Fraternity-Testvériség, 1994 (72. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1994-10-01 / 4. szám

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FRATERNITY

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KNOWING A LITTLE MORE ABOUT OURSELVES

IN LIGHT OF STATISTICS

The immigration of Hungarians to the United States from the late 19th century onwards coincides with the establishment of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America in 1896. The statistical data of the U.S. Census reveal interesting information on the ethnic Hungarian

population in the United States. According to this information, the following tables were compiled to show the distribution of the Hungarians in the various states, their level of education and occupation.

Table 1: Distribution of the Hungarian ethnic groups in the United States by states for the years 1910 and 1980- by percent.

STATES

1910

1980

New York

23.1

13.8

Ohio

19.3

13.7

Pennsylvania

20.0

11.4

New Jersey

11.1

9.5

California

0.8

9.3

Michigan

2.8

7.1

Florida

0.0

5.0

Illinois

6.4

4.8

Connecticut

4.0

3.0

Indiana

3.4

2.5

Wisconsin

1.5

1.9

Texas

0.2

1.6

Maryland

0.3

1.6

Virginia

0.5

1.3

Arizona

0.0

1.1

Massachusetts

0.4

1.1

Missouri

1.2

1.1

Colorado

0.3

0.9

Minnesota

0.7

0.9

Washington

0.2

0.9

West Virginia

1.7

0.7

Georgia

0.1

0.6

Oregon

0.2

0.6

North Carolina

0.0

0.5

Louisiana

0.1

0.4

Alabama

0.1

0.3

TOTAL

98.4

95.6

(The rest of the population resided in the remaining states.)

The above table shows that the disbursement of the Hungarian ethnic population greatly increased between 1910 and 1980.

In 1910, 73.5% of the Hungarian ethnic population resided in four states, namely New York, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New York had the biggest concentration of Hungarians, a large segement of which belonged to the Jewish faith. In 1980, however, we find that only 48.4% of the population resided in those states.

In 1910, California and Florida had less than 1% (0.8%), while the 1980 Census shows a 14-fold increase (14.3%).

Since the HRFA would like to remain an ethnic Hungarian fraternal organization in its 2nd century, statistics showing the geographical mobility of the Hungarian ethnic groups in the United States should be studied when planning for the future. The Federation should emphasize its presence in those states where the bulk of our Hungarian ethnic population resides.

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