Rinne, Sulo

Rinne, Sulo

• 1981-08-26 (Creation)

3 file folders
1 photographs
1 sound cassette

This interview was conducted with Sulo Rinne on August 26, 1981. It provides information on family background, emigration, employment, marriage, and return trips to Finland. The interview also contains a newspaper clipping from The Daily Astorian, which includes a photograph of Sulo at Hillcrest School in 1913 and a picture of Sulo at the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in English.

Also see Esther Wiirre Rinne.

Folder Contents

Box 4, File 2 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background, and Tape Index

Box 4, File 2A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background

Box 4, File 2B Photographs and Clippings
One photograph
One clipping

Interviewed by Donna Mallonee
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good

Esther Wiirre Rinne (wife) oral history interview

Biographical Note

Sulo Rinne was born on March 12, 1896 in Pirkkala, Finland to John Rinne and Hilma Lehtinen. Sulo was one of ten children. In 1902, Sulo's father immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Astoria, Oregon, where he worked in the logging camps.

When Sulo was sixteen years old, his father sent him a ticket to America. Sulo lived with his father in Astoria and found work at a logging camp. The language differences initially caused many difficulties for Sulo, but he attended a one-room schoolhouse to learn the English language. Sulo met his wife, Esther, in Astoria and built a home for them in Gearhart, Oregon, near Astoria.

Sulo began fishing in the summer and working at the sawmills during the winter. He also joined Peace Lutheran Church in Astoria and the Finnish Brotherhood. He has returned to Finland three times, but by his last trip, everything had changed. Sulo has no special feelings about his Finnish heritage.

Lineage

Full Name: Sulo John Rinne
Father: John Rinne
Mother: Hilma Lehtinen
Paternal Grandfather: John Stull
Spouse: Esther Wiirre Rinne
Children: One son killed in World War II