The Slovaks of Cleveland

FOREWORD

As the work of the Cleveland Americanization Committee took on more definite shape, it seemed to separate itself into two divisions; first, bringing the foreign born residents into close touch with the language, customs and ideals of America; and second, giving to the native born Americans an understanding of the racial and political sympathies of the foreign born. Without a common understanding of the best each has to offer, no real fusion of new and older Americans will ever take place.

With this end in view, a series of articles has been planned, taking up individually the various races prominently represented in our cosmopolitan city.

"The Slovaks of Cleveland" is presented as the first of this series. It is very desirable that this race be better understood in view of the prominent part they are now bearing in world politics. The establishment of a Czecho-Slovak state will prove one of the best possible barriers to future German aggression, and the annals of the Czecho-Slovak army in Russia are full of achievement as heroic as any the world has ever seen.

The Czechs are well known by their English name, Bohemians, but there is very little general understanding of the Slovaks. The adjective "Slavish" which is sometimes used co describe them, has no standing in the dictionary and does not appear in any ethnological work. Their own adjective "Slovensky" has often led to their being confused with the Slovenians, who are an entirely different race. In the census they figure as Hungarians because born in Hungary, and in other records they appear as Austrians, because they have come from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

It is hoped that this publication may be effective in securing for them a
better understanding.

HELEN BACON, Secretary.
 

In The northern part of Hungary where the Carpathians slope toward the great Hungarian plain, is the country called by its children "Slovensko" or "Slovakland".

Racial Definition. History.

This region, comprising sixteen counties of Hungary, is the home of the Slovaks, a historic race of solid character and exceeding industry, whose fate through centuries has been aptly summarized in the statement that they are "the very step-children of fortune."

It is a rough country, a country of mountainsides and valleys, and has been inhabited by this same race since the fifth century. In the year 863 the wonderful story of Christ was brought to the Slovaks by the apostles Cyril and Methodius. In 870 A.D. their nation came for a brief space into the limelight of history as the nucleus of the Great Moravian empire under Svatopluk, whose capital was the city of Nitra. This kingdom was disrupted by Germans and Magyars early in the next century, and for a thousand years the Slovaks have lived in a state of vassalage to an alien race, the victims always of oppression and suppression.

That under these circumstances they have been able to maintain their own language and their national traditions through so great a period of time indicates a remarkable tenacity, both mental and spiritual. Their only fellowship has come from the west,—from their neighbors, the Moravians, and from the Czechs (here commonly called Bohemians), who live west of the Moravians. The Moravians and Bohemians use the Czech language. The Slovak tongue, while it is counted a distinct language, is yet so much akin to the Bohemian that mutual understanding is easy. This historic fellowship, so long continued, now looks to find at the end of the present war, political fruition in the establishment of an independent Czecho-Slovak state.

Hungary is the name of a political division. There are four principal races within its confines, besides others of less numerical importance. The dominant race, generally known in America as Hungarians, are from a racial standpoint more correctly called Magyars. Then there are the Germans, with whom the Magyars are hand in glove: while the step-children are the Rumanians in southeastern Hungary, and the Slovaks in the northwestern part.

The Slovaks number more than 2,000,000 souls, possibly even 3,000,000, but this can only be estimated, as the official census is notoriously unjust to all but the ruling race. Throughout Hungary there are occasional "islands" of Slovaks, but probably 2,000,000 at least live in the district called "Slovensko".

Economic Conditions.

This country is, except in certain limited portions, rough and rocky, with considerable forests. The valleys and fertile lands are mostly owned by the lords and nobles, absentee landlords all, or by the church, and to these the peasant must give a certain number of days' work free each year. The roughest portions, the shallowest soil, the mountainsides, uncultivable to the western eye, are the farms of the Slovak peasant. In the spring and fall, manure is painfully, toilingly carried in baskets up the steep slopes to furnish food for the coming crops.
 

