Year 2025 Wrapup: Not the Year I Wanted

Щастливый новый рік! Happy New Year!

For my 2024 retrospective, I compensated for a year thin on accomplishments by weaving all sorts of other Pennsylvania Carpatho-Rusyn news into my post, whether I was involved in it or not. This year I won’t artificially pump up my retrospective and will keep it honestly representative of what little progress I feel I made in 2025.

As some of you know, I was focused in 2025 (and still am) on family health issues. Sadly, this situation probably won’t improve. But I did try to keep some of my life on track, and am happy about the notable things I did even though they were few.

Throughout the year, I did keep my Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania Facebook page well updated with a few of my own posts and many shares of other Carpatho-Rusyn (or PA heritage-related) content, and tried to keep my Carpatho-Rusyns of PA Instagram supplied with interesting images and informative captions, even if I didn’t have a lot of fresh items due to lack of opportunities for travel and research.

In February, an article based on my presentation from an ASEEES panel in 2023 was published in the Lemko Rusyn scholarly journal Річник Руской Бурсы / Rocznik Ruskiej Bursy from Poland, in a special section “Our People at 40.” The panel, all of the presentations of which are included therein, provided thematic reflections on Paul R. Magocsi's groundbreaking book Our People: Carpatho-Rusyns and Their Descendants in North America which first appeared in 1984 and most recently appeared in a 5th edition (2023). My article, “Our Bible of Carpatho-Rusyn American Religious Life,” is online; you can also read the whole section including all the presentations.

 

"Why Don’t We Have Rusyn Food Festivals?" C-RS Genealogy Conference 2025 in Wilkes-Barre

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society's Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter held its 9th Annual Genealogy Conference at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, on Saturday, October 11th, 2025.

The formidable program of speakers included the following:

• Karen Uslin – “Discovering my Rusyn Roots; Embracing Tradition in Modern Life”
• George Pawlush – “How Professional Sports Helped Carpatho-Rusyns Assimilate Into America”
• Christine Hrichak – “Crowd-sourcing Carpatho-Rusyn Places in the U.S.”

My talk was “Why Don’t We Have Rusyn Food Festivals? Carpatho Rusyns in NEPA and Their Identity Crisis.” Provocative? Possibly. I did have to give a bit of a disclaimer that it wasn't my intention to embarrass or shame anyone if I used an example of something that they personally worked on. But that was in a room of about 60 people. For the possible audience of this blog / post, I'm going to censor myself a bit for a few things/events of very recent vintage. Nonetheless, if I've still hit a nerve with an example not well anonymized, you have my advance apology.

That said, here is the bulk of my talk and slides.

Good afternoon, everyone – it’s great to be back in the beautiful Wyoming Valley.

A few words about me. I grew up almost NEPA-adjacent [NEPA=Northeastern Pennsylvania], in the heavily Pennsylvania Dutch country of Lebanon County, living with my transplanted western PA-native parents. I’m thrilled that my Carpatho-Rusyn mom is here with me today. Mom is the daughter of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, and I was blessed to have her mother, my baba, in my life until I was about 8 years old, and in the years that followed, I became more and more interested in where she and my grandfather came from.

Carpatho-Rusyns in Western PA: Presentation at Heinz History Center

On Sunday, June 29, 2025, I was a featured speaker at the Pittsburgh-based Heinz History Center’s all-day Czech and Slovak Genealogy Workshop. (The Heinz History Center is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.)

Although Carpatho-Rusyns weren’t named in the title of the program, between my talk and the Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s on-site information table (and occasional mention of Carpatho-Rusyns by the other speakers, Michal Razus and Jim Hudec, especially Mr. Razus), we provided more than a token amount of Carpatho-Rusyn-specific content for the numerous attended of our heritage. Attendees could register to attend in person at the Heinz Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, or follow the presentations live via Zoom. And the whole set of presentations and Q&A sessions was available to all registrants on-demand online for two weeks following the event.

Pictured below: attendees at the workshop, Rich Custer's presentation, as well as Mary Huzinec and Alexandra Plummer, who generously ran a Carpatho-Rusyn Society booth at the event along with Christina Duranko. (Alexandra Plummer / Carpatho-Rusyn Society)

My talk, “Carpatho-Rusyns in Western Pennsylvania: Identity Questions, Genealogy Research Challenges, and How to Overcome Them,” lasted about an hour with two follow-on Q&A sessions I was part of. I also provided an 8-page handout for the registrants to follow the presentation and numerous resources and further reading for their research.

For those who weren't able to participate, I'd like to share some excerpts from my talk.

Carpatho-Rusyns of PA Blog Author to Speak at Pittsburgh Heinz Center's Genealogy Workshop

Join three nationally renowned genealogists for our first Czech and Slovak Genealogy Workshop. Genealogy experts Rich Custer, Jim Hudec, and Michal Razus will guide beginner and advanced family historians alike on a tour de force of genealogical records available to uncover insights into your Czech, Slovak, and Carpatho-Rusyn ancestors.

Yes, readers, yours truly is piggybacking on a Czech & Slovak genealogy event (sorry, we tried to have Carpatho-Rusyns on the marquee) that will take place in-person AND online from 10 am - 5 pm ET on Sunday, June 29, 2025 at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.!

I’m excited to have been invited to speak in this program at the Smithsonian Institution-affiliated Heinz History Center, the premier museum and archives for the history of Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.

