The Eighth Tribe, 1979 (6. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1979-02-01 / 2. szám
Page 8 THE EIGHTH TRIBE February, 1979 Academic News:— Dr. Frank Szörny is a member of the speakers bureau at Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, Florida. His subject field is Sándor Petőfi and he has given numerous presentations to various clubs and organizations in southeastern Florida. He talks about the life and writings of Petőfi and shows slides relating to the great poet and to Hungary. Also, assisting him are his wife and two daughters who model authentic Kalocsa costumes and a evening dress decorated with this type of needle work. Dr. Szörny, a number of years ago completed the translation of Petőfi’s poetic works into English; his book is the first complete English translation. The 800 page volume has been acquired by many university libraries throughout the United States, Canada, England and Australia. The picture shows Mrs. Margaret Szörny and her daughters Ilona and Margit modeling at a recent showing for the Church of the Palms Women’s Club in Delray Beach, Florida. Dr. Szörny looks on in the background. Catholic Hungarians in North America An ethnicity historian at SUNY Oswego is the author of “Catholic Hungarians in North America,” newly published in Youngstown, Ohio, by the Catholic Publishing Company. Stephen Török, special projects librarian at Penfield Library on the Oswego campus wrote the book, based on five years of research. The Franciscan Fathers, who are affiliated with the Catholic Publishing Company, agreed with Török that the first edition of the work be printed in Hungarian. An English translation will soon be published. The inception of the book began in 1972, at a conference of priests in Detroit, who decided that the history of Catholic Hungarian immigrants and their intellectual-spiritual record be compiled, while some of the witnesses were still living. Török, a native of Hungary, was authorized to gather documents, and interview the people and their clergy. More than two million Hungarian speaking people were among the more than four million Central European immigrants in America. Two-thirds of the Hungarians were Catholic. Most came to the United States during the period from the end of the nineteenth century to 1915. Most of the Hungarians worked in mills and mines, and starting with the arrival in 1891 of Rev. Charles Bohm, and other Hungarian trained priests, the Hungarians began forming their own parishes, continuing traditions of their native land. Hundreds were built across the United States. However, by 1972, many of the originally Hungarian parishes had become All-American territorial parishes, others had passed into history, leaving no traces, except for records in diocesan archives. The first edition is printed in Hungarian for the benefit of the surviving pioneers, whose numbers are rapidly diminishing. Many of these old pepole, in the long span of their lifetimes, fought or aided the United States in two world wars, raised families, struggled through the Depression, and still built churches and schools, at which they welcomed all people without discrimination. Yet many of them never had time to master the English language, beyond their daily needs. The Franciscan Fathers and Török wanted these elderly to have a chance to read a diary of their sacrifices. The English version will give their American descendants, as well as the general public, a sense of their ethnic history. The book can be ordered: Catholic Hungarians 1739 Mahoning Avenue Youngstown, Ohio 445U9 Soft-cover: $7.00 — Hard-cover: $12.00
