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Slovaks in America: part I / Slovaci v Americe: cast 1.

slovakmother2I did couple articles on Czechs in America but how about those Slovaks (many of you might not know that my grandfather was Slovak)? True, those two groups get intermingled quite a bit since we were part of a one country for quite some time (1918-1991). There is fortunately quite a lot of information on this topic. The first Slovak who set his foot on the American soil was Isaac Ferdinand Sarosi, who immigrated in 1695. Isaac served as a teacher and a preacher in a religious colony in Pennsylvania called Germantown and (because of his homesickness??) returned back to Slovakia in 2 years of time.  About 100 years later an army of 300 Slovaks, who called themselves the “Blue Hussars”, came to fight with George Washington’s army in the War for Independence. After the war was over the surviving men settled in Maine.

A large-scale emigration wave from Slovakia  was caused by the cholera epidemic in 1873 and the subsequent crop failures all over the country. This movement was fueled also by coming of industrialization, in which many farmers lost their jobs.

During this unhappy time a world traveler named Daniel Sustek decided to purchase about 80 acres of land in Iowa in a hope to build a new thriving Slovak colony there (the article does not say if in fact his dream was fulfilled).

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In 1886 Jan Slovensky (meaning “John Slovak” in English, that guy could not have a better name) published the first American-Slovak newspaper; its circulation grew up to 30,000 prints a day, which is more than any other Slovak paper of that time had ever reached, even those in Slovakia! Slovensky was a busy Slovak! He also published the first Slovak-English dictionary (Americky tlumac, see the second image) which was most helpful to the Slovak immigrants who barely spoke any English.

CZ: V minulosti jsem napsala o historii Cechu v Americe, ale jak to vlastne bylo se Slovaky? Jak se do Ameriky vubec dostali? Mnoho z vas jeste nevi, ze muj deda byl Slovak a proto mne toto tema zajima….a take jsem konec koncu vyrustala skoro polovinu meho zivota jako Cechoslovacka. Jelikoz tyto dva narody sdilely stejny stat pres 70 let, mnoho informaci o tomto tematu je dosti nejasnych – Cesi a Slovaci byli povazovani v zahranici za jedno. Nicmene, pojdme se venovat onomu tematu. Podle historickych dokumentu se prvni Slovenska dusicka objevila na Americkem kontinentu v roce 1695, presneji to byl pan jmenem Isaac Ferdinand Saros. Isaac slouzil v jedne Pensylvanske kolonii (zvane Germantown) nejen jako kantor, ale take jako pastor. Po dvou letech se mu asi zacalo styskat, a vratil se zpatky do rodne vlasti. O 100 let pozdeji do USA priplula 300-clena armada tzv. Modrych husaru a to aby pomohla Georgovi Washingtonovi vyhrat valku Nezavislosti. Po vitezstvi v bitve zbyli zdravi a zivi vojaci zakotvili v Mainu a to nadozivoti.

Obrovska emigracni vlna ze Slovenska byla zpusobena nestastnou epidemii cholery v roce 1873. Uroda v tomto roce byla velmi chuda a hlad a nemoc vystipali tisice Slovenskych rodin ze sve rodne vlasti. Cele situaci nepomohla take zacinajici inudstrializace cele Evropy, ktera mnohym farmarum ukradla jejich zivobyti primo z ruky. Behem teto doby se do Ameriky take prestehoval sbehly cestovatel Daniel Dusek, ktery se rozhodl v Iowe koupit 80 akru zeme a to aby tam vystavel novou, uspesnou, slovenskou komunitu (clanek se nezminuje o tom, jestli se mu to vubec povedlo).

V roce 1886 pan Jan Slovensky (nemohl mit lepsi jmeno) publikoval prvni Slovensko-Americke noviny, ktere dosahly az 30,000 vytisku denne! Tolik vytisku slovenskych novin se netisklo v teto dobe nikde na svete a to i na samotnem Slovensku! Pan Slovensky byl velmi zamestnany Slovak! Nejen ze tiskl noviny, ale take napsal prvni Slovensko-Anglicky slovnik (Americky tlumac), ktery byl uspesny zejmena u Slovenskych imigrantu hledajicich praci, aniz by umeli slovo anglicky.

Source: http://www.loc.gov/rr/european/imsk/slovakia.html

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12 comments… add one
  • Tom Blaha July 24, 2009, 8:05 am

    I grew up in a heavily Czech ethnic enclave in Cleveland, Ohio in the late ’40’s-early ’50’s. While all my neighbors, grandparents, and parents spoke English, I was prob 10 yrs old before I figured out that ‘Slovak’ was a nationality, because I only ever heard it utttered in the same tone of voice and context as a mild swear word by the grown ups referenced above.

  • Tanja July 24, 2009, 9:58 am

    That’s crazy! But your name is very Czech! Do you have Czech/Slovak ancestors?
    Also, why a ‘swear word’? Did they talk badly about them? And if so, why?

  • Jana V July 24, 2009, 10:42 am

    Probably because of the animosity between the two groups. The slovak side of my family would say put a czech in a bag and throw the bag into the Dunaj.

  • Tanja July 24, 2009, 6:20 pm

    I had no idea there was such animosity…

  • Jana V July 24, 2009, 9:17 pm

    That phrase was used before WW II or after because they expelled any Czech people living in Slovakia when it because a protectorate. My grandfather was a Slovak and my grandmother remembers it. Slovaks would think while the country was still Czechoslovakia that all the money would be centered around Prague and western parts of country and that there was not enough money passed on to the eastern part of the country Moravia and Slovakia. In the movie All my good country/Vsichni dobrí rodáci they call Moravians/Valachs monkeys that swing in trees. Also it was played out in sports, like if a Moravian team plays Sparta Praha or whoever in soccer you know it will be a competitive game.

  • Tanja July 27, 2009, 12:07 am

    I am glad it is not the same way now. Especially for us, Czechs and Slovaks living abroad, we are like a one big family :))

  • Veronika July 31, 2009, 11:10 pm

    I just love the picture that accompanies this post. It makes me realize just how easy I must have it now raising 2 kids…and how hard it must have been for this woman with her 2 kids…in the cold weather….and she still manages to smile!!
    Gosh, I’ve got nothing to complain about, do I?

  • Tanja August 1, 2009, 12:25 am

    I know, totally!! Here we are, getting our xtra hot latte from starbucks, driving everywhere, buying meat and bread everyday…..I would love to know what has happened to her!

  • Renee Katruska August 1, 2009, 3:43 pm

    Hi Tanja! I stumbled across your blog while doing some genealogy research. I love it! My ancestors came over from Poprad and settled in PA..from what I can tell so far…I still have a long way to go! I really like the Slovak/English phrase sheet you posted. Keep the blogs coming!

  • Tanja August 1, 2009, 5:57 pm

    Hi Renee!

    Thank you! I am glad you like my site and you find it useful. Good luck with your research!

  • marian December 3, 2009, 5:03 pm

    hladam pracu byt v usa sme rodina ktora ma zelenu kartu dakujem..

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