Alternative organizations have become increasingly of interest in organizational theory. Previously understudied, these organizations have also been ignored or forgotten in the dominant narratives and spaces of commemoration. This further limits what we know about the past and the potential of alternative organizations. To illustrate this problem, we offer a specific case study of the forgotten alternative organizations and marginalized space of a former Finntown alongside the commemorative narratives and practices of capitalist entrepreneur heritage spaces. Extending organization theory on memory and forgetting, we detail how commemoration not only tends to legitimate capitalist forms of organizing, but also excludes alternatives. Finntowns, with their emphasis on cooperative organizations and community, provide a unique opportunity for organization studies to explore commemoration and forgetting in terms of power relations, time, and space. These marginalized spaces contained alternative organizations coexisting and contrasting with dominant capitalist organizations. Remembering their contributions means taking alternative organizations seriously, acknowledging their historic importance as well as their ability to be models for contemporary organizations.

Social justice and housing issues are clearly an area of concern for sociologists, yet preservation of older homes and buildings may seem to be the very antithesis, evoking images of homes of the nation's elite or neighborhood gentrification by the white upper middle class. Often preserved historic sites do not fully represent members of the community, past or present. Despite increasing efforts at inclusion, marginalization of groups can still be found in the practice of historic preservation. The ideology and practice of preserving chosen heritage sites and buildings and protecting them from destruction or deterioration offer sociologists a unique window into social inequalities. In this article, we explore the intricacies of preserving the buildings and heritage of a former Finntown, a once thriving community of Finnish-American working-class immigrants and now home to a sizable population of Latino working-class immigrants. Inclusive, multilayered historic preservation can be a source of social justice if honoring the past does not sacrifice the needs of marginalized groups in the present.