As a service to North American Juntunens, Margaret Smith has agreed to act as the distribution agent for the first volume of the Juntunen Sukukirja covering 1500-1800. The price of the book in the United States will be $90 if purchased in advance. This price covers the book (which is hardbound), shipping from Finland to the US, exchange rate costs, customs charges. The Michigan state sales and US postage is additional. The Michigan sales tax must be collected. The Juntunen Society anticipates that the book will be released in October. Information on ordering the Sukukirja can be obtained by clicking here. We anticipate that the books will become collectors items. An order will be sent to the Juntunen Society October 15, 1998.

Webster's Dictionary defines emigrant as ''a person who leaves a country for life or residence elsewhere''. Immigrant is defined as "One who comes to a country to take up permanent residence.'' By the late 1860's in Finland, economic and political forces pushed Juntunen family members into considering emigration. The Industrial Revolution brought more efficient manufacturing methods requiring less labor and causing unemployment for many people. The development of more productive farming practices resulted in land consolidation and larger farms.

When major crop failures and famine occurred in the late 1860's, landless farm laborers became unemployed and poverty stricken. They were often reduced to a life of begging, plagued by hunger and disease. In many places in Finland, the death rate exceeded the birth rate. Since earliest recorded history, there had existed a climate of social inequality between Finns and their Swedish ruling class; and after 1809, their Russian overlords. Furthermore, the Finnish Lutheran Church exercised stern control over the lives of all Finns. For men, there existed the possibility of compulsory service in the Russian military.

In the US after the Civil War's end, new settlers in western lands benefited from the 1862 Homestead Act. Under its provisions, US citizens or immigrants who began the naturalization process could obtain as much as 160 acres of Federally owned land by building a house and farming a land claim for five years. In Finland, newspaper ads and articles publicized the rich farmland, economic opportunity in forestry and mining, healthful climate, scenic beauty, and social equality available in America.

Many Juntunens immigrated to north central areas of the US where farmland was affordable and still available, and where there were jobs in farming, forestry, and mining to match their skills. Those who were among the first to immigrate helped establish Finnish communities. Their ''America letters'' to Finland encouraged other countrymen to emigrate. From the 1880's through the early decades of the twentieth century, Juntunens were among the increasing numbers of Finns coming to Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Those locations were only some of the many places where Juntunens eventually settled in North America.

It was common for pioneering Juntunen immigrants to send prepaid tickets or funds for tickets to relatives in Finland. Passage to America pulled many Finns from their ancestral homeland. Hopeful Finns seeking their fortune in North America learned of support available in welcoming Finnish communities in various places on their way to new homes or employment. Two or three generations later when Juntunen immigrants were caught up in the process of becoming Americans, correspondence with family and friends in Finland sometimes decreased or ceased. Distance and other factors often broke family ties to Finland. The North American Juntunen project hopes to reestablish connections to roots in Finland.

In September, Visits were made to the following facilities to do research on the Juntunens and related families:

• The Immigration History Research Center of the University of Minnesota
  826 Berry Street,
  St. Paul, Mn 55114
  Phone: 612-627-4208
  Fax: 612-627-4190
  E-Mail: [email protected]
  
• Suomi College
  Finnish-American Historical Archives
  601 Quincy Street
  Hancock, Michigan 49930

Both facilities have extensive collections of Finnish-American materials, books and newspapers.

You may want to sign on to the net and check out the Salolampi Foundation site. Margaret Smith recently attended Salolampi's Fall Adult Program in Bemidji, MN. It was a rewarding experience and excellent preparation for research and/or a trip to Finland