The prosperous "rich" peasant owns at most a dozen acres, not in one plot but in strips, of ten miles apart, so that the labor of cultivation is multiplied manyfold. The poor peasant may try to make a living from a part of an acre. Failing to succeed in this, he leaves his wife and children to cultivate the home plot, while he seeks employment abroad, usually as an agricultural laborer in the plains of Hungary or he may go to the Eldorado, America.

Money the Slovak peasant has only twice a year,—when he returns from this outside employment and when he harvests his own crops. But he does not have this long, for the tax-collector takes most of it. If he has been more than usually unfortunate, and has no money, the tax collector takes his household goods; for kindness of heart or consideration for the individual or the community does not influence the tax collector in Hungary.

Food.

The staple foods of the Slovak are black bread, the flour a mixture of barley and rye, potatoes, cabbage, milk and cheese, and maize meal (corn meal). Breakfast consists of black bread and a thin corn meal porridge. Dinner is a soup thick with noodles or vegetables, or cabbage cooked in a rich gravy. If the soup was made with meat, as happens sometimes, but not often, then the meat is used as a separate dish. In the better parts of the country, there is a good supply of such vegetables as beans, peas, carrots, and turnips. Supper usually consists of potatoes with sour milk, or a corn meal mush with sour milk. Cottage cheese is much used.

The fruits of the temperate climate, apples, plums, cherries, and apricots, all are said by the exile to be particularly well flavored in eastern Slovensko, and wild strawberries abound there. Children gather them and sell them for two cents a quart. Huckleberries are also plentiful. Sheep cheese, called brindza, is a favorite article of food, and before the war was imported and sold in a few Cleveland stores. Mushrooms are much used. Plum brandy and juniper brandy are home made drinks considered to have medicinal as well as social qualities. Delicious pastries called kolace and pasky are luxuries to be enjoyed like white bread, only on occasions such as Christmas, Easter, wedding and christening celebrations. Meat is always a luxury, and one of the frequent recommendations given by immigrants to America is that here there is "meat every day". Salt is a government monopoly, ordinarily sold at ten or twelve cents a pound.

Education.

If the peasant's circumstances are passable and he does not live too far from a town, he may send his children to school for four winters. The length of this tetti is determined by agricultural conditions. It is usually from November to about April, because the children must help to wrest a living from the soil. Children have to work from an early age, usually from about six years of age and they do work which we would consider it not only cruel, but impossible to ask from our children. As one Cleveland child of Slovak parentage has said, "My father says his children can never know how much better their childhood is than his was". For their work, children are paid about five dollars a year, and the day is from sunrise to sundown.

During these four terns of school, the Slovak child will receive instruction in Magyar,—a foreign tongue, the language, not of his fathers, but of his oppressors,—a language which the Slovak hates and never uses, except under compulsion. He says with justice that the Slovak tongue will take him all over the Slav world, while the Magyar has no value outside of Hungary. Consequently, the child, studying in a hated language, which has for him no daily use, learns very little, and finishes his four terms of school almost as ignorant as he began. It is for him exactly what it would be for us now if our children were compelled to receive their education in German. Never-the-less, he must in self-defense learn some Magyar, since he will never be sold a railroad ticket nor a postage stamp unless he asks for it in Magyar.

A peasant who is both prosperous and ambitious, who is willing to sacrifice what few comforts he has, and to bend every resource to one purpose, may choose the brightest of his children for a "higher education". For that the child must be sent to the city and pay tuition, besides board and other expenses. This can be done only if the would-be scholar himself seizes every opportunity and creates opportunities as well, to help himself and to add to the meager allowance from home. Great is his responsibility. If he should fail, it is failure, not for one person only, but for all the family hopes.

And from the beginning he must go with an outward acceptance of Magyarization. The students, Slovak though they may be, are allowed to converse in nothing but Magyar, even in their most private moments. Always there are monitors whose duty it is to spy upon and betray their comrades and the school authorities do not hesitate to search rooms and trunks for such highly incriminating articles as a little book of Slovak poetry, or a bit of handwriting in that language. Even a student of theology is likely to be dismissed from the seminary and his whole career blasted if he shows any interest in the language of his own home and of his future flock. There is one clergyman in Cleveland to-day who twice saw fellow students meet this fate and who came to America because he was "discouraged" in consequence.