You can still register here!

My presentation will be “Carpatho-Rusyns in Western Pennsylvania: Identity Questions, Genealogy Research Challenges, and How to Overcome Them:”

I will give an overview of Carpatho-Rusyn immigration to western Pennsylvania and adjacent areas. I will explain the political influences, religious conflicts, and cultural affinities that led some of them and their descendants to identify instead with neighboring ethnic groups, especially Slovaks, Ukrainians, and Russians. I will also present resources like American church and fraternal records that can help researchers find the critical link to their ancestral villages and that can also help to confirm Carpatho-Rusyn ethnicity and heritage.

Presentation outline:

I. Carpatho-Rusyns: Ethnic and Geographical Background

II. Immigration to the U.S.

A.          Why, When, Where
B.           Western Pennsylvania
                1. Important settlements
                2. Chain migration examples

III. Major Historical Events in the Carpatho-Rusyn Community and Their Impact on Western PA

A.          Religious Conflicts
B.           Fraternal Organizations, Newspapers, and Political/Ethnonational Streams

IV. Research Resources on Carpatho-Rusyn Immigrants

A.          Church Records
B.           Fraternal Benefit Society Records
C.           Other Resources and Important Archives
                1. Western PA
                2. Nationwide / Online

In addition to the dynamic presentations by my co-presenters, archivists from the History Center’s Detre Library & Archives and representatives from the Archives & Records Center of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh’s Archives & Special Collections will highlight the best archival record sets in their collections to trace Czech, Slovak, and Rusyn ancestors locally. And members from other local genealogical and heritage organizations (including the Carpatho-Rusyn Society!) will also be on hand to share insights and best practices with workshop attendees.

It should be an excellent learning opportunity not just for genealogists and family historians, but for anyone interested in the Carpatho-Rusyn, Czech, and Slovak peoples, and I look forward to meeting many of you in person or in the online Q&A!

Original material is © by the author, Richard D. Custer; all rights reserved.

Year 2024 Wrapup

It’s January already – what??!!?!

I cringe looking back at my 2023 wrapup post where I laid out all kinds of ambitious sub-projects toward, and including, actual writing for the book. To be brutally honest, I can’t say I finished much of anything last year. Which isn’t to say I didn’t do anything related to this project, but combined with a lot of personal concerns, things didn’t work out anything like I planned. So with that in mind, instead of concentrating only on what I did (or didn’t do), I’ll work in a retrospective on the year that was in Carpatho-Rusyn Pennsylvania.

Had a great time and represented my work along with the Carpatho-Rusyn Society at the Johnstown Slavic Festival in September.

Many of these things I highlighted on my Facebook page as they happened. (I did post about a dozen times to my Instagram page as well.)

Portions of a list of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant pioneer settlers to Pottstown

Something I started a few years ago, compiling lists of the pioneer Rusyn immigrants in certain places, I continued this year. I’ve now got usable, perhaps definitive, lists for:

• Pottstown, Montgomery Co.;
• Alden Station, Glen Lyon, and Nanticoke, Luzerne Co.;
• Maizeville / Gilberton / Mahanoy Plane, Schuylkill Co.;
• Middleport / Cumbola / Brockton / New Philadelphia, Schuylkill Co.;
• Lehighton, Carbon Co.;
• Slatington, Lehigh Co.;
• Bethlehem, Northampton Co.;
• Berwick, Columbia Co.;
• MacDonaldton, Somerset Co.;
• Altoona, Blair Co.;
• Nanty Glo and Wehrum / Vintondale, Cambria Co.;
• New Alexandria, Westmoreland Co.;
• Charleroi, Washington Co.

My Favorite Books of 2024 (Pt. 2): Andy Warhol’s Mother

As I described in my first post about favorite books of 2024, this past year has been rich in new works (and one translation) in English on Carpatho-Rusyn topics. From all these worthy candidates, it was tough to choose just one favorite, so I’ve chosen two!

My second selection is by Carpatho-Rusyn American specialist in Carpatho-Rusyn literature, Elaine Rusinko:

Andy Warhol's Mother: The Woman Behind the Artist (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024)

From the book notes:

My Favorite Books of 2024 (Pt. 1): First Generation Lemko-American Businessmen

At the recent convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies  (ASEEES) in Boston, Mass., it was noted that 2024 was a banner year for new books on Carpatho-Rusyn topics published in the English language. These include:

• Treading Paths: Lemko Literature in the Years 1848-1918, by Helena Duć-Fajfer [purchase | preview]
• Witnesses to Interwar Subcarpathian Rus’: The Sojourns of Petr Bogatyrev and Ivan Olbracht, by Patricia A. Krafcik [purchase | preview]
  
• From Nowhere to Somewhere: The Carpatho-Rusyn Movement. A Personal History, by Paul R. Magocsi [purchase | read online]
  

While these are all worthy of the time and attention of anyone interested in Carpatho-Rusyn topics, in my biased outlook I have two books I’d like to highlight here due to their relevance to Carpatho-Rusyns in Pennsylvania.

My first selection is by Lemko Rusyn-American specialist in Lemko history, Bogdan Horbal:

From Thatched-Roof Houses to Immigrant Entrepreneurship: First Generation Lemko-American Businessmen (Higganum, CT: Carpathian Institute, 2024)

From the book notes: