Author to Speak at Johnstown, Pa., Slavic Festival, Sep. 19, 2015

Yours truly will be a speaker at the upcoming first-ever Johnstown Slavic Festival in Johnstown, Pa., on Saturday, September 19, 2015.

Johnstown Slavic Festival
Heritage Discovery Center
201 6th Avenue
Johnstown, PA

There is no admission charge.

I will be speaking inside the Heritage Discovery Center from 7:30-8:30 p.m.:

From the Carpathians to the Alleghenies:
Carpatho-Rusyn Immigrants in the Greater Johnstown Area
 
Carpatho-Rusyns first settled the Johnstown area in 1887 and began to establish their own churches and other institutions. Other Rusyn immigrant centers quickly developed: Barnesboro, Patton, Windber, South Fork, Portage, and beyond, with thousands of Rusyn immigrants making this area their home, and making up a significant part of the workforce of the local steel mills and coal mines.

Descendants of these Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants are still found in this region in large numbers, their numerous churches are included among historic landmarks, and they retain a strong love for their roots here and in the Rusyn homeland.

The presentation will cover their early settlement in the region, their places of origin in the European homeland, and the development of their churches and fraternal and cultural institutions here.

full list of speakers

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society will sponsor a Carpatho-Rusyn culture/genealogy/sales table. All are welcome!

UPDATE: My presentation was adapted to this blog format and is available here.

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