Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 2000 (17. évfolyam, 58-61. szám)

2000 / 58-61. szám

Americans Worth Remembering (Continued)

conviction that though the culture of the Hungarian nation faced major challenges, it became significant all the same and that the Hungarian descended youth born in the United States had nothing to be ashamed of.

Among his many-fold responsibilities he willingly accepted the additional mission of educating and raising leaders for the church from amongst the circle of the second generation. As teacher at Elmhurst College he instilled the love of the Hungarian language and culture in his pupils with great devotion and perseverance. One of his pupils was August Molnár. The idea, the spiritual root of the American Hungarian Foundation (later established by August Molnár) stems from the Elmhurst College experience and from the spirit of Barna Dienes. In 1941 a Hungarian Program was started at Elmhurst College, In Elmhurst, IL. As a pioneer undertaking Rev. Dienes Barna just transferred from his Homestead, Pennsylvania church to the Chicago South Side church, and accepted teaching responsibilities alongside with his nearby pastoral post. In 1945 the General Council of the Evangelical and Reformed Church voted to support the "Hungarian Chair" at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL and appointed Rev. Barnabás Dienes to a full time teaching post. He then resigned from his pastorate at the Chicago South Side Church.

In 1947, the World Council of Churches called on Rev. Barnabás Dienes to initiate relations with Hungarian Protestant dispersed people abroad, gave him a special assignment to visit war-torn Hungary and the refugee camps in Europe. And then he accepted a most trying commission in 1948, and made a tour of all the countries of Central and South America, to prepare accommodations for the homeless Hungarian refugees of his faith. During this journey sudden death befell him in South America in January, 1950.

On the 50th anniversary of his death an appropriate tribute to this great Hungarian-American would be the publication of some of his most important writings. His correspondence, his reports on the situation of the refugees in Europe after World War II, his studies, his literary descriptions may be regarded as gems in the Bethlen Collection. An omnibus volume of his writings to be issued by the American Hungarian Foundation, would not only pay homage to the memory of Barna Dienes, but would save American Hungarian values from oblivion.

lulianna Puskás

Foundation News and Notes (Continued)

Alfonz Zsiga of the Roma Press Center in Budapest was awarded a research and study grant by the American Hungarian Foundation to support his research project during 2001 in Washington, DC, at the Holocaust Museum.

Major grants received in 2000-2001 by the American Hungarian Foundation to support its Museum, Library and Archives programs were from Emory & Ilona E. Ladany Foundation; Donald F. Kosch Foundation; Middlesex Cultural and Heritage Commission, NJ; William Penn Association; Hungarian Reformed Federation of America; Bethlen Archives & Museum, Inc.; Lajos Schmidt Charitable Lead Trust; and the Open Society Institute.

Corporate matching gifts to the American Hungarian Foundation continue to increase annually. More donors recognized that their contributions to the Foundation can be matched/doubled or tripled by the firm where they are employed. In 2000-2001 the firms that have matched their employee’s or retiree's contributions to the American Hungarian Foundation are: Johnson & Johnson, AT&T Foundation, The UPS Foundation, Federated Department Stores, Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc., Prudential

TO EDITORS, DIRECTORS, CHAIRPERSONS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS:

Please consider the Hungarian Studies Newsletter as an additional opportunity to expand your information network. We would like to have you consider the Newsletter as your forum. We invite all fellow Hungarian related newsletters, studies centers, institutes and programs to share information with us and to subscribe to the Newsletter and/or establish an ongoing exchange of our publications.

a.l.

Foundation, J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc., Ameritech, Bell Atlantic Foundation, Unilever US Foundation, Inc., Computer Associates International, Inc., Aetna Foundation, Inc., Whirlpool Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, Inc., The New York Times Foundation, Inc., Temple-Inland Foundation, Novartis US Foundation.

Lecture Series on Arts and Sciences initiated by the American Hungarian Foundation under the co-chairmanship of Dr. András Prékopa, Dr. István Sohár and Prof. August J. Molnár, has presented a distinguished series of lecturers during the past two years (1999-2001): Balogh Balázs, Dr. Michael Kosztarab, Dr. Ágnes Fülemile, Dr. András Prékopa, Miklós Molnár, Dr. Tamás Mellár, Dr. Géza Jeszenszky, Dr. Judit Hajnal, Dr. János Bergou, Dr. Miklós Tóth. Among the lectures presented were: "The Germans of Hungary, 1944-1999”, "Einstein, the Man of the Century", "Human Genome Project" and "Hopes and Realities: Hungary Joining the European Union”.

A Verse Hangja Irodalmi Kör (The Literary Circle of the Voice of Verse), composed of a dedicated group of performers under the direction of Gyöngyvér Harkó, annually has presented three or four seasonal and commemorative programs in the museum of the American Hungarian Foundation for the past twelve years. Recent programs of Hungarian music and verse included: Tavaszi ébredés a magyar költészetben, “1000 éves történetünk versekben", and "Karácsony 2000”.

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the American Hungarian Foundation during 1999-2000, a series of major museum exhibitions was announced by Museum curator, Patricia Fazekas. The opening exhibition, "The Hungarian Spark in America”, was a multimedia presentation of the diverse contributions that Hungarians and their descendants have made to American life. To also observe the centenary of the death of the famous 19th century Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy the Museum of the Foundation presented "Munkácsy in America, works of the Celebrated Hungarian Painter from American Collections". A special anniversary exhibition of the Museum, titled “Then and Now”, presented new additions to the museum's permanent collection including both contemporary and historic pieces which had not been shown before. The 45th anniversary year of the Foundation in the Museum closed with a popular exhibition, "Herend, Hungarian Porcelain at its Finest”. For the visitors in December and lanuary, the traditional "Festival of Trees, Yuletide Celebration", added even more color to the Herend exhibition. These anniversary exhibitions attracted thousands of visitors to the Museum of the Foundation from across the United States and from abroad.

38th annual George Washington Awards dinner of the American Hungarian Foundation was held on November 16, 2000, in New York City at The Waldorf-Astoria. The Laureates of the Award

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NO. 58-61, WINTER/SPRING/SUMMER/AUTUMN 2000, HUNGARIAN STUDIES NEWSLETTER

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