Ceremony at Italian Hall During FinnFest

This photo of the Italian Hall memorial arch was taken in 2010. The narrative sign in the background was recently updated to provide more historical information as well as remove some misinformation that was previously on the sign. (Photo courtesy of Lindsay Hiltunen, 2010)

As part of a contribution for FinnFest 2013, the Keweenaw National Historical Park held a commemorative ceremony at the Italian Hall memorial site last Thursday.  Larry Lankton, professor emeritus of Michigan Technological University, discussed the history of the 1913 Italian Hall tragedy and Pertti Torstila, the Finnish secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke of the Finnish connection to Italian Hall.  Many of those who perished on that fateful Christmas Eve in 2013 were Finnish.

For a small write-up about the ceremony, please visit the full article on the Daily Mining Gazette’s website.  Also, in the coming months I will be providing information about the centennial commemoration of the Italian Hall Tragedy, which will be taking place on Christmas Eve.  As that information becomes available I will post it here.