Military Service.

After graduating, the student has the privilege of volunteering for military service, if he does so immediately, and as a volunteer he can go into the army on terms which make it possible for him to become an officer in the re-serves at the end of a year. If he does not volunteer, however, he is summoned for service on the same terms as his brothers, who served for three years from the age of twenty-one.

The treatment of privates in the Austrian army is unbelievably cruel.
In the first place, the poor Slovak must speak in German whether he knows how or not. To answer in Slovak is one of the offences which may bring him a slap across the face, or cruel confinement in the guard-house. Sent to the guardhouse for some utterly trivial offence like failing to salute perfectly or having his shoes not shining in the requisite degree, or speaking in Slovak, he may be given bread and salt to eat and denied water for two or three days. Or his right arm may be fastened to his left leg with clamps, and he kept in that position for a day or two. A favorite punishment is to hang him up by a sort of harness under the aims, drawn up so that his toes barely touch the ground. He will be kept so until he grows black, then taken down, revived with a bucket of water and hung up again. Many commit suicide under these punishments.

The soldier's pay is about three cents a day,—hardly enough for the absolutely required shoe-polish, needles and thread and polish for his brass buttons. He must have help from home during his whole period of service at a time of life which ought to be most productive. It is quite obvious that he gains no new loyalty to his rulers, except that which is instilled by fear.

The Making of Emigrants.

These conditions of political disaffection, of economic difficulty, of oppressive taxation, with the denial of political representation, of language and of education, naturally make for emigration, once a goal has been discovered. The first Slovak emigrants to America, reporting that here they found "good wages, better living, and free schools, to which any human being can go" were naturally followed by others, until emigration became for some districts almost an exodus.

To these people the freedom of America was a discovery almost as great as the land itself had been to Columbus. What more natural than that they should soon begin to work toward freedom as a possession of the whole Slovak race. This desire found united expression in the foillation in May, 1909, of the Slovak League, whose purpose is to promote the cause of liberty for the Slovaks everywhere.

Slovak League.

Since the beginning of the great war, this League has actively exerted itself to direct public sentiment so as to secure for the race just treatment at
the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy; and to hasten that event by every possible means. This activity has of course redoubled since the entrance of the United States into the war, and especially since President Wilson expressed himself in favor of self-determination of races and governments. "Nove Slovensko" is a weekly newspaper just started (June, 1918) in Cleveland to promote the objects of the League.

The Slovaks of this country have wisely joined forces with the larger Bohemian organization in the fight for racial freedom, and a combination of working forces has been effected in the organization of the "American Branch of the Czecho-Slovak National Council". This Council consists of eight delegates each from the Slovak League and from the Bohemian National Alliance. Mr. John Pankuch of Cleveland is a member of the Council.

"The Bohemian Review" of March, 1918, makes this poignant statement: "Whereas Bohemian immigrants in America constitute considerably less than ten per cent of their race, one-fourth of the whole Slovak people live in America. The Bohemian National Alliance does not and cannot speak for the Czech nation, for the Czechs in the old country have their own accredited and regularly elected deputies. But the Slovaks of Hungary have no elected representatives, and those who emigrated to America must speak for the whole race". The president of the Slovak League is Albert Mametej, of Braddock, Pa., secretary, John Jancek, an editor from Russia, now in Pittsburgh.

Under the direction of the Council, the Slovaks share in the organization and maintenance of the Czecho-Slovak army. A recruiting office is maintained in Cleveland at 5286 Broadway. Men who are not of draft age, or who, because of their technical classification as alien enemies (being nominally subjects of Austria-Hungary) are not eligible to service in the United States army, are the recruits.

