A Middle Way: The Co-operative Central Exchange and Consumer Co-operatives in the Central Upper Peninsula
Hunter Laing, Digital Preservationist, Motown Museum
Thursday, May 29, 2025, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, and 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Room 202
At the center of the Co-operative Movement was the Central Co-operative Exchange (CCE), a Finnish-immigrant-led organization based in Superior, Wisconsin. The CCE distributed both food and thoughts to a network of co-operative stores across Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. By the time the CCE was established in 1917, industrial cities across the region had already been dabbling in consumer co-operatives. These co-ops were involved in more than just selling food – they have been active in local politics, aiding strikers, advocating for food safety, supporting immigrants, and fostering communities. Come learn how the CCE and co-ops fought against injustices faced by the working class while offering consumers an option between traditional capitalist stores and a socialized economy.
About the Central Cooperative Exchange
The Co-operative Central Exchange (CCE) was established by Finnish-Americans and Finnish Immigrants in Superior, Wisconsin. Later called the Co-operative Central Wholesale, the CCE was the distribution hub for most of the Upper Great Lakes Region’s co-ops. The organization was established in June of 1917 when sixteen different Finnish co-operative stores met at a conference in Superior to make plans to establish a wholesale society to distribute goods to its member organizations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The CCE assisted active co-ops and helped furnish new co-ops that had purchased at least one $100 share in the CCE. At its height, the CCE had stores in 65 communities, supplying goods to approximately 20,000 members.
About Hunter
Hunter Laing is the digital preservation specialist at the Motown Museum. He was born in the Upper Peninsula and spent the first 10 years of his life in Northeastern Wisconsin before moving to the town of his birth, Iron Mountain, Michigan. He has a bachelor’s in History from Northern Michigan University and a master’s in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. His research is primarily related to working class histories, with specific emphasis on immigrant leftists in the Great Lakes Region.