Hungarian Heritage Review, 1990 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1990-01-01 / 1. szám
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY - The Hungarian community of New Jersey will be honored for its contributions toward the development of the state and nation at the 13th Annual New Jersey Ethnic Festival sponsored by the New Jersey Office of Ethnic Affairs and scheduled for September IS - 16, 1990, at Liberty State Park, in Jersey City. Mr. Julius Belső, who represents the Hungarian community on the Ethnic Advisory Council of the New Jersey Office of Ethnic Affairs, Department of State, was recently elected by the Council to serve as the Chairman of this year’s festival. Four years ago, the Ethnic Advisory Council began the tradition of paying tribute to one of the state’s ethnic communities at the annual festival which, ever since its inauguration, has attracted thousands of people. They based their selection of which ethnic group of honor each year upon the largest of them as documented in the 1980 U.S. Census and other supporting evidence. As a result, the Italian, German, Irish, and Ukrainian communities have already been spotlighted. Now, it will be the turn of the Hungarian community to bask in the limelight! More than a year ago, Mr. Julius Belső directed the Council’s attention to the predominance and activities of the Hungarian community in New Jersey and urged that it be honored at the 1990 ethnic festival. His suggestion was approved at the Council’s meeting on October 16, 1989, and, at the same time, he was elected to serve as the Chairman of the two-day event. This selection is not only a great honor for the Hungarian community of New Jersey, but also an unprecedented opportunity to focus public attention on the outstanding Hungarian contributions to the state and nation, the history and culture of Hungary, and on what is meant by the “Hungarian Heritage.” The 1990 New Jersey Ethnic Festival is also an opportunity for Hungarian churches, clubs, and organizations to get-together and to work together to carry out a cause-in-common for the good of all! SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - When the Hungarian community here, in the “City of the Alamo”, gets cranked-up by the San Antonio Hungarian Association to do something, they do it Texas-style: BIG! And, so it was with their “Salute to Hungarians” held recently in collaboration with the Institute of Texan Cultures of the University of Texas. To mark the Grand Opening of an exhibit featuring the history of Hungarian immigration to and adaption in Texas during the past 150 years, a “Public Discussion” was held, under the auspices of the Texas Committee for the Humanities, on the Hungarian immigration to Texas during the 19th and 20th centuries which focused upon the process by which distinctive waves of immigrants left their homeland for the American Southwest. Subjects also covered were general migration to America; a leading Hungarian exile who chose a Texas home; and the role of Hungarian women in immigration. Among the Guest Speakers at the “Public Discussion” were Dr. Steven Bela Vardy, Professor of East European History at Duquesne University and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, whose topic was “Hungarians in the United States: A Historical Perspective”; Dr. Bela Vassady, Professor of History at Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, who spoke on “László Újházi: Exile and Immigrant”; Margit Nagy (C.D.P.), Associate Professor of History and Intercultural Studies at Our Lady of the Lake University and President of the Japan-America Society erf San Antonio, whose subject was “El Ment A Rozsam Amerikába” (My Rose Went to America); and Dr. James Patrick McGuire, Research Associate at the Institute of Texan Cultures of the University of Texas, whose talk was on “Hungarians in Texas: A Contemporary Investigation”. Mr. McGuire, who has contributed articles to the “HHR” from time to time and has been working for a long time researching and preparing his book on “Hungarian Texans” with support from the San Antonio Hungarian Association, will soon have it published. After the formal phase of the “Public Discussion” was completed, the audience, whose interest was greatly aroused by what they had heard, posed questions to the speakers. The following day, which was Sunday, November 5th, “A Special Tribute to Hungarian Texans” was held at the Dome Theater with a program featuring Hungarian dances by the Csardas Hungarian Dancers of Austin, and fencing demonstrations by the Hungarian-Texas U.S. Modern Pentathletes, László Beres and Paul Pesthy.- continued next page 4 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JANUARY 1990
