Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtinen and Lempi Ikävalko, IHRCA
The Migration Institute of Finland and the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) have collaborated to digitally connect the archives of Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtinen. In this webinar, the project team will introduce the collaboration and the connected and newly digitized Lehtinen collections.
Please register by April 15 to receive the Zoom link.
Register by April 15Ellen Engseth, Curator, Immigration History Research Center Archives and Head, Migration and Social Services Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries
Jarno Heinilä, Archivist, Migration Institute of Finland
Daniel Necas, Archivist, Immigration History Research Center Archives
Samira Saramo, Senior Research Fellow and Acting Research Director, Migration Institute of Finland
Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtinen (1892–1995) immigrated to the United States in 1912. Lehtinen became a successful entrepreneur and was active in U.S.-Finnish organizational life. Additionally, he was a patron of Finnish-American research and culture, and he donated much of his wealth to Finnish and American organizations in his later years. One of his largest donations was a donation of $100,000 USD to the Migration Institute of Finland in 1982, which became the Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtinen Fund. The Lehtinen Fund continues to be distributed annually through the Migration Institute, to support research on Finnish migration, especially to North America. Kaarle Lehtinen also made a donation to the IHRCA at the University of Minnesota to support their work in Finnish archival collections. The archival collaboration has also highlighted the role of Finnish journalist, poet, and performer Lempi Ikävalko in facilitating her longtime friend and correspondent Kaarle Hjalmar Lehtinen’s philanthropy.
What: Connecting Collections: A Finnish-U.S. Archival Collaboration
Where: Thursday, April 16, 2026, 10-11 a.m. Central Time
Where: ONLINE ONLY | Please register by April 15 to receive the Zoom link
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