The Eighth Tribe, 1975 (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1975-08-01 / 8. szám
August, 1975 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page Five Hungary had a very fine representation at the exposition. The Fine Art Exhibition was a great success. A Hungarian Parliamentary Delegation came to St. Louis to attend the Conference of the Interparliamentary Union. The Hungarian participation in the St. Louis Olympic Games also brought some victories for the Hungarians. The World’s Fair brought a fine Hungarian sculptor, William Zolnay, who left some major artistic monuments in St. Louis: the beautiful “Lion-City Gate” of University City, the “Confederate War Memorial” in Forest Park, “Laclede’ Statue” beside the City Hall and the “Naked Truth” beside the Grand Water Tower. He was joined later by other fine Hungarian sculptors: Alex Finta (Kossuth’s Monument) and Frank Varga (St. Stephen of Hungary). The organized Hungarian community life started with the purchase of the American Hungarian Hall in 1916. This building gave home to the different Hungarian lodges: Verhovay (Wm. Penn) Fraternal, Hunyady Aid, First Hungarian Ladies’ Aid, Cultural Club, etc. After many trys, a permanent Hungarian Catholic Church was founded in the 1930’s. Although the majority of the Hungarians were industrial workers, there were many Hungarian university teachers and other professional people in St. Louis. They gave this community such outstanding industrial and busines establishments as H. Orbauer (Piping Company), Peck’s Product Company, Ideal Cooler Company, Pork House Company, St. Louis Realty Development Corporation, Greenfiled Fur Company, Bettendorf Stores, Maffit Tool and Machine Company, and United Engineering Company. St. Louis Hungarians are represented in sports also. Joe Medvick was a famous Cardinal baseball player. Now his place is taken by A1 Hrabosky. Almost everyone knows St. Louis wrestling champion, Louis Thesz. A1 Szász is another St. Louis born Hungarian wrestler. All these facts show that the Hungarians, even though they are a small percentage of the population, still have a remarkable influence on the fact of St. Louis. An outside critic once said, “the Hungarians are not people of quantity but of quality.” Literature: By Leslie Könnyű: “Hungarians in St. Louis,” St. Louis and Vicinity, April 6, 1956. “Hungarians in Missouri,” Missouri Historical Review, April, 1952. “Eagles of Two Continents,” The American Hungarian Review, 1963. “John Xantus, Hungarian Geographer in America,” American Hungarian Publisher, 1965. “Two Kossuth Letters in the Archive of the Missouri Historical Society,” Bulletin, Oct. 1961. “Kossuth’s Prophetic Words,” St. Louis Globe Democrat, Oct. 8, 1968. MR. FRANK J. LADA IS THE HUNGARIAN MAYOR OF ALLEN PARK, MICHIGAN An article prepared for the Eighth Tribe by Bishop D. Abraham The Lada Family arrived in the United States of America around the turning point of this century. Mr. Lada Sr. came from Vas megye, Vasvár, Hungary in 1901, and his wife came from Veszprém megye in 1908. They worked diligently, like hundreds and thousands of others who helped to shape the future of this great country in the new world. They reared six boys and one girl, in the then “beautiful Delray section” of Detroit, Mich. Mr. Frank J. Lada Jr., their son, was horn and educated in the United States of America. He was always active in the political life of the county. In 1941, when he was 21 years old, he became a leader in the Democratic Party in this area. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was President, most Hungarians were Democrats.
