time become a popular aspect of Finnish-American and Finnish-Canadian culture. People wear purple and green to participate in parades, celebrations, and performances.

These records relate to the activities of the Suomalainen Puistoyhdistys [Finnish Garden Committee] of Thunder Bay, in developing the Finland Monument at the International Friendship Gardens in Thunder Bay.

The International Friendship Garden was developed as a Centennial Project in 1967 by the Soroptimist Club of Fort William and Port Arthur. At the intersection of Victoria Ave and Waterloo St, it includes monuments representing 18 different ethnic groups. The International Friendship Garden project provided designated spaces; each garden was planned, designed and funded by different cultural organizations to represent their country.

The Finnish Garden is one of these eighteen dedicated garden spaces, and was created in two stages. Suomalainen Puistoyhdistys, the Finnish Garden Committee, was founded in November 1971, sponsored by the Central Organization of Finnish Societies. Work began in 1972. A sculpture of two large bronze swans in flight was created in Finland, by Professor Armas Hutri, with the base built locally with granite from Dryden, Ontario. The Whooper Swan is the national bird of Finland. The Immigrants Statue celebrating the Centennial of Finnish settlement in 1876 was unveiled on Juhannus, in June 1976. The Finnish Garden was dedicated on June 24 1979.

These records reflect the development of the garden/monument, and also include photographs, books, and news clippings from the period after the Gardens were established. They appear to have been collected and maintained by Pentti Junni, Chairman of the Finnish Garden Committee.

Card catalogue from the Suomi Koti library.

Suomi Koti of Thunder Bay is a seniors' residence in Thunder Bay. The organization was founded in 1984; the building, consisting of 60 apartment units, was opened in 1988. Suomi Koti was developed to meet the needs of Finnish-Canadian seniors

The library was built from donations and purchases by residents over the years. It held titles in Finnish and in English; the Finnish-language materials were often published in and brought from Finland and were difficult to access through Canadian libraries or booksellers. This library reflected a body of reading material of Finnish-speaking people in Thunder Bay in the later part of the twentieth century.

In 2025, the library collections were weeded significantly to make room for new furniture and better meet the needs of current residents. Some titles were donated to Lakehead University Library at this time. The Finnish-language card catalogue has been acquired by the Archives to preserve a record of the library's former collections and how it reflected the culture of its users.

Material collected related to the creation and publication of the book "Sweating with Finns: Sauna Stories from North America," edited by Kaarina Kailo, Raija Warkentin, and Jorma Halonen, and published 2005 by the Centre for Northern Studies, Lakehead University.

The fonds consists of publications and clippings in Finnish, including some of Terttu Koivu’s own writings in Canadan Uutiset and other publications. Terttu Koivu immigrated from Finland in 1953, and died in Thunder Bay in 2013 at age 95.

Account books and minute books of the Finnish Building Company, an organization formed in 1909 to raise funds for the construction of the Finnish Labour Temple (Big Finn Hall) at 314 Bay Street.

Minute books, account books, and membership books for the Port Arthur Finnish Socialists Local. Includes records of the sewing society, entertainment committee, and theatrical society.

A vast and varied collection of records documenting the experiences of Finnish immigrants to Northwestern Ontario. Includes correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, interviews, published material, and ephemera. The photograph collection is extensive and covers a wide range of subjects.

The records are arranged into the following series:
A - Bay Street Project
B - Finnpraxis Project
C - Collections
D - Photographs
E - Miscellaneous
F - Finnish Experience

Sites crawled include those of local Finnish heritage and Finnish-Canadian groups and organizations.