TALLINNA ÜLIKOOL HUMANITAARTEADUSTE DISSERTATSIOONID TALLINN UNIVERSITY DISSERTATIONS ON HUMANITIES 47 1 2 MAARJA MERIVOO-PARRO PURSUING ESTONIANNESS IN COLD WAR U.S.A.: EDUCATION, RECREATION, HUMOR AND OVERLAPPING DIASPORIC CONDITIONS Tallinn 2018 3 TALLINNA ÜLIKOOL HUMANITAARTEADUSTE DISSERTATSIOONID TALLINN UNIVERSITY DISSERTATIONS ON HUMANITIES 47 Maarja Merivoo-Parro PURSUING ESTONIANNESS IN COLD WAR U.S.A.: EDUCATION, RECREATION, HUMOR AND OVERLAPPING DIASPORIC CONDITIONS School of Humanities, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia The dissertation was accepted for the defence of the degree of Doctor Philosophia in History by the Doctoral Committee of Humanities of Tallinn University on September 19th, 2018. Supervisors: Aivar Jürgenson, PhD, senior researcher at Tallinn University Karsten Brüggemann, PhD, professor at Tallinn University Oponents: Kaja Kumer-Haukanõmm, PhD Guntis Šmidchens, PhD, professor at the University of Washington The defence will take place on December 17th, 2018 at 11 o’clock at Tallinn University’s room M-648, Uus-Sadama st 5, Tallinn. This research was supported by the Fulbright Program, The Fund For American Studies, Immigration History Research Center & Archives, Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, Estonian Students Fund in the USA, Inc., European Social Fund’s Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa, Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, Research Fund of the Tallinn University School of Humanities, Yale University, Stanford University, Estonian Research Council Grant project ETF9066, Latvian State Scholarship Fund. Copyright: Maarja Merivoo-Parro, 2018 Copyright: Tallinn University, 2018 ISSN: 1736-5031 (pdf) ISBN: 978-9949-29-431-2 (pdf) Tallinna Ülikool Narva mnt 25 10120 Tallinn www.tlu.ee 4 CONTENTS LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ..................................................................................................... 6 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................... 10 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 12 1. ESTONIANS IN AMERICA: HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY ............................ 18 1.1. Origins of the diaspora ............................................................................................... 18 1.2. Getting organized and diving into politics ................................................................. 21 1.3. Efforts to consolidate during the interwar period ....................................................... 24 1.4. From World War II to the end of the Cold War ......................................................... 27 2. EXILED ESTONIAN IDENTITY FORMATION ............................................................ 32 2.1. From escape to emigration ......................................................................................... 32 2.2. New life in the new world .......................................................................................... 35 3. DATA AND METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 46 3.1. Archival sources ......................................................................................................... 46 3.2. Participant observation ............................................................................................... 49 3.3. Oral history ................................................................................................................ 50 4. OVERVIEW OF ARTICLES ............................................................................................ 55 KOKKUVÕTE ...................................................................................................................... 59 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 62 PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................................................. 69 I. Pagulus kui naljaasi ....................................................................................................... 71 II. Estonian by Education: Estonian Supplemental Schools in Cold War America .......... 89 III. Estonian by Recreation: Forging Ethnic Imagination through Communal Experience in Urban, Rural and Musical Spaces ............................................................ 123 IV. Claiming Ethnicity in Overlapping Diasporic Conditions: Estonian Americans and Academic Mobility During the Cold War ................................................................ 147 ELULOOKIRJELDUS ........................................................................................................ 168 CURRICULUM VITAE ...................................................................................................... 