250: Legacy of Hungarians in the United States

Tuesday, October 27th English Room, CL 144 5:30 pm

Reception Croghan Schenley Room, CL 156 6:30 pm

Legacy of Hungarians in the United States: People, Places, Pathways is an interdisciplinary heritage initiative developed in connection with the 250th anniversary of the United States. It brings together historians, ethnographers, archivists, cultural institutions, and community partners from Hungary and the United States to present more than two centuries of Hungarian migration and life in America. The project approaches this history from three perspectives: migration periods and journeys, important locations in Hungarian-American history, and personal and family stories. Alongside the traveling exhibition, a bilingual online exhibition provides an expanding resource for education, research, and community use.

The exhibition will be introduced by a short video following which a walkthrough will be led by Balázs Balogh, the Director General of the ELTE Research Centre for the Humanities and the Director of the Institute of Ethnology, Budapest.

A reception will be held after the exhibition walkthrough in the Croghan Schenley Ballroom CL156. Guests can also view a 2015 Hungarian ethnographic documentary titled “Boarding House” or in Hungarian "Burdosház Amerikából," narrated by Dr. Balogh and which shares the story of a Hungarian mining settlement in Vintondale, Pennsylvania. Tours of the Hungarian Room CL 121 will be available starting at 6:30 pm.

Educational programming representatives of Rivers of Steel will be available throughout the event to provide information and resources on the southwestern Pennsylvania’s industrial and cultural heritage. Guests in attendance will have special access to a discounted tour of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

Daniel Pennell, Curator for Slavic, European, and Eurasian Studies at the Archives & Special Collections in the University of Pittsburgh’s Library System, will share information about the accompanying exhibition on Hungarians in the Pittsburgh region that he curated and is on display at the Global Hub in Posvar Hall. An additional display in the Global Hub will feature items from the collections of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs, planned by Michael Walter, Manager of Education Programs.

Sponsored by REEES, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System.