I am looking for information on a church camp that operated in
Michigan's upper pennisula from the early 1900s to sometime in the
1970s. Ultimately I am looking for photos, ads, stories about the
camp, but I don't know where to begin. For this question what I am
asking for is leads to contact to find the aforementioned articles. 
The information I have is the name - Manakiki Lutheran Bible Camp,
Michigan Conference - Suomi Synod.  The address is on Big Lake
Manistique, McMillan, MI. Which is located in Luce County.

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 08 Nov 2002 16:45 PST

nolan - 

I have found a reference to an archive of documents that includes
Suomi Synod historical material, including a box labelled "SS Michigan
Conference Bible Camp."  The archive is located at Finlandia
University in Hancock, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula.

I am not posting this as an answer at this time because I have found
nothing that dates the contents of this box, identifies this camp as
"Manakiki Lutheran Bible Camp" or locates it on Big Lake Manistique.

I would be happy to follow up for you with Finlandia University by
e-mail or telephone (presumably during business hours next Monday).

However, if, based on what you already know, you think this lead is a
fully sufficient response to your question and you would prefer to
contact the University yourself, I will recast this clarification
request as an answer, supplementing it with links, contact information
and search strategy.

Either way, I hope you find what you are looking for.

markj-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 11 Nov 2002 14:48 PST

nolan --

As promised, I have e-mailed the director of the Finnish-American
Heritage Center at Finlandia University for information on the
archived box described in my previous clarification request and for
any further leads he can provide to you about the camp.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by nolan-ga on 11 Nov 2002 16:14 PST

I am IMPRESSED! I posted my question on Friday and I headed out of
town. Back on Monday and I can't belive what you've found.  I'm sorry
I wasn't able to respond earler. I'm not positive where to go from
here.  I am guessing we wait and see the response and then we will
know if it is a successful lead or a dead end. Thank you

nolan --

I now have material that I believe is fully responsive to your request
for leads to information about Manakiki camp.  Here is the substance
of an e-mail that I just received from an employee of the
Finnish-American Heritage Center in Hancock, Michigan:

"Yes, Manakiki Bible Camp was located on Big Manistique Lake, McMillan
in Luce County, Michigan and was operated by the Michigan Conference
Lutheran Suomi Synod. I have pulled Manuscript Box A-50, which
contains SS Michigan Conference Bible Camp materials from Fortune Lake
Bible Camp (Crystal Falls) and Manakiki Bible Camp (McMillan).

"Here is a general list of what the box contains for Manakiki:
-Bills & receipts
-Registrations
-Financial records
-Constitution
-Miscellaneous

"It is the Miscellaneous file that I will have to go through to see if
there are any ads, photos, or stories about the camp. I also found a
road map of the area, a letter dated March 31, 1959 written to SS
Michigan Conference Congregations with an inventory/needs list for the
camp.  I did a cursory glance through our photo collection, but did
not find any photos of this camp.

"I will check into a few other publications and search for other leads
on the camp. Please have this patron contact me directly and I will do
what I can to help them."

_____________________

The Heritage Center has been very cooperative so far, and I am sure
that they would be happy to work with you to uncover additional
information about the camp by using their own records directly and by
using them to lead you to other sources.

Since Google Answers has a policy against posting a source's personal
information, I refer you to the following link to the on-line
directory of Finlandia University. The contact information listed
under "Staff" includes the director of the Finnish-American Heritage
Center and, two entries above his listing, an Archivist Assistant:
http://www.finlandia.edu/directory.html 

I have been in touch with both of them, and the Archivist Assistant
wrote the helpful e-mail above volunteering to assist you further.  If
you have any difficulty reaching either individual, please post an
answer clarification request, and I will help.

Here are some other links that might be of interest to you:

Page from Finnish-American Historical Archives Manuscript Carton List
that contains the carton labeled "SS Michigan Conference Bible Camp"
http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/emi3clb2e.htm

Finlandia Univerity Home Page
http://www.finlandia.edu/fahc.html

Genealogy Today: Autaja.  A discussion of old Finnish-American
periodicals, along with a reference to the Finnish-American Heritage
Society archives and archivist.
http://www.genealogia.fi/emi/emi3clb2e.htm

Western U.P. News: A picture and description of the Finnish-American
Heritage Center
http://www.newsupnorth.com/cgi-bin/heritagepr.pl?itemid=finnish

Search Strategy:
"suomi synod" camp michigan
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22suomi+synod%22+camp+Michigan

"Finlandia University"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22Finlandia+University%22

"Finnish-American Heritage Center"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22Finnish%2DAmerican+Historical+Archives%22

E-mail correspondence with Finnish-American Heritage Center officials


I certainly enjoyed working on your project.  If any of the above
needs clarification, just let me know.

markj-ga

Thank you so much! I would have never found this information/source on my own!