As I begin to write my research paper I am feverishly reading several sources about Finns in the Upper Peninsula. I have already narrowed by thesis down and will argue that corporate paternalism and their stronghold on the community was the cause of little labor reform during the Progressive Era (1900-1920). When I spoke with the archivist on my trip to Marquette he pointed me into the direction of the Finnish community as the Finns were heavily involved in the Socialist Movement sweeping American labor at this time. The reason for their strong involvement came from their homeland of Finland where the Socialist Movement was the strongest.
When I was done explaining my argument to Marcus (the archivist) he had some reservations on my thesis thus turning me to the Finnish community. He brought up the notion that corporate paternalism had been practiced around the country at this time all the while labor reform was seen as well. Therefore, he has tried to argue that it was the Finns of Marquette County and their opposition to the Socialist Movement that caused a state of 'content' on the Range rather than the Paternalistic policies of the Cleveland-Cliffs Company. Examples of the Finnish radicals progress towards labor reform can be seen during the Copper Country Strike of 1913. This was the strike in which over 70 people died during a Christmas party and was the topic of a song heard in class today. The Finns on the Copper Range accepted the Socialist Movement more so than the Finns on the Iron Ranges. But why is this the case? I don't really know and as much as I would like to research this, I don't know if I will have enough time to do a comparative study of two communities thus, I will stick solely to the Marquette Range.
My argument will be that the lack of labor reform was due to corporate paternalism and will use the Finnish community as a primary example. I will have to touch on the Finnish radicals that were striking in the Keewenaw at this time and argue that the Cleveland-Cliffs Company invested heavily in the community, more so than any other company, and saw positive results as the employees did not seek reform and in the few cases they did, they lost. This case of paternalism and the communities acceptance of it can best be seen by the response of a miner wife in which she stated, "we were satisfied with it." Meaning, they were satisfied with the life they had and the benefits given to them by the mining company.
Now...back to writing!
Have a great Halloween Weekend and Go State!
Wow! It's great that you are able to deal with questions as complex as these! As to the differences between Finns in the copper mines and Finns in the iron mines, I wonder if their interest/opposition to socialism would have anything to do with the wages that they are getting paid or how dangerous their work was. You kind of make me want to change my dissertation topic!
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