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HANCOCK -- In honor of Hancock's designation as the 2026 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture, Copper Country Finns & Friends invites the public to a talk about Estonia and its Singing Revolution, which brought the Estonian people out of the grips of the Soviet Union. According to a press relesse from the Finlandia Foundation National the program will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock. The program is open to the public.
The presenter, Marianne Brokaw, was born in Germany after the war. Her parents had escaped the Soviet takeover of Estonia. Her family immigrated to Marquette, Michigan, in 1949 when Marianne was 2-1/2 years old.
Marianne and her husband Alan moved to the Copper Country in 1975 to work and study at Michigan Tech, where she was an editor and researcher. The Brokaws have been involved in Estonian cultural activities for many years. Marianne will speak about contemporary Estonian history, especially through the lens of own experiences.
Marianne is fluent in both Estonian and English. The Brokaws have traveled to Estonia extensively since 1971 and owned an apartment in Tartu, Estonia, where they would often spend summers.