School: The Source of Americanisation
Finnish-American families became aware of the policy of Americanisation at the latest when their children attended school. The American school system played an important role in civic education and in treasuring the Star-Spangled Banner, American history, society, and (the English) language.
Compulsory attendance acts were enacted in the 1870s and 1880s in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, as in many other states, and the elementary school system reached the whole age group, including immigrant children. As a hierarchical and cultural institute, the school had the power and opportunity to guide every child to become an American. Its aim was to raise commitment and loyalty towards the nation state; teach children to read, write, and participate in social activities as citizens; and to impart modern transferable skills for industrial working life. Below, I examine Helmi’s and Mayme’s memoirs to determine what kinds of marks and meanings the policy of Americanisation practiced at school left on them and how their families reacted to American civic education.Generally, Finnish Americans were pleased that their children had the opportunity to study and acquire basic societal skills for the future. It was quite usual that Finns were among the best students, and a remarkable number of them continued their studies to high school. The first-generation immigrants brought their faith in education with them from Finland; studying and education were highly appreciated but not available to all in the old home country, even though church confirmation schools guaranteed literacy. For Finnish immigrants, the American school system offered opportunities and represented modern society and social mobility. Education was seen as the route into American society and a means to a better future (see Introduction, this volume; Kero 1997; Karni 1995, 101–105; Kivisto 1995, 125).
For example, many young Finnish-American women educated themselves as teachers; Mayme’s aunt attended teacher-training college in Superior in the 1920s (Sevander and Hertzel [1992] 2004, 13).Helmi received varied signals regarding education at home; the older generation saw it as important for national identity but useless in terms of social mobility for women and the lower strata. Helmi’s grandfather reminded the children that education was valued in Finland and everyone had to learn to read by the age of fourteen—that is, before their church confirmation. He underlined that ‘learning to read was one way we could stay Finns when we were under the thumb of Sweden all those years, and then under Russia’. Helmi’s father had wanted to study business at Valparaiso College, but he had to give up his dreams and earn a living after starting a family. Later he thought that reading a lot would ruin his children’s eyes and that the children were taught a lot of useless junk at high school. Due to the family’s poor economic circumstances, Helmi’s father announced the day before the start of high school that Victor, his oldest son, could not continue his studies; Victor instead would have to help on the farm and with logging. Victor and his father argued; Victor shouted that he wanted to study to become more than ‘a shit-shoveller’, but his father answered very harshly that ‘Meikäläiset [Our sort] can’t be engineers’ (Hiltunen Biesanz 1989, 97). Later, Victor encouraged Helmi to study, saying that it would help her to move forward in life. Helmi agreed and dreamed of being the top student on her graduation day, going to high school, meeting new friends (non-Finns), and becoming more American (Hiltunen Biesanz 1989, 7–8, 42).
Helmi’s school was a typical rural, one-room schoolhouse with four classes of twenty pupils; most of them were Finnish Americans. Patriotism was supported in many ways, and gendered attitudes were common. Every morning started with the Pledge of Allegiance.
When the county superintendent of schools visited, he wanted to test whether the children knew in what country, state, and county they lived. He also asked some nationally orientated questions and after getting the right answers, he recited emphatically that the USA:[I]s the best country in the world, with liberty and justice for all…. If you work hard and save your pennies, you can succeed in life and be anything you want. You boys may even get to be President! Study hard now!
(Hiltunen Biesanz 1989, 30–31)
Usually, second-generation Finnish Americans could not speak English when they entered school. The American school system aimed to unify people culturally and societally, and a common language was a tool in that process. English was the only language used in public schools, even during recess. Immigrant children felt embarrassment because of their poor English skills, and some were punished or bullied by teachers or other students. Nevertheless, most learned English by Christmas (Jarvenpa 1992). Helmi’s teacher, Ms Nikkinen, had a Finnish background like most of the students, but they spoke only English. Having a teacher with a Finnish background made the children glad because sometimes ‘other-tongued teachers made us feel stupid and inferior, and chided those who spoke with a Finnish brogue’ (Hiltunen Biesanz 1989, 99).
Mayme’s educational future was clear; she knew very early that she would go to college some day. Her parents encouraged their children to study, but Mayme was by nature very curious and eager to learn. She loved books, and there were dozens of them at home, such as a collection of the works of Marx and Lenin and the Gems of the World’s Best Classics. Mayme’s father used to read, write, and study in the evenings while her mother darned socks and her elder brother played the violin. Her father did not allow Mayme to read pulp fiction or other ‘trash’ and threw such works into the stove if he found them. The language was not a problem for Mayme; she had learned English with her father, who insisted the children speak perfect English with him and each other, even after moving to Soviet Karelia (Sevander and Hertzel [1992] 2004, 14–15).
In Harlem, New York, she and her brother went to a black school because it was nearer to their home than the white school. Ideologically it was an easy choice because, as Mayme put it, ‘as communists, we didn’t believe in segregation or discrimination’. The Corgan siblings were the only white students in their classes. It is interesting that Mayme did not mention any negative memories of school. She had certainly adopted the education-orientated values of her parents. She especially admired her father; he took Mayme to meetings and rallies and let her spend time at his office after school. He even taught her to type, file, and keep records in New York, and Mayme was delighted to help him. They were a team; the Evening Telegram of Superior even referred to then as the Big Red and the Little Red after a communist rally in which both had given a presentation (Sevander and Hertzel [1992] 2004, 22, 26).
The American school system integrated and bound immigrant children tightly to American society by giving them social capital suitable for the American way of life. It managed to diminish their ethnic cohesion and divide Finnish-American generations culturally (Kivisto 1995, 125–126; Jarvenpa 1982). At the same time, Americanisation in schools made it unintentionally visible that immigrant children were not accepted as such—they were others. How the children reacted to their ethnic background depended on their families and communities; some tried to hide it, while others were proud and did not problematise it at all.