This army is trained at a camp in Stamford, Conn., financed by the Council. As soon as the soldiers embark for France, their expenses are met by the French government which understands Austria's internal affairs enough to realize, as our government has not done, that Austria's bitterest foes are those who have grown up under her sovereignty. In France the Czecho-Slovaks fight under French officers, but with their own organization, and carrying their own flag. (See illustration on page 4.)

All Slovaks drafted for service in the United States army have waived exemption, and they are among the most spirited of our soldiers, since they have not only the patriotic motives which animate the rest of our army, but in addition a very vigorous determination to pay off some of the old scores.

Slovak Immigration to America.

The first considerable number of Slovaks coming to America was 1,300 in 1873. The largest number in any one year was 52,368 in 1905. Cleveland was a destination for some from 1880, but up to 1886 most of their number settled in the hard coal region of Pennsylvania, in the districts around Wilkes-Barre and Scranton. Now they are scattered very widely through the whole United States, with a few groups in Canada. About half the whole number, however, still is found in Pennsylvania, with Ohio or Illinois probably second in number, and New York, New Jersey and Connecticut following.

Slovaktown, Arkansas, is an agricultural community built up by Slovaks who earned the money for their initial venture in the Pennsylvania coal fields.

Wherever they have settled in this country, the Slovaks have undertaken the hard, heavy labor, the work fundamental to our great industries. Owing to their lack of previous opportunity, they have always had to fall into the ranks of the unskilled, where their dogged indu3try and perseverance have made them valuable, and their uncomplaining submissiveness has sometimes made them the subjects of exploitation.

The question naturally arises why more of them do not go to the country, when practically all were agriculturists before emigration. Two answers are offered in reply to this question; first, that the weekly pay envelope is irresistibly attractive to people who had had so little money to handle in the old country; and second, that in the city, the women also can work.

Among the Slovak immigrants, it has been very usual for the man of the family to come first, often not intending to stay permanently. It was to him simply a greater migration than the former habitual one to the plains of Hungary. Miss Balch shows in "Our Slavic Fellow-citizen" pictures of "American" homes in Slovensko, built by returned emigrants with the proceeds of American toil. Many others, however, have on return found themselves so changed as to be out of place in the old surroundings. An "American", returning to Hungary, is a thorn in the flesh to the officials, to whom he no longer doffs the hat nor kisses the hand. In consequence, passports for the second trip are often obtained more easily than they were for the first, and the man who went home to stay, shortly severs all ties and brings his family to America with him.

Others, without the experience of returning, analyze things for themselves and conclude, "Why should I go back?"
 
 

After the War.

When the war comes to an end, there will however be a great exodus, caused by the desire for immediate and accurate news of relatives, friends and homes from whom the separation has been complete for so long. There are in Cleveland more than 600 Slovak men whose families in Hungary were dependent upon remittances from this country. The agonizing situation of these men, so long without news and with so little reason for hope, is such as to make them subjects for the keenest sympathy. It is safe to say that there is hardly a Slovak in Cleveland who has not mother, wife, children, or sisters in the old country, and who will not wish to see with his own eyes what the war has done to them. How long he will stay depends upon economic and political conditions which it is impossible now even to forecast.

Distribution of Slovaks in the United States.

The distribution of Slovaks in the United States is a subject on which it is not possible to present any figures, as the census records do not indicate the race, but count them in with all the other emigrants from Hungary.
Two methods of approximation of local populations are available: first, the records of the Slovak churches in the United States; for the Slovaks are a religious people, and there are comparatively few without a church connection. Second, the records of the various societies, mostly beneficiary, which are organized on a nationalistic basis; that is, only persons of Slovak ancestry are eligible.

The establishment of a new Slovak church obviously means the presence of a number of Slovaks sufficient in means and interest to buy property and to maintain an institution. Similarly, the formation of a branch, or "lodge", of a fraternal organization indicates the existence of a group able to meet and pay dues, and desirous of receiving the benefits of the organization.

"The Father of the Slovaks."

