2023
This year saw the completion and launch of sports from the Giant and the launch of the Trillium Foundation funded Digital Creation and Training Project.
2022
2022 saw the completion of the News from the Giant newsreels and the launch of Journey to our Homeland, a documentary film funded by Matawa First Nations.
Since announcing its launch on October 21, 2022, the Rosies website has received visitors from all over the world, including tens of thousands of visitors within North America.
Launch of Spotlight on Academics January 21-30 – FFLT created the academic film festival, Spotlight on Academics to support ResearchTV in its acquisitions.
June 24-30 – FFLT sponsors the 3rd Annual Virtual Juhannus Celebration Livestream on ResearchTV.
2021
Continuation of the Reel Memories Project with continued production and public presentation of news items from the past. Creation of News from the Giant, a series of newsreels with local news stories from the early 1960s. Community outreach with Thunder Bay Museum to Pioneer Ridge to show News from the Giant vignettes to residents.
Launch of ResearchTV, an online streaming service for educational films.
FFLT received a Thunder bay Foundation Grant for the Rosies of the North Interactive website: www.rosiesofthenorth.ca that showcases oral histories, interviews, biographies, photographs and more of the “Rosies” who built Hawker Hurricanes and Curtiss Helldivers at the Fort William, Ontario Canadian Car and Foundry factory during the Second World War.
Shaw Spotlight airs FFLT 100th anniversary of the Poppy Remembrance Day livestream recording from November 11, 2021.
2020
Launch of Reel Memories, a project using digitized 16mm film footage. This project involved posting clips on Facebook to elicit reactions from the general public, the creation of a series of News Reels using the footage and the ongoing logging of the material for research purposes.
The FFLT also rebuilt the website for the Finnish Canadian Cultural Federation, (www.Finnfestivalcanada.com) and partnered with them to livestream host a virtual celebration of Juhannus with more than 40 virtual participants from Canada, US and Finland and 1300+ viewers during the event.
FFLT partnered with ResearchTV and the and the Thunder Bay Military Museum in July to record and broadcast the 100th anniversary of the poppy ceremony that took place in Waverley Park and The Prince Arthur Hotel.
FFLT partnered with ResearchTV and the Department of History at Lakehead University to provide a virtual Remembrance Day event in honour of the 100th anniversary of the poppy.
2019
The Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple are embarking on new ventures in Canada’s labour and immigration history. We have a number of projects on the go and will continue our work advancing education, the public’s appreciation of the arts and research on the historical and cultural legacy of immigration to Canada.
A major initiative is our support for Finn Festival 2019 which took place in Thunder Bay from June 21-23. We are working with the Finnish Canadian Cultural Federation and a group of community volunteers to celebrate the Finnish fact in Canada. Visit the festival website for more information.
2018
We began the year celebrating our contributions to the publication of Hard Work Conquers All: Building the Finnish Community in Canada, which was published by the University of British Colombia Press. Get your copy today. Click here to find out more about this book.
We also supported a film project that looks at the Lakehead Region during the Great War. “Where the Poppies Grow: The Lakehead at War,” is a 30 minute docudrama that recounts events of the war through the life of Alfred Saxberg, a first generation Finnish-Canadian who fought with the 52nd Battalion. Get your copy today. Click here to find out more about this film and the project.
We also began a project focused on the operations of Canada-Car and Foundry in Fort William during the Second World War. Can-Car labour force provides glimpse at a cross-section of Canada’s immigrant population at the time. Of particular interest are the thousands of women who worked in the factory building airplanes during the war. The outcome will be a book based on the oral histories of many of the men and women who worked in the plant.
The Friends are also supporters of an academic conference held in Thunder Bay in March. The conference looks at immigration to the region as the result of wars abroad. From “Reds” fleeing “White” aggression after Finland’s 1918 Civil War, to the more recent arrival of refugees from Africa and the Middle East, this conference seeks to highlight the struggles of new comers and their contributions to Canadian society.
2017
PROJECT BAY STREET 2017 FINNISH ARTS IN THUNDER BAY
The Friends, in partnership with the Keskipohjalaisten Kerho, (KP Club), and the Lakehead University Department of History, are engaging in an oral history project focused on the history of Finnish community cultural organizations in Thunder Bay. The recordings will be added to our LakeheadFinns website on the history of Finnish-Canadian immigration and settlement. This is an initiative led by Ulla Ahokas of Thunder Bay.
“HARD WORK CONQUERS ALL” FINNISH CANADIAN EXPERIENCES
Is a forthcoming book on Finnish immigration and settlement in Canada edited by Michel S. Beaulieu, David K. Ratz and Ronald N. Harpelle and published by the University of British Columbia Press. The Friends are providing financial support and its board of directors is providing content for a forthcoming commemorative book in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada to Finland and the Finnish-Canadian Society in Helsinki. The book celebrates the contributions of Canadians and Finns to each other’s growth as nations. The book serves to articulate the rich bilateral relationship between Canada and Finland. It consists of short essays on history, immigration and literature. It is now available.
2016
The Friends work with the Finnish Canadian Cultural Organization, Keskipohjalaisten Kerho, (KP Club) and other local organizations support Finn Festival 2016 in June. The Friends were also active in supporting the Vox Popular Media Arts Festival with workshops and the screening of SISU: Family, Love and Perseverance from Finland to America directed by Marko Albrecht and Finnish Blood Swedish Heart directed by Mika Ronkainen. We also completed work on Lakehead Finns: The Working Class 1867-1962, a website in English, Finnish and French dedicated to the immigration and settlement of Finns in Canada.
Finland 100 and Canada 150.
In light of our mission to celebrate and promote the history and cultural legacy of Finnish immigration to Canada through education, research, creation and dissemination, the Friends of the Finnish Labour Temple is currently supporting a number of projects to commemorate Finland’s 100 years of independence and Canada’s 150 years as a nation in 2017. The most enduring historical contributions of the Finnish community in Canada have been in shaping Canadian politics through activism. In addition to their political activities, the Finnish Canadian community has also devoted a great deal of attention to the Arts.
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