Fraternity-Testvériség, 2000 (78. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

2000-07-01 / 3. szám

FRATERNITY

Page 3

President’s Corner

The 36th Quadrennial Convention

of

The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America

The 36th Convention of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America took place in Toledo, Ohio during the week of September 25, 2000.

The last Convention was held in Toledo in 1915; therefore we returned to this city after 85 years. We did this to pay homage to our founding fathers, especially Steve Molnár, who served the Federation for more than four decades between 1902-1943. The Federation always treasured Mr. Molnar’s dedication and hard work. It was during his tenure in office that the Federation was transformed from a sick benefit society to a modem financial institution. In 1910, for example, the Pittsburgh Convention adopted a modern monetary system where the membership dues and fees were replaced with the premium paying system based on the new member’s age. In 1927, the modem actuarial mortality table with new portfolio was adopted.

Mr. Molnár was one of the early immigrants who contributed significantly to shaping the ethnic Hungarian community in Toledo. After serving in the Spanish-American war, he returned to Toledo where he became a policeman and eventually retired from the police force in 1923 as a lieutenant. As a police officer he tried for many years to persuade the city council to prohibit the city police force from using rubber clubs. He believed that kind words were more effective than clubs.

Throughout his activities with the Federation and the ethnic Hungarian community, he was always able to demonstrate his great vision. He felt that the Federation had a dual role to play among the Reformed Hungarian communities, namely to care for the sick, the elderly, the widows, orphans, and to guide and help the American Hungarian Reformed communities. In 1929, his fellow ethnic Hungarians in Buffalo thought enough of Mr. Molnár to elect him president, spokesman and representative for 273 organizations.

Although he was instrumental in emphasizing the Protestant character of the Federation, he did not tolerate any exclusionary policies within it.

In 1939, after a more than 46-year absence, Mr. Molnár returned to Hungary as a delegate to the Conference of the World Federation of Hungarians. In recognition for his work and contributions to his motherland, the Hungarian government honored him with the “Magyar Érdemrend Kereszt” (Order of the Hungarian Cross).

Mr. Molnár died on January 25, 1944.

George Dózsa, President

A Pictorial History

of the

American Hungarian Reformed Churches

The chances of storing historical documents permanently has been enhanced by the development of modem techniques and technologies, including the new digital storing methods and tools, such as CD-ROM and DVD. Thus the systematic study of the History of the Hungarian diaspora requires that a program be set up for establishing a database of the available historical sources (pictures, text, volumes of voices, and videos). It is our firm belief that with this new technology, we can disseminate information in the most efficient and rapid way to broad circles of society.

The existence of Hungarian communities is almost always linked directly to the existence of Hungarian churches. During the last 150 years many hundreds of churches were built by Hungarian immigrants in the United States. Many of them are now only reminders

Hungarian and Slovak immigrants joined together to build their church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1890.

of the past. With the process of assimilation, the doors of many still functioning institutions may close in the near future. Their memory can be lastingly preserved on CD-ROM.

Among the historical documents, pictures play a most important role. We attach great importance to them when we take the churches into account. We begin our “Pictorial History” series with the compilation of “Hungarian Reformed Churches in the United States”. Their pictorial history will be a vivid testimony to the former Hungarian communities for centuries to come. The Bethlen Museum and Archives and the Hungarian Heritage Center in New Brunswick have entrusted Dr. Julianna Puskas and her workers with the respon- sibility of carrying out this project.