The Eighth Tribe, 1981 (8. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1981-10-01 / 10. szám
(ISSN 0272-1341) Second Class Postage Paid, Ligonier, Pa. 15658 Send Form 3579 to Eighth Tribe —Circulation Department, Bethlen Press, Ligonier, Pa. 15658 Page 24 THE EIGHTH TRIBE October, 1981 . <^l//aAAüL^larb üv ^ucütfie&l Seventy-five years ago in 1906, the George Washington statue was unveiled in the City Park in Budapest as the gift of the Hungarians of America to the memory of Washington. Before this could be achieved, painstaking effort was required to win approval in Hungary for the idea of the statue and to receive wide support for it in America. On February 13, 1905 in Cleveland, Ohio, the Budapest Washington Monument Association was chartered. At that charter meeting, Tihamér Kohányi, a giant of endurance and steadfast spirit and editor-publisher of the Cleveland Hungarian daily, Szabadság, reported as president of the association that there was over $2,500 on hand and $1,000 pledged to erect the statue in Budapest. In a year the total fund climbed to a record $8,629.00. A booklet about plans for the statue was published in English and Hungarian by the Szabadság. The publication included copies of letters received by Kohányi from prominent Americans praising and supporting the idea. Governors, senators, congressmen, mayors, judges, editors, including William Jennings Bryan and former President Grover Cleveland wrote in glowing words about the plan. The idea caught the imagination of the thousands of Hungarian immigrants and fired the will of American-Hungarian businessmen. They were devoted citizens of their new land, but they also had an affection and concern for the land of their birth. The erection of the statue was not to be a passing event, but rather a historical marker, which would tie Hungary closer to America. Furthermore, they felt that later American-Hungarian generations would be directed toward Hungary in thought, in concern and in appreciation through such a symbol. In 1905 the sculptor, Gyula Bezerédy, arrived in America from Hungary and exhibited the model of the George Washington statue at a populous meeting of the Budapest Washington Monument Association. With the approval of the artist's rendering and then having overcome many obstacles concerning the acceptance of the statue by the City of Budapest and the designation of a site in the City Park, the financial campaign got underway. Then during the months and even days immediately preceding the unveiling, dark clouds of misunderstanding and ill-appreciation confronted Kohányi in Hungary as he made final arrangements. He was almost forced to persuade anew the Hungarian government that there were no political overtones nor hidden motives to the offer of the statue. He and his fellow Americans of Hungarian descent did not want to propagandize a republican form of government in the Hungarian kingdom. He sought to persuade the Hungarian government that it should have an official representation at the unveiling. Fortunately, there were many important figures like the Mayor of Budapest, István Bárczy, and Jenő Rákosi, the outstanding journalist and literary figure, who in large measure were able to answer and silence the opposition and thus bring their prestige to bear in deciding the controversy. September 16, 1906, arrived — the day of the unveiling of the George Washington statue in Budapest. Filled with festivities the day began with church services in St. Stephen’s Basilica and at the Calvin Square Reformed Church. By ten that morning a tremendous crowd assembled in the City Park around the site of the statue. A parade of 10,000 persons bearing some 500 flags made its way to the statue. Government officals and cabinet ministers were on hand. The popular U.S. Consul General Frank Dyer Chester, who spoke Hungarian, was present. Some 200 American- Hungarians were present. The main speaker was writer Jenó' Rákosi. He glorified George Washington, the citizen, the man, whose statue, as he said, "stands before you with no long inscriptions, no military decorations, but in the simple dress of his day, with countenance and eyes looking into the distant future.” He exclaimed that Washington’s example does challenge the Hungarian people and nation with the ideals that he represented.
