Features

Unexpected Connections: St. Scholastica’s Russian Sister School

By Phia Huebner (shuebner@css.edu)

November 22, 2024

As the train pulled into the station in Petrozavodsk, a crowd gathered around the arriving train car. Holding welcoming signs, they greeted the American travelers with warmth and excitement. St. Scholastica’s very own Tom Morgan was stepping off that train at the height of The Cold War. The beautiful Soviet city of Petrozavodsk had just opened its borders to foreigners for the first time in years. Morgan and his friend Brooks Anderson had come to the region of Karelia to extend a hand of friendship during this time of political tension. They felt the government leaders had been at each other’s throats long enough. 

     Karelia is referred to as “the land of 60,000 lakes” and has a rich Finnish culture. There is also a strong mining industry in this region. Due to all these similarities, Morgan and Anderson believed they could connect with the people of this region, as it was incredibly close in nature to Duluth. The connections they would find would be stronger than they could have ever imagined. 

     The welcome delegation on the train platform greeted the travelers with incredible sincerity and near-perfect American accented English. They began asking Morgan and Anderson very specific questions that only someone who had lived in Duluth would have knowledge of, such as asking about Duluth’s famous aerial lift bridge. At this moment, Tom realized that these people in the middle of Soviet Russia were from Duluth. They had stumbled upon a colony of Duluthians. 

     During the 1920s and 1930s, the communist movement was dynamic in Duluth. Morgan, who worked as a journalist during this period, even wrote a story on a Communist rally held downtown. This political culture was supported by Finnish immigrants forced to flee their home country following the failure of a Communist Revolution. Many Finnish communists were forced into exile and made new homes in the United States and Canada. These Finnish immigrants settled in Duluth and the surrounding areas but were disappointed in their American experiences. With the onset of the Great Depression, many Finnish Americans living in Duluth returned to the region of Karelia within the Soviet Union. Some of the people Morgan conversed with after stepping off that train in Petrozavodsk had grown up in Duluth.

     The story spread beyond Duluth and Petrozavodsk, when Morgan’s article A lost colony of Duluthians in Russia was published in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and PBS. During the height of the Cold War, the American people needed a reminder that Russia was a nation of people. People we could connect with in unexpected ways. 

     Morgan made several trips back to Karelia, building relationships, and planting the seed for the future exchange-programs and language camps at St. Scholastica. These plans began to take shape when Morgan participated in a teacher-exchange program at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where he was employed at the time. Morgan was teaching a Russian language course at UMD, and he was partnered with Volodya Prozorov, the head of the English Department at the Karelian Pedagogical Institute in Petrozavodsk. 

     As they continued to work together, they came up with the idea for a Russian language camp here in Minnesota, writing out the (somewhat rocky) details on a napkin. It was unclear if UMD would sponsor a program like this, but Morgan’s opportunity came when he was hired to spearhead the Peace Studies Program and the Russian Studies program at the College of St. Scholastica.       

    In 1990, Morgan recruited around 20 students for a study-abroad program to the Karelian Pedagogical Institute in Petrozavodsk, Russia. They spent five weeks living in dormitories on campus, going to classes, and being completely immersed in Russian language and culture. They even traveled to St. Petersburg and Moscow, two of Russia’s largest cities. The following summer, students from the Karelian Pedagogical institute came to St. Scholastica with Prozorov. These Russian students attended English classes, played baseball, went to Valleyfair, and experienced as many American things as possible. Of course the Russian students received a true Duluth experience as well, visiting iconic places like Grandma’s and Canal Park. These exchange camps alternated each summer, with CSS students going to Petrozavodsk in 1990 and KPI students traveling to Duluth in 1991. This continued for decades. 

     These programs were upheld by the friendship between Morgan and Prozorov, and their vision of cross-cultural friendship and connection was being realized through these exchange experiences. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, these Russian language camps have ceased. Morgan expressed the difficulties and dangers of traveling to Russia now, and how it simply isn’t safe. 

     However, the connections between Duluth and Petrozavodsk have not ceased in the face of these challenges. Currently, Duluth Sister Cities International lists Petrozavodsk as a sister city. The goal of this organization is to strive for global understanding by “connecting communities, strengthening relationships and creating international partnerships”. This organization strives to maintain connections between Duluth and its sister cities through exchanges of students, music, dance, art, and other collaborative programs. 

     Morgan emphasizes the importance of a global worldview. This can be done by participating in exchanges, learning another language, and being immersed in another culture. “Russian culture is pretty impressive, ” Morgan stated when asked why it's important to continue the study of Russia and foster a global worldview in general. “The best novels of the 19th century are Russian.” Morgan has since retired from CSS, but occasionally teaches a few courses when asked. The Russian program has been canceled, and while he understands why, it concerns Morgan. He worries that the American worldview is shrinking. Language and culture programs are being cut left and right, which provides fewer opportunities for students to expand their worldview through education. Students have proven to no longer be as interested in learning a new language or immersing themselves in a different culture, which leads to these valuable programs being cut.