Records and reference material from five major research projects sponsored by the Finlandia Club and other organizations.

• Bay Street Project I: A study of Finnish immigration to Canada
• Bay Street Project II: A study of Finnish settlements in the rural Thunder Bay District
• Bay Street Project III: A study of sports and athletics in the Finnish community in Thunder Bay
• Bay Street Project IV: A study of religion and churches in the Finnish community in Thunder Bay
• Bay Street Project V: A study of the arts in the Finnish community in Thunder Bay, including literature, theatre, and music

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 of the Northern Ontario Pastoral Institute, a nonprofit organization providing clinical pastoral education in Thunder Bay. A member organization of the Canadian Association for Pastoral Practice and Education, which later became the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care.

Primarily records of the Board of Directors, including meeting minutes, correspondence, and financial records. These originated with and were kept by two long-time board members, Ernie Epp (a Board member since 1990 and long term Treasurer), and Rev. Ed Long (a Board member since 1990 and former Treasurer and President.)

There are also records relating to programming, and relating to pastoral services in Thunder Bay and the surrounding region.

Photographs are divided into seven subseries:
A - Architecture
B - Arts (Theatre, music, dance, arts, crafts)
C - Business & industry
D - Churches
E - Communities in Northwestern Ontario
F - People, families, & genealogy
G - Organizations

Records of Reverend Toivo Johannes Pajala (1903-1972), minister of Saalem Pentecostal Church.

Toivo Pajala was born Dec 31, 1903, in Vimpeli, Finland. His family was Lutheran, with some ties to the Pentecostal Church. Pajala migrated to Canada at age 19, and was in Port Arthur at least by 1923. For many years he made a living as a bushworker.

Religion became an important part of Pajala's life: he became Laestadian, then Pentecostal. He attended the Western Bible College in Winnipeg for two years, and then was ordained in 1946 in Toronto. He married his wife Sylvia in 1949 shortly before returning to Port Arthur.

From 1949 to 1963, Pajala was pastor of Saalem Finnish Pentecostal Church in Port Arthur. In 1951, he established a Finnish-language Pentecostal radio program on CKPR, particularly reaching bushworkers and others in rural areas, and people unable to leave their homes. He was also well known for supporting immigrants to the region, and providing funeral services when others would not.

Pajala spent 1963-1967 as a pastor in Waukegan, Illinois. After 1967, he officially retired, and returned to Port Arthur, where he was still active in the church. His death was in 1972.

Most of the records in this fonds relate to either Pajala's religious education in the 1940s (organized by class or by notebook) or the sermons he gave in Finnish or English, in Port Arthur and by radio (organized loosely by theme.)

The last few files of the fonds relate to a project after Pajala’s death: to interview those who knew him and memorialize him. The book “Kansanpappi Toivo Pajala,” written by Tellervo Kähärä and available in the Library, is a result of that work.