In March, 1882, arrived the Rev. Stephen Furdek, the first Slovak priest in America. By a curious turn of fate, he came, however, to minister to the Bohemians. Bishop Gilmour, of the Roman Catholic diocese of Cleveland, had written to Prague for a priest for his rapidly increasing number of Bohemian parishes, and Father Furdek, although a Slovak, only 24 years of age, and barely through his theological studies, was chosen to answer the call. He arrived here in March, 1882, and was ordained to the priesthood July 2nd, in St. Wenceslaus Bohemian church, of which he became the pastor. Two years later, he was given the task of organizing the new Bohemian parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, which soon became the largest Bohemian parish in the city, and where he remained until his death, Jan. 18, 1915.

While successful to the highest degree in his appointed work among the Bohemians, Father Furdek was a man of such breadth of interest, of such large ability, and of so much executive talent, that he was able from the first to act also as a leader of the Slovaks. Becoming first the friend and counsellor of the few whom he found already in Cleveland, his interest grew and broadened until he became a national figure, and was everywhere affectionately known as "The Father of the Slovaks."

Slovaks in Cleveland.
There is no official record which will show the growth of our Slovak population, but in a general way it can be estimated and localized by reference to the history of the Slovak churches of our city. By following their development, it is possible to learn in what parts of the city Slovak centers have developed, and at what time each new community has increased to the point of forming a new religious organization.

In 1885 Father Furdek began holding Slovak services regularly in the chapel of the Franciscan Brothers on Woodland Avenue, and so brought together into a religious body the little group of Slovaks in Cleveland at that time.

 

These first Slovaks had settled in the district around Hill, Berg, Commercial, and Fourth Streets, but Father Furdek urged very strongly that they find a more desirable location for their permanent home. Through his influence a location was chosen in what was then the outskirts of the city, along Buckeye Road and parallel streets from about East 78th Street to Woodhill Road. Here the settlement rapidly grew, the Slovaks building small, neat cottages.

In 1887, the collection of funds for a church was begun, and an organization was effected Dec. 2, 1888. As there were Magyars living in the same neighborhood and also in need of a church, an attempt was made to combine the two interests, and the parish was named for the Magyar saint, St. Ladislas. It was not long before difficulties began to arise between the two races, and eventually great bitterness developed. The ensuing contest was settled by the Bishop, who decreed that the Magyars should build themselves a new church, and that the Slovaks should pay them $1,000 for their interest in St. Ladislas.

In recent years this neighborhood has changed very much, and the small homes of the Slovaks have been largely crowded out by tenements, so that sixty-five per cent of the original population have now moved farther out.

New property has been acquired on East Boulevard, at the foot of Sophia Avenue, where it is planned first to erect a new school building, to be followed later by a new church and other parochial buildings. The present parochial school houses about 700 children, who are taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame..

Holy Trinity Evangelical Congregation.

The next Slovak parish organization was a Protestant one, the Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Congregation, founded Dec. 5, 1892. This was the third Slovak Lutheran parish in the United States, the first having been in Freeland, Pa.

Holy Trinity parish was established in the down town district, and although the character of the local population has entirely changed several times, the original location still seems most convenient to this congregation. The church is at 2506 East 20th Street, where the parishioners find it easy to come from all over the city.

There is a parochial school where two teachers give instruction to 65 children in the work of the first four grades. For more advanced work, the children go to the public schools, and attend special instructions in religion and the Slovak language four hours a week in the parochial school. Additional property has recently been acquired to furnish a playground for the children of the school.

While this church is one of the oldest Slovak organizations in the city, it is an interesting fact that about half of the present congregation are immigrants of the past six or eight years.

The pastor, Rev. Alexander Jarosi, is a Slovak from southern Hungary. Educated in a Hungarian university, his coming to America was due to the fact that at the very moment when he was feeling most bitterly the governmental oppression of his native land, he received a letter from America telling him of the great need for Slovak ministers here. Mr. Jarosi is keenly interested in assisting the men of his congregation to become American citizens, and deplores the fact that so far his Hungarian birth and his rank as an officer in the Austrian army, have caused the refusal of his various applications for service in the United States army.