169 5 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS The research component of the dissertation comprises of the following four papers, referred to in the analytical segment by Roman numerals: I. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2012). Pagulus kui naljaasi. (Exile as a laughing matter). Mäetagused, 50, 159–174. II. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2017). Estonian by Education: Estonian Supplemental Schools in Cold War America. Forschungen zur baltischen Geschichte, 220–250. III. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2018) Estonian by Recreation: Forging Ethnic Imagination through Communal Experience in Urban, Rural and Musical Spaces. Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, 67 (3), 375–396. IV. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2015). Claiming Ethnicity in Overlapping Diasporic Conditions: Estonian Americans and Academic Mobility During the Cold War. Acta Historica Tallinnensia, 21 (1), 106–124. Publications related to the dissertation Merivoo-Parro, Maarja; Jürisson, Sander (2018) (forthcoming). Eestlased Ameerikates. Tallinn: MTÜ Eesti Diasporaa Akadeemia. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2017). Kiirkohtingud õõnestajatega. Vikerkaar, 4–5, 79–89. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2015). Esto-Muusika. Ulgu-Eesti leviplaadid 1958–1988. Tallinn: Mortimer Snerd. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja; Jürisson, Sander (2014). Mis teha − siin ta on. Pagulase elu piltides. Saateks. Jõe-Cannon, Ilvi (Ed.). (5−20). Tallinn: MTÜ Eesti Diasporaa Akadeemia. Brüggemann, K.; Merivoo-Parro, M. (2013). Chormusik, Patriotischer Rock und ein bisschen Punk. Estlands "Singende Revolution". Paul, Gerhard; Schock, Ralph. Der Sound des Jahrhunderts. Geräusche, Töne, Stimmen 1889 bis heute (512−517). Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2013). Oral History as Source and Methodology: Aspects of Multidirectional Communication. Mutvārdu vēsture: dialogs ar sabiedrību; Oral History: Dialogue with Society: Mutvārdu vēsture: dialogs ar sabiedrību; Oral History: Dialog with Society, Riia, 29.– 30. märts 2012. Ed. Ieva Garda-Rozenberga. University of Latvia, 77−82. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2011). New Yorgi Eesti Haridusselts ja pagulased. Acta Historica Tallinnensia, 17, 110−123. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja; Sillart, Lea (2010). Viido Polikarpus: "I grew up with Estonia as Never Never Land". In: Kistemaker, Renée E.; Tietmeyer, Elisabeth (Ed.). Entrepreneurial Cultures in Europe. (68−71). Berliin: Verein der Freunde des Museums Europäischer Kulturen. Merivoo-Parro, Maarja (2008). Eklektika. Eesti kunst laias maailmas. Tallinn: Eesti Kunstnike Koondis Torontos, Tallinna Linnamuuseum. 6 ABSTRACT After serfdom was abolished in the nineteenth century, Estonians have lived through a number of voluntary and forced migrations that resulted in a global diaspora with a rich and varied cultural landscape. The single largest exodus took place during the Second World War with more than a tenth of the population either fleeing Westward or being deported to Siberia. This dissertation seeks to create a pathway into the hidden underbelly of performing Estonianness in exile by dealing with how being Estonian was experienced and expressed in Cold War America. It touches upon several “soft” topics such as humor, music, education, recreation and mobility that together create a vantage point onto the ever elusive notion of mentality. When meaningful statements can be made, Estonian actions and reactions are interpreted in a wider American context and occasionally juxtaposed with other, not just Baltic diaspora cultures. A large part of the people whom this study revolves around belong to the second generation (who were either born in exile or were minors during the exodus) and thus had little or no personal memories of Estonia-proper — it can be argued that for them homeland was an imaginary entity. In order to create a meaningful imagination, the elders organized various activities which can be perceived as not only a competition for young people’s time but also for their attention, both of which are limited resources. The exile community did not shy away from using economic and social capital to forge into being a seemingly endless cycle of national awakenings to be performed by the up and coming generation(s). An ethnic awareness and national consciousness were to be expected from all community members and thus exile Estonian patriotism began to resemble a secular religion transforming the Estonian Houses into temples of sort and alienating those who didn’t wholly agree with the consensus. In general discourse, these freewheeling nonaligned individuals and