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Records of the Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö [Finnish Organization of Canada], Vapaus Publishing Company (responsible for publishing Vapaus and Liekki and other publications), Suomalais-Canadalaisen Amatoori Urheiluliiton [Finnish-Canadian Amateur Sports Federation], co-operatives, and more.

Includes meeting minutes, reports, financial statements, and correspondence related to the operations and administration of these organizations. Also includes a variety of document and pamphlets related to socialism, communism, and the peace movement in Canada and worldwide.

The Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö (CSJ; Finnish Organization of Canada) is the oldest nationwide Finnish cultural organization in Canada. For over a century the CSJ has been one of the main organizations for Finnish immigrants in Canada with left-wing sympathies and, in particular, those with close ties to the Communist Party of Canada. Through the early to mid 1920s, Finnish-Canadians furnished over half the membership of the Communist Party and some, like A.T. Hill (born Armas Topias Mäkinen), became leading figures in the Party. Beyond support for leftist political causes, the cooperative and labour union movements, many local CSJ branches in both rural and urban centres established halls – some 70 of which were built over the years in communities across Canada – that hosted a range of social and cultural activities including dances, theatre, athletics, music, and lectures. The CSJ is also known for its publishing activities, notably the Vapaus (Liberty) newspaper.

The CSJ underwent several changes in its formative years related to both national and international developments. Founded in October 1911 as the Canadan Suomalainen Sosialisti Järjestö (CSSJ; Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada), the organization served as the Finnish-language affiliate of the Canadian Socialist Federation which soon after transformed into the Social Democratic Party of Canada (SDP). By 1914, the CSSJ had grown to 64 local branches and boasted a majority of the SDP membership with over 3,000 members. One year later the organization added two more local branches but membership had dropped to 1,867 members thanks, in part, to a more restrictive atmosphere due to Canada’s involvement in the First World War and an organizational split that saw the expulsion or resignation of supporters of the Industrial Workers of the World from the CSSJ.

In September 1918, the Canadian federal government passed Order-in-Council PC 2381 and PC 2384 which listed Finnish, along with Russian and Ukrainian, as ”enemy languages” and outlawed the CSSJ along with thirteen other organizations. The CSSJ successfully appealed the ban in December 1918 but dropped ”Socialist” from its name. The organization operated under the name Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö until December 1919. The SDP, however, did not recover from the outlawing of its foreign-language sections, leaving the CSJ without a political home. Stepping into this organizational vacuum was the One Big Union of Canada (OBU), founded in June 1919. The CSJ briefly threw its support behind this new labour union initiative, functioning as an independent ”propaganda organization of the OBU” until internal debates surrounding the structure of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union affiliate and the OBU decision not to join to the Moscow-headquartered Comintern led to its withdrawal shortly thereafter. In 1924, CSSJ activists including A.T. Hill helped to found the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada (LWIUC).

Inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution that toppled the Tsarist Russian Empire in November 1917, and following the founding of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC) as an underground organization in May 1921, the CSSJ rapidly became an integral part of the nascent Communist movement in Canada. Reflecting this change, in 1922 the organization was renamed the Canadan Työläispuolueen Suomalainen Sosialistilärjestö (FS/WPC; Finnish Socialist Section of the Workers’ Party of Canada) – the Workers’ Party of Canada being the legal front organization of the CPC. In 1923, Finnish-Canadian Communists formed a separate cultural organization, the Canadan Suomalainen Järjestö (CSJ; Finnish Organization of Canada Inc.), to serve as a kind of ”holding company” ensuring that the organization’s considerable properties and assets would be safe from confiscation by the government or capture from rival left-wing groups. With the legalization of the CPC in 1924, the FS/WPC became the Canadan Kommunistipuolueen Suomalainen Järjestö (FS/CP; Finnish section of the Communist Party of Canada). Between 1922 and 1925, membership in the CSJ through its various transitions also doubled as membership in the Communist Party. This arrangement ended in 1925 when the FS/CP was disbanded following the ”bolshevization” directives of the Comintern. These directives demanded that separate ethnic organizations in North America be dissolved in favour of more disciplined and centralized party cells. It was hoped that this reorganization would help attract new members outside of the various Finnish, Ukrainian, and Jewish ethnic enclaves that had furnished the bulk of the CPC dues paying membership in Canada. From this point onwards, the CSJ officially functioned as a cultural organization but maintained a close, albeit sometimes strained, association with the CPC. The 1930s represent the peak of the CSJ size and influence, occuring during the Third Period and Popular Front eras of the international Communist movement. During this period CSJ union organizers assisted in the creation of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers Union – a unit of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of the American Federation of Labor, successor to the LWIUC – and the reemergence of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers in Sudbury and Kirkland Lake. CSJ activists also helped to recruit volunteers for the International Brigades that fought against nationalist and fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Finally, in the 1930s some 3,000 CSJ members or sympathizers embarked on the journey from Canada to the Soviet Union to help in the efforts to industrialize the Karelian Autonomous Soviet. Hundreds of Finns in Karelia would later perish in Stalin’s purges.

