Overview of April 2018 Research Trip to the Pittsburgh Area

Working full-time, my study and writing about Carpatho-Rusyn immigration has been limited to being a hobby, albeit one that I have spent much time on in these many years. Only a few times a year do I have the opportunity to devote a few days full time to fieldwork. Fortunately, I can see that only a few more of these research trips will be necessary before I can be satisfied that the information I've gathered is thorough enough (if never quite "complete"). These occasional research trips take many days to plan and do not always go accordingly. My first such trip of 2018 took place in April, and I'm glad to share the highlights — and glimpses of what I collected — with you.

In case you didn't know, I have started posting about my project on Facebook at this page: The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania. I already posted about this research trip there; this is an adapted consolidated version of several Facebook posts.

(Posted "live" on April 21, the first day of the trip)

This research trip is starting out exceptionally well. Thanks to two of my clerical contacts in Somerset & Cambria Counties, I got access to valuable records and made some joyful finds today:

Early minutes of the St. Mary's Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in Central City;

St. Mary's Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church, Central City, Somerset County: First parish meeting minutes, 1917.

Some of the old Carpatho-Rusyn prayerbooks in the kliros of St. Mary's in Central City used by the cantors of days gone by...

St. Mary's Church, Central City: "Izbornik" book of divine services used by cantors, published in Užhorod, 1925.