8

February 2025

Finnish-American Writings on Weather and Climate

In her FGGMN presentation, Lotta Leiwo, a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, will focus on the reader-writers’—women and children’s— letters published in Toveritar, exploring the understanding(s) of weather, climate, and seasons. Weather and seasons were recurring themes in Toveritar (Comradess), a Finnish-language socialist women’s newspaper published from 1911 to 1930. Additionally, she will discuss the importance of historical research on colonialism, climate, and weather in understanding the cultural impacts of climate change today. Leiwo will also offer insights and practical advice for researching the Finnish-American digital collections of the National Library of Finland.

9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker

On Zoom

8

March 2025

Every Object Tells A Story

Our March speaker is Sirpa Tuomainen. In her words, I’ve always enjoyed visiting Finnish & Finnish-American homes as it’s been fascinating to discover what kinds of Finnish objects people have and are displaying. Different generations have different styles, but there seem to always be certain staples. It had been my longtime dream to investigate this more closely, and I was finally able to do it. My goal in this project was to explore why people have kept these particular artifacts, how these items  relate to their Finnishness, and how this all comes through via the narratives they’ve shared with me.  

I encourage the participants to bring a meaningful item to or a picture of one to the meeting in March when we discuss this.

9:00 AM Log On
9:30 AM Business Meeting
10:15 AM Speaker

On Zoom

Meeting Dates for 2024-2025 Year

  • Saturday, September 14

  • Saturday, October 12

  • Saturday, November 9

  • Saturday, January 11

  • Saturday, February 8

  • Saturday, March 8

  • Saturday, April 12

  • Saturday, May 10