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New book on Duluth lynching of a Finnish dockworker
by Cathy Wurzer, Minnesota Public Radio
September 2, 2004

"Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh" (Courtesy of Cloquet River Press)

St. Paul, Minn. — Until a memorial was unveiled in Duluth last year, not many Minnesotans knew of the tragic story of three young black men, lynched by a mob in the port city back in June of 1920. The men were wrongly accused of raping a white woman.

It is safe to say that, until a new book was released this week, not many Minnesotans knew of another lynching in Duluth's history. The book, "Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh," looks at the death of a Finnish dockworker, whose body was found swinging from a tree in Duluth's Lester Park.

Was the death a suicide or murder? It is a question that author Mark Munger tries to answer. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Munger, a district court judge by day, got the idea for the book, from the Minnesota Public Radio website, where he read about the lynching of the three black circus workers.

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