11
October 2025
Oral Histories
Our speaker for October is Mirva Johnson, PhD in Scandinavian Studies – Folklore from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work is within and intersecting the fields of public folklore, linguistics, history, and cultural studies as they relate to heritage languages, their speakers and descendants.
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
8
November 2025
From Mines to Wheat to Woods to Wasteland: The Finnish Immigrant Ideal?
Our presenter is Gary Kaunonen, PhD. the Education Program and Recreation Manager, MN Discovery Center. He will present an in-depth look at Finnish Immigrant contributions to MN and beyond.
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
10
January 2026
The Search for a Socialist El Dorado
Our speaker is Alexey Golubev, PhD. University of Houston, Associate Professor of History.
Presenting “The Search for a Socialist El Dorado: Finnish immigration from the United States and Canada to Soviet Karelia in the 1930’s”, He will discuss his co-authored book on the topic.
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
14
February 2026
TBD - check back for updates
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
14
March 2026
TBD - check back for updates
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
11
April 2026
First Hand Account of Serving in the Finnish Army
Matti Erpestad MEEd. University of MN, Duluth. Matti is an Instructor in Environment and Outdoor Education Faculty at UMD and will be speaking about his service in the Finnish Army as a Finnish-American.
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
9
May 2026
Writing your Family History/Poetry
Final speaker of the 2025-26 sessions is James Johnson.
9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker
On Zoom
Meeting Dates for 2025-2026 Year
Saturday, September 13
Saturday, October 11
Saturday, November 8
Saturday, January 10
Saturday, February 14
Saturday, March 14
Saturday, April 11
Saturday, May 9