Despite the CSJ’s active support for the Canadian war effort, the organization was still deemed to be a threat to national security by the federal government and again outlawed in 1940. All FOC properties were seized and closed. The Suomalais Canadalaisten Demokraattien Liitto (SCDL; Finnish-Canadian Democratic League) served as the FOC’s main legal surrogate until the organization was legalized in 1943. The rapid decline of the FOC following this period is apparent from the fact that of the 75 locals in operation in 1936, only 36 remained active in 1950.

Further reading:
Edward W. Laine (edited by Auvo Kostianen), A Century of Strife: The Finnish Organization of Canada, 1901-2001 (Turku: Migration Institute of Finland), 2016.
Arja Pilli, The Finnish-Language Press in Canada, 1901-1939: A Study of Ethnic Journalism (Turku: Institute of Migration), 1982.
William Eklund, Builders of Canada: History of the Finnish Organization of Canada, 1911-1971 (Toronto: Finnish Organization of Canada), 1987.

Records relate to the United Steelworkers of Amercia's (USWA or U.S.W.A.) District 6, Northwestern Ontario, and industries, sites, and companies where Union members worked.

Files include: collective agreements between the union and various companies, correspondence between various company and mine representatives (notably Henry Gareau), as well as presidents of the local unions and officials at different levels of government.

Douglas Fisher was a politician and journalist from Northwestern Ontario. He served as Member of Parliament for Port Arthur from 1957 to 1965, representing the CCF and then NDP.

These papers largely consist of correspondence from his time as MP, and cover a range of subjects, most notably including: transportation, shipbuilding, shipbuilding industries and the St. Lawrence Seaway; labour; House of Commons documentation; and Canadian Federal Politics in general.

Materials related to the architectural history of Lakehead University, as presented at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

The records related to cancer diagnosis and care in Northwestern Ontario, and across Ontario more broadly. Information found in this collection covers a wide variety of material which include, but are not limited to: cancer care prevention, early diagnosis and care, clinical trial notes and lectures, information on screening for cancer and breast cancer. Information regarding the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital (Ethics Committees, Pilot Projects) and the Lakehead University Centre for Health Care can be found within this collection on Cancer Care.

Correspondence and papers of the Pigeon River Lumber Company, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s. Includes the original Letters Patent. Many of the records relate to lands in the Township of Pardee.

The correspondence, government employment program material, reports, and minutes for Paul McRae's years as Liberal MP for Fort William and then Thunder Bay-Atikokan. The records cover both national and local issues.

McRae was first elected in 1972, and served four terms in Parliament until 1984.

The records of Alexander Phillips, Manager of the Northwestern Ontario Development Association, relating to business and industrial development and policy throughout the region.

Video recordings of local French-language television broadcasts.

Musical works by Harold Wevers, Canadian composer and bassoonist. These include orchestral works, chamber music, and solo pieces for various instruments.

Records detailing the planning and execution of the Canada Sea-to-Sea Alexander Mackenzie Bicentennial Expeditions, 1989-1993, to celebrate the bicentennial of the voyages of Alexander Mackenzie, who was the first European person to cross Canada and reach the Pacific Ocean. Expedition leader was Dr. Jim Smithers, of Lakehead's School of Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism.

Students traced Mackenzie's routes travelling by canoe and overland, and held events in communities along the way.

1989: from Fort McMurray, Alberta to Kendall Island on the Beaufort Sea
1990-1991: development of educational materials and full plan
1991: Lachine, Quebec, to Winnipeg, Manitoba
1992: Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Peace River, Alberta
1993: Peace River, Alberta, to Mackenzie Rock, British Columbia

Records include planning documents, brochures, sponsorship information, route maps, and reports.

Records relate to the creation and development of the Orillia Campus.

Photographs of mining and transportation in Northwestern Ontario in the first part of the twentieth century.

Includes:

• Photographs of Zenmac Zinc Mine near Schreiber
• Photographs of Root River Marine Portage and mining equipment supplies transported

The collection consists of newspapers (primarily the Orillia Daily Packet and Times) with stories related to the proposal to establish a campus of the Waterloo Lutheran University in Orillia.

