ALEX F 145 .H95 B53 1975 /_ BI(cid:127)CENTENNIAL HUNGARIAN HERITAGE IN NEW JERSEY The Bicentennial Hungari(cid:127) Heritage Committee of New Jersey 1975 Bless the Magyar, O our God, Bountifully, giadily! Shield with Thy protecting hand When his foes smite madly! Fate, of old, has rent him sore; May it now bring healing! By-gone sins are all aton'd, Ev'n the future sealing. From Magyar National Anthem by FerencK 6l(cid:127)ey (1790-1838) Englisht rar(cid:127)lation by WatsonK irkconnell PRINTED BY STANDARD PRESS New Brunswick,N ew Jersey BICENTEN NIA:L HUN!GARIAN HERITAGE IN r NEW JERSEY The HUngarina Heritage Committeeo f New Iersey was formedo n March 10, 1'975w i(cid:127) the goal to join our country'bsi centenniacle lebrationbsy making(cid:127)o (cid:127) the contAbu- tions of Hungarianst o the life of New jersey'o n the economic, scientifainc,d c ulturlaelv elasn db yp ledginthge a ctivleo yaltoyf Americanso f Hungariand escentt o the ideals of the founding fathers of this nation. The Committee elected the Rev. Imre Bertalan as its chairman, Miss P(cid:127)cil(cid:127) Hunyady to be secