The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | A University Without Walls [Helmi Mattson Autobiography] |
| Author | Mattson, Helmi |
| Date | 1890-1974 |
| Document Type | Personal Account |
| Reference | IHRC1513, Box 1, Folder 1 |
| Library / Archive | Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota |
| Collection Name | Mattson, Helmi Dagmar, 1890-1974 Papers |
| Description | Helmi Mattson's Finnish autobiography on her experiences as a Finnish immigrant in Canada and the US. |
| Biographical Note / History | Helmi Dagmar Lampila-Mattson was born in Multia, Finland on 20 December 1890. Her childhood was spent in both Multia and Tampere where her father owned a store. She attended a business college in Helsinki and a home economics school in Tampere before emigrating to Canada in 1911. Her brother had emigrated to Manitoba in 1910 and she joined him there, finding work as a maid in a private home. In 1913 she was married to William Mattson, whom she had met the year before, and the couple settled in International Falls, Minnesota. It was during this time that Helmi began contributing poems and then serialized novels to the Toveritar newspaper in Astoria, Oregon. The Toveritar was the Finnish Socialist Federation’s women’s newspaper, an early advocate of woman’s suffrage patterned after the English language paper, The Progressive Woman. After serving as an extremely prolific contributor for nearly seven years, Helmi Mattson was asked to assume the editorship of the newspaper in 1920. She accepted and became editor in May of that year. In addition to the editing of the paper, she also had charge of children’s publications, the Christmas and Spring annuals, and, her largest side task, the editing of the 10-year anniversary publication, the Toveritar Kymmenenvuotias. In 1921, after editing the paper for two years, Helmi Mattson was replaced as editor by a recent arrival from Finland, who, it was felt, would give the newspaper a stronger political emphasis. The Mattson’s returned to Minnesota, settling in Cloquet, but after a year a new request came to Helmi from Astoria. The Toveri newspaper badly needed a translator and editor for its foreign news. In 1924 the Mattson’s returned to Astoria. After three years, the editor’s position on the Toveritar again became vacant when the editor left for the Soviet Karelia, and Helmi Mattson resumed the editorship of the women’s newspaper. In 1930 after the Toveritar as well as the Toveri ceased publication, the Mattson’s moved to New York City. On arriving in New York, Helmi Mattson went to work for the bookstore operated by the Eteenpain newspaper. Here her duties included reviewing books for the newspaper and occasionally translating them into English. Shortly thereafter she became a part of the newspaper staff. She had charge of proof reading and correcting letters from readers. During the eight years spent in New York, Helmi took an active part in the Finnish Worker’s Federation Theatrical Guild. She became curator of the Guild’s library of plays, a job where her duties included having charge of new acquisitions. It was during this time that she adapted Hall Caine’s The Eternal City into the play Tiberin Rannalla and wrote Sumusaarella as well as Petolinnun Kynsissa plus many shorter, comic plays. It was at this same time that Helmi went on a speaking tour for a nationwide Finnish women’s organization, the Naisten Kansallinen Komitea (Women’s National Committee) which had clubs throughout the country that promoted assistance for the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War. The tour was scheduled to take only a few weeks but lasted for two months. During the time she spent in Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago, she lost her position at the Eteenpain and the Theatre Guild. The Mattsons, both unemployed, lived off their savings for three months and then returned to the West Coast, settling in Kelso, Washington. It was here that Helmi Mattson spent the rest of her life. |
| Theme(s) | Permanent Settlement and Successive Generations |
| Country (from) | Finland |
| Country (to) | United States of America |
| Nationality | Finnish; European |
| Keywords | female emigration, imemigrant |
| Additional Information | Please note: Some of the metadata for this document has been taken from the Immigration History Research Center Archives catalogue. |
| Catalogue Link | Immigration History Research Center Archives Catalogue |
| Language | Finnish |
| Copyright | Copyright ownership in these materials is governed by US and international laws. The Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) holds the original objects from which these copies were made, but does not claim copyright ownership in the originals or scanned reproductions. The IHRCA welcomes additional information about the originals. |