The proposal made by the Orillia University Committee in September 1965 to Simcoe County Council to establish funding for the new university campus was approved, and $600,000 allocated. Fundraising commenced, but was halted in 1968 by the Ontario Ministry of University Affairs.

Fonds consists of the records of the Age Friendly Giants project, initially conducted in 2017 through Age Friendly Thunder Bay and StoryCentre Canada. This project provided a digital storytelling workshop to 10 older adults, with a focus on neighbourhoods, communities, and aging at home. Results of the projects included 10 videos produced by the participants, posters and tip sheets, and several public events.

Phase II of Age Friendly Giants took place in 2019. Phase II included the development of an education kit to accompany the Phase I videos, Tea Talks held throughout the summer to develop community, the concluding Giants Castle event in October to share information about aging at home, and various media including cable television programs.

Phase I records include videos and handouts, as well as project documentation. Phase II records include project documentation, videos, and material produced for participants.

Consists of reports, letters, and minutes of the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority.

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

The records document Ruth Tye McKenzie’s life and career as an exhibiting artist. They also reflect her career in business as owner of the Painted Turtle Art Shop.

Ruth Tye Mackenzie was born October 6, 1929, in Edmonton, the youngest of 3 children. She attended the Ontario College of Art, and graduated in 1952. She lived in Dundas, ON, for some time, exhibiting in Hamilton, St. Catherines, and other southern Ontario locations. 

In 1976 she moved to Thunder Bay with her family, and has become a key part of Thunder Bay's artistic community. She opened the Painted Turtle Art Shop in 1983, and ran it for 30 years until selling to new owners in 2003. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across the province. 

Records relate to the establishment and operation of the Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They reflect matters concerning Port Arthur, Fort William, and Thunder Bay; and the development of Unitarianism and its institutions in North America more broadly.

The LUF is a non-profit organization that was incorporated into the Canadian Unitarian Council in 1984; after incorporation, the materials become more formal and there is more paperwork pertaining to the fellowships organization and governance.

The material includes reports, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photo negatives, floor plans for building, pamphlets and brochures, and several CDs, which included photographs and videos from special events. Majority of the materials are LUF specific, while there is also material pertaining to neighboring Unitarian organizations in Canada and America, and to the broader Unitarian Universalist Association\ Canadian Unitarian Council. Some records are specific to individuals while others relate to the entire fellowship.

Records relate to research carried out by Viitala and colleagues at Lakehead University as part of the Acidic Precipitation In Ontario Study. Field research was done at Hawkeye Lake northwest of Thunder Bay, and at Pukaskwa National Park. The records include data, photographs, reports and research papers. Some records also relate specifically to the International Symposium on Acidic Precipitation held at Muskoka on September 15-20, 1985.

Records date primarily 1980-1988, with some additional documents from 2018 and 2022.

Margaret (Peggy) Tripp was a professor of Biology and of Women's Studies at Lakehead University. She was involved in the creation of the Women's Studies program, and taught until shortly before her death in 2008.

This small collection includes six photographs of Tripp with colleagues and students, two diplomas from the University of Colorado, and a Lakehead University presentation folder.

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.

The fonds consists of materials transferred from the Faculty of Natural Resources Management at Lakehead University to the Archives. Currently, this is primarily a set of forest management maps covering Northwestern Ontario.

Records relate to the planning of the Mid-Canada Development Corridor Conference taking place at Lakehead University in August 1969.

This conference brought together 150 invited delegates to examine questions of industrial and economic development through the mid-North of Canada.

“Purposes of the Mid-Canada Development Corridor Conference: To examine into the practicability of a continuing long range economic development and land use plan for the urbanization, industrialization, populating and general development of Mid-Canada; and to this end to use the concept of a Mid-Canada Development Corridor as a focal point.
And if such a long-range economic development and land use plan is found to be both feasible and practicable, then to formulate recommendations and suggested courses of action to be delivered to the Federal and Provincial Governments, to financial, commercial and industrial sectors of the National Community and to Canadian Universities.”

The Mid-Canada Development Corridor concept was first brought forward by Richard Rohmer, and research was carried out by ACRES Research and Planning Ltd. This work highlighted the potential for industrial and economic development in the "mid-North" of Canada, the swath north of the most highly populated areas, where resource extraction and settlement were happening on an ad hoc basis. The argument was made that it would be beneficial to Canada to plan transportation corridors, city-building, communications, and more so that settlement and industrial development would happen in a more rational manner. Despite the high level of interest at the time of the Conference and multiple tours and visits held afterwards, the concept was not embraced by government, and was not much discussed after the early 1970s.

These records include correspondence and meeting notes related to the planning of the Conference.

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.