St. Martin's Church.

In the same neighborhood as Holy Trinity Church, the Roman Catholics founded St. Martin's Church two years later, in 1894. This was first located on East 25th Street; in 1902 a church was built on East 23rd Street, and in 1907 a larger one was erected at the corner of East 23rd and Scovill Avenue. The old church is used as a school building, and three dwelling houses have also been altered into school rooms. Five hundred and fifty children are enrolled, the teachers being the Sisters of St. Joseph. Two young men from this parish are now studying for the priesthood.

The development of these three parishes may be taken to indicate the character and location of the first phase of Slovak immigration to Cleveland.

Nationalistic Societies.

During this period from 1880 to 1894 the Slovak population of the United States increased in very much the same proportion as did the Slovak population of Cleveland, and in 1890 sufficient impetus had been gained to lead to the establishment of the first of the nationalistic societies which are so large a feature of Slovak life in America.

National Slovak Society.

February 16, 1890 marked the beginning of the movement. On that date was organized in Pittsburgh under the leadership of P. V. Rovnianek, "The National Slovak Society of the United States of America." (Narodny Slovensky Spolok v Spojenych Statoch Americkych). Its aims, as stated in the "Constitution and By-laws, 1916," are:

"To educate the Slovak immigrants, who, being victims of unfavorable political conditions in their own country, were deprived of the means of education and culture; to make of its members all sons of their nation; to teach them to love their adopted country and to become useful citizens of this Republic; to help one another in sickness and distress and to help the widows and orphans when their breadwinners have passed away."

The duties of members as defined by the By-Laws, include the following: "He must lead a moral life, make an honest living, and refrain from acts which would bring disgrace upon the National Slovak Society, and dishonor to the Slovak race." "It shall be the duty of every member to become a citizen of the United States within six years after his admission to the Society. If he neglects to do so, a complaint shall be filed against him in the Supreme Court."

Five "funds" are maintained: Mortuary fund, for the payment of death benefits; administration fund, for the running expenses of the organization; indigent fund, for the relief of disabled members who have exhausted the benefits to which they are entitled from their local societies, but who are in extreme want; a national fund, for "the moral development and for the uplifting of the honor and good name of the Slovak nation"—from this students may be educated and national purposes promoted; an orphans' and old folks' home fund.

The official motto of the society is "Freedom, Justice, Brotherhood." It has 700 branches, widely distributed throughout the United States and Canada, with 42,259 members, and 7,500 junior members. 6,513 members have died, and their beneficiaries have received $4,527,804.96. Sickness and accident benefits paid have aggregated $85.228.86. The present capital is $1,870,869.56. Albert Mametej, Braddock, Pa., is president and Joseph Durish, Pittsburgh is secretary.

"Narodny Noviny" (National News) a weekly newspaper, is the official organ of the society. The Literary Committee is a standing committee of the society, whose duty it is to provide for the publication of useful books for the members.

First Catholic Slovak Union.

On the fourth of September of the same year, another society of similar aims was started in Cleveland by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. The first convention was held in the home of Jacob Gruss, and was attended by eleven delegates (see illustration on this page.)

This society was called the First Catholic Slovak Union (Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota) and its membership is limited to Roman Catholics or Greek Catholics in good standing. Its headquarters are in Cleveland, where the secretary has a suite of offices in the Guardian Building.

"Every member of this Union shall become a citizen of the United States within six years after his arrival in this country, and as a true son of the Slovak nation he shall cultivate the Slovak language and nationality inherited from his forefathers, preserve it for coming generations, and thus become worthy of his ancestors." (Extract from the Constitution.)

The first Catholic Slovak Union now has a membership of 50,049 with 19,690 junior members. It has paid out in benefits $5,000,000 and has a capital of $1,532,671.49. The capital of the junior society is $57,513.21. A. J. Pirhalla, Duquesne, Pa. is president, Michael Senko, Cleveland, secretary.
The distribution of branches is as follows: