Finnish Socialist Federation records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: IHRC711

Staff Only

Abstract

Minutes of the Eastern District Committee (Fitchburg, Mass.) (1913-1920) and the National Executive Committee (Chicago, Ill.) (1915-1925) of the Finnish Socialist Federation.

Dates

Creation: 1913-1925

Creator

Finnish Socialist Federation. National Executive Committee (Chicago, Ill.). Eastern District Committee (Fitchburg, Mass.). (Organization)

Language of Materials

Finnish

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

Open for use in the Elmer L. Andersen Library reading room.

OWNERSHIP & LITERARY RIGHTS

This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

HISTORICAL SKETCH

The Finnish Socialist Federation (Suomalainen Sosialistijarjesto) was founded in Hibbing, Minn., in 1906. At its peak, from 1912 to 1914, it had an average membership of 13,000 and was the largest foreign-language federation in the Socialist Party of the United States. The Federation was organized into three districts: the Western, Midwestern, and Eastern. Each had its own newspaper, The Toveri, Tyomies and Raivaaja, respectively.The Federation underwent ideological splits in 1914 and 1920. The former occurred over the issue of industrial unionism; about 39 Midwestern chapters with 3,500 members were expelled or withdrew. The Federation split in 1920 over the question of affiliation with the Third International. The left wing, mostly from the West and Midwest, separated from the Socialist Party and remained independent until 1922 when it affiliated with the Workers Party of America.In 1927 the Finnish chapters of the Workers Party were reorganized into the Finnish Workers Federation. The right wing from the 1920 split founded the Finnish Federation of the Socialist Party of the United States (later the Finnish American League for Democracy).