The Finnish Socialist Federation () was a language federation of the Socialist Party of America which united Finnish language-speaking immigrants in the United States in a national organization designed to conduct propaganda and education for socialism among their community.
In 1936, in response to a factional split in the Socialist Party which saw the party's moderate wing quit en masse to form the Social Democratic Federation of America, the Finnish Socialist Federation similarly departed to reestablish itself as the Finnish American League for Democracy ().
History
Early Finnish socialist newspapers in America Finnish immigration to the United States was linked to two factors: growing repression of Finnish national autonomy in Tsarist Russia and the need for immigrant labor for the rapidly expanding economy of the United States. Immigrant recruiters were dispatched to Europe to entice people to come to America, where available land was comparatively bountiful and the promises for employment rose. Recruiters were especially active in the Central and Northern European countries. The peak year for Finnish immigration to America was 1902, when 23,152 Finns came to America. The total number of Finns in America by 1920 was estimated at 400,000 — a figure which included the American-born children of immigrants.Työmies Society, Seventieth Anniversary Souvenir Journal: 1903-1973. Superior, WI: Työmies Society, n.d. ; pg. 12. A primary reason for this immigration spike was the Russian Conscription Law of 1901, which provided for the drafting of Finns into the Tsarist army, to which there was massive popular resistance.Paul George Hummasti, Finnish Radicals in Astoria, Oregon, 1904-1940: A Study in Immigrant Socialism. New York: Arno Press, 1979; pg. 8.
In the 1890s, Finnish immigrants in Boston and New York formed the first workingmen's benevolent associations, the Saima Aid Society and the Imatra Society, dedicated to educational and fraternal needs.Michael Karni, "Finnish Americans," in Buhle, et al. (eds.) Encyclopedia of the American Left. First Edition. New York: Garland, 1990; pg. 227. Explicitly socialist propaganda among the Finns dates back to 1899, when a number of independent local organizations emerged, primarily in the Eastern and Midwestern states. Only a fraction of these Finnish clubs were in any way connected with the organized socialist political movement. There was some limited effort made to join with the English-speaking movement, however, with a Finnish branch from Rockford, Massachusetts joining the Social Democratic Party of America on August 24, 1899."A Finnish Branch," Social Democratic Herald [Chicago], vol. 2, no. 12, whole no. 62 (Sept. 9, 1899), pg. 3.
Early 1900, an expelled socialist student from Helsinki, Antero F. Tanner, who was a founding member of the Rockford branch began to issue a Finnish-language newspaper which declared its intention to speak for the poor and exploited. A total of 24 weekly issues were published before Tanner's newspaper was forced to cease publication due to lack of funds. Tanner thereafter went on a national organizing tour in 1901, as did his colleague, Martin Hendrickson. One of the places that Hendrickson pioneered was in the Finnish communities of Minnesota, where the first socialist club, "Jousi" ("Crossbow"), was established in Hancock, Michigan.Karni, "Finnish Americans," pg. 227; Työmies Society, Seventieth Anniversary Souvenir Journal, pg. 18, 22.
In 1903, a satirical, pro-socialist journal called Uusi Meikäläinen ("New Fellow-Countryman") was published in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, by a recent arrival, Urho A. Makinen. Makinen joined with another new Finnish émigré, Antti Tarmo, and others and purchased a small press in Worcester where the American Finnish Workers Publishing Co. was formed. On July 8, 1903, the board of this company began the publication of a workingclass newspaper in the Finnish language, Amerikan Suomalainen Työmies ("American Finnish Worker"). This would emerge as Työmies, the leading Finnish-language newspaper in America. The publication began to appear on July 20, 1903, as a four-page weekly. The first editor of the publication was Vihtori Kosonen who editorialized in the first issue of the publication the fundamental role the paper would play in support of "human dignity and justice for the oppressed peoples." In May 1904, the board decided to move the newspaper to the largest Finnish community in the midwest — Hancock, Michigan.Työmies Society, Seventieth Anniversary Souvenir Journal, pg. 14. Työmies''' first Michigan-produced issue appeared on August 16, 1904, and included the election platform of Socialist Party Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs.
Formation of Independent Branches of the Socialist Party of America Organization of Finns into the Socialist Party of America began on a larger scale in 1902 and 1903. Dozens of Finnish language SPA locals and branches were organized during this period. The Finnish movement remained scattered and weak in these earliest years, however, only gradually coming together as a formal national organization in its own right.J.W. Sarlund, "Report of the Finnish Translator-Secretary to the Socialist Convention, 1912," in John Spargo (ed.), Proceedings: National Convention of the Socialist Party, 1912. (cover title) Chicago: Socialist Party of the United States, n.d. ; pg. 237.
A Convention of independent Finnish groups was held October 3–5, 1904 in Cleveland, Ohio to discuss ways in which the various Finnish branches could better work together. The gathering was attended by 14 delegates, some of whom represented multiple branches. No formal organization resulted from this gathering however, and the approximately 40 branches spread around the United States retained their organizational independence from one another. This body elected a committee of three was elected to confer with the Socialist Party to determine the conditions under which the Finnish Workers Groups might affiliate with the Socialist Party. According to a report from the Socialist Party's fraternal delegate to the gathering, "The consensus of opinion, as I understand, was to have their organizations reorganized as a body, they to adopt our platform and constitution and their locals to fraternize with our locals. They did not care to become identified with our city 'Chicago' or this organization directly."Robert Bandlow, "Report of Representation at Finnish-American Socialists' Convention," Socialist Party Official Bulletin no. 3. Chicago: Socialist Party of America, Nov. 1904; pg. 3.
The Organization of Finnish Socialists (Yhdysvaltain Suomalainen Sosialistijärjestö) In August 1906 another convention of Finnish groups was held, this time at Hibbing, Minnesota. Thirty branches were represented. It was here that plans were laid for a permanent organization, the Organization of Finnish Socialists (Yhdysvaltain Suomalainen Sosialistijärjestö), and a Secretary elected to coordinate the various local organizations and to prepare for the affiliation of this new organization to the Socialist Party of America. The Organization of Finnish Socialists was governed by a 5-member "Executive Board," elected by general referendum vote of the membership. In addition, paralleling the structure of the SPA of the day there was a "General Committee" in which each state was represented according to the number of locals. The group also made use of the referendum vote to solve contentious issues, again closely following the practice of the SPA.
One important innovation created by the 1906 Hibbing Convention was the establishment of the National Finnish Translator's office. Difficulties with rendering English into Finnish for the various local branches and the press caused Finnish groups in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin to hire a regular translator. This experiment proved to be a success and the Hibbing Convention established the position of National Translator, for the benefit of all member branches. Discussion was immediately held with the Socialist Party to have their National Translator work out of the national headquarters of the SPA in Chicago, a move which took effect with its formal affiliation of the Finnish Socialist Organization with the SPA on January 1, 1907. The Federation initially paid for all office fixtures and rent for the Translator's office, as well as the Translator's salary. Effective in May 1908, the Socialist Party began providing free office space to the Finnish Federation. The salary of the Translator-Secretary also began to be covered by the SPA effective October 1910. Victor Watia served as the first National Translator of the Organization of Finnish Socialists.Sarlund, "Report of the Finnish Translator-Secretary to the Socialist Convention, 1912," pg. 237.Watia, "Report of Finnish Translator," in John Work (ed.), National Convention of the Socialist Party Held at Chicago, Illinois, May 10 to 17, 1908: Stenographic Report. Chicago: The Socialist Party, ; pg. 315.
The Hibbing Convention divided the group into three regional districts (alueet) for propaganda and organizational purposes — Eastern, Middle, and Western — each governed by its own seven member District Committee. The three districts each employed a full-time District Organizer, periodically sent out additional special organizers, and published their own daily newspaper — Raivaaja ("The Pioneer") in the Eastern District (circulation over 6,000 in 1912), Työmies ("The Worker") in the Middle District (circulation about 12,000 in 1912), and Toveri ("The Comrade") in the Western District (circulation around 4,000 in 1912). This regional separatism of the Finnish organization's apparatus and press lead over time to ideological differences, with the Eastern District tending towards a more reformist orientation, while the Western and particularly the Central Districts tended towards a more revolutionary perspective.Sarlund, "Report of the Finnish Translator-Secretary to the Socialist Convention, 1912," pg. 238.
Funding of the Finnish Translator's Office was accomplished by the sale of special 5 cent monthly stamps to members of Finnish branches, as well as by dues rebates allowed by some (but not all) SPA state organizations. States allowing rebates in 1908 included Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.Watia, "Report of Finnish Translator," pg. 316.
In addition to the three newspapers previously mentioned, the Finnish socialist movement of the 1910s issued a monthly theoretical-literary magazine called Säkeniä, published in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; a comic bi-weekly called Lapatossu (Hancock, Michigan); a women's paper called Toveritar (Astoria, Oregon), and provided a major source of funding and subscriptions for a paper published in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, called Työkansa.The Finnish Federation was well known for its network of Federation-owned halls located in the major centers of the Finnish-American community. These halls provided facilities for meetings, speeches, and social events such as dances.
The federation made its affairs known through a monthly bulletin launched in March 1911 via the Translator-Secretary's office in Chicago."News from National Socialist Headquarters," The Socialist (Columbus, OH), vol. 1, no. 24 (June 3, 1911), pg. 3. The bulletin, which contained official reports and announcements as well as a summary of membership conditions and activity of Finnish Federation branches, was distributed free in bundles to the various members of the Finnish Federation.