Finnish immigrant Maggie Walz built a 1,000-person colony in Michigan

Maggie Walz, born Margareeta Johanna Konttra Niiranen in Tornio, Finland in 1861, arrived in the US at age 20 with only $7. According to the National Park Service (NPS), she began as a domestic servant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, learned English in night school, and later sold sewing machines and pianos door-to-door.

Walz challenged gender norms by becoming an independent businesswoman, publisher of the Naisten Lehti (Women's Paper), and business manager for the Amerikan Suometar. In 1902, she built the Walz Block in Calumet. She filed a Homestead Act claim in 1903 for 160 acres on Drummond Island, founding a Finnish colony that grew to 1,000 people.

Walz also helped Finnish women immigrate by underwriting their passage and teaching them English. She attempted to start a women's suffrage organisation in 1888 and formed the Calumet Finnish Women's Society in 1894, which later became a national body.