Text: Sara Janes, Lakehead University Archivist
In late 2024, an unexpected gift of a plastic bag full of documents was given to the Lakehead University Archives. At first glance, the papers were old, in poor condition, and primarily in Finnish. As we looked more closely, it became clear that these were records created or kept by the notable feminist and socialist organizer Sanna Kannasto.
The records had been found by the new owner of a rural property in the North Branch area near Thunder Bay, where they had been tucked away in a small outbuilding. Many of the papers had been chewed on by rodents. The minutes and correspondence date from 1930 and 1931, years near the end of Kannasto’s career as an organizer, as she had been harassed by police for her work with the Finnish Organization of Canada (FOC).
Some of her writings are kept by Library and Archives Canada within the Finnish Organization of Canada fonds. Varpu Lindstrom writes in Defiant Sisters: A Social History of Finnish Immigrant Women in Canada “She reported that she burnt her correspondence because of her fear of the police. Later, when she had been forced to retire from politics, more of her files were destroyed.”
The 21 documents found in North Branch, as a rare survival, have been preserved by the Lakehead University Archives, and have also been scanned for digital access. They include minutes of the District 6 Työläisnaisliitto (presumably of the FOC), correspondence regarding the North Branch FOC Hall, and bulletins received from other labour organizations.
The Finnish Organization of Canada
The Finnish Organization of Canada (FOC) / Kanadan Suomalainen Järjestö was founded in 1911 as the Finnish Socialist Organization of Canada. Kannasto was one of the founders.
The Organization published the newspapers Työkansa and Vapaus, supported literary and sports endeavours, and was associated at times with the Communist Party and major unions. Declared illegal by the Government of Canada in 1918 and 1940, the Organization transformed many times over the decades.
Evidence of Kannasto’s Continued Work
As information only, these new records don’t tell us much, but as the best archival collections do, they provide us evidence. With this new collection, there is evidence that Kannasto continued her work with the FOC at least into 1931. We also learn that as an organizer, seemingly trivial matters also occupied her time. For example, the documents show that she needed to monitor the use of the local FOC hall and its cleanliness. One could ask if the same was true for male, socialist leaders. Were they also weighed down by such matters?
The discovery of this collection, is also an indication that documents like these, needed to be hidden. Kannasto feared searches of her home, likely by the RCMP, which had concerned itself with her work since at least 1920. In this instance, by tucking these documents away where they would not be easily found, she made possible their survival to the present day.
Sanna Kannasto’s Life
Sanna Kannasto (1878-1968) migrated to the United States in 1899, and to Port Arthur by 1907. As a paid organizer, she travelled across Canada and visited many small communities, speaking to women and men and encouraging both to join the Socialist Party, and later the Finnish Organization of Canada. After leaving this work she maintained a rural homestead in the Thunder Bay District.
These records, and many others, can be consulted at the Lakehead University Archives in Thunder Bay.
Read the article in Finnish here.
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