History
At FinnFest 2011 we will honor the Finnish cultural heritage and history by discussing the war from a fresh perspective. A profound program is structured around Finnish-American history and the untold stories of the war through lectures and panel discussions. Topics include a lecture about the lost maps of Karelia, immigration and Operation Stella Polaris.
Lecture: "Alpo Marttinen – Colonel of Two Armies" the story of a patriot and a war hero, who became a political refugee
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 09:00 - 10:00
Meeting House: Esquire
Colonel of two armies, and a Knight of Mannerheim Cross, Alpo Marttinen had a remarkable role in the defensive and decisive battles of both the Winter War and the Continuation War against Russia. Pekka Lehtonen tells Marttinen’s intriguing...
Lecture: "The Dynamics of the Finnish Migration to America and the Development of Emigration Databases"
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 09:00 - 10:00
Pacific Salon 7
Research Director Elli Heikkilä from the Institute of Migration inTurku, Finland speak about Finland’s tradition of emigration. During the past one hundred years over one million people have moved from Finland to other countries. Without any...
Searching for your Finnish roots?
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 09:00 - Saturday, August 13, 2011 - 16:00
The Institute of Migration provides services for searching for ancestral roots from passport and passenger records. Look through recently released books. Research information will be also collected during FinnFest.
Documentary: "Sydämeni laulu" The Song of My Heart
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 10:30 - 11:55
Sunday, August 14, 2011 - 10:30 - 12:00
Royal Palm Salon 5
Documentary film about Finnish-Americans in the United States. (English subtitles)
(Produced by Filmiseppo Oy and YLE, Finland, 1948, 88min)
Dokumenttielokuva Amerikan suomalaisista. Mies, vaimo ja tytär matkustelee ”lännen...
Lecture: “The Finlandia Foundation Story (1953-2010) - Lessons from a Conflicted History”
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 10:30 - 11:30
Pacific Salon 5
How did a small southern California foundation become truly national in scope and purpose? No easy task, and it is a story full of human and institutional lessons. Historian Jon Saari wrote the history entitled Black Ties and Miners’...
Documentary: "Greener Grass"
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 12:00 - 12:20
Friday, August 12, 2011 - 10:00 - 10:20
Royal Palm Salon 5
Greener Grass is an art and documentary project by artist Mari Keski-Korsu. Greener Grass discusses Finnish immigration history in United States and how this history could reflect on today’s challenges of immigration. Artist Mari Keski-Korsu...
Lecture: "The Complexity of the War Child Movement from Finland to Sweden (and Denmark) 1939-1946”
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 12:30 - 13:30
Friday, August 12, 2011 - 10:30 - 11:30
Meeting House/Esquire
Lecturer Kai Rosnell, born in 1935 in Eurajoki, Finland, was sent to Sweden from 1942 to 1944 as a war child. He is the Secretary of the War Child Association in Sweden, an organization that helps former war children find their displaced friends or...
Documentary: "Auf Wiedersehen Finland"
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 13:00 - 14:20
Royal Palm Salon 5
“Even if someone condemns you because we left with them, don't harbor hard feelings towards us. I had no choice.”Elma, Roosa, Terttu and Kaisu were among the hundreds of Finnish girls who left Lapland with the retreating German...
Lecture: “Cold War Stories from the Perspective of a US Diplomat in Finland”
Thursday, August 11, 2011 - 14:00 - 15:00
Meeting House/Esquire
Robert A. Mautino presents a diplomat's view of Finland from inside the U.S. Embassy, and reflections on American plans to break diplomatic relations with Finland in April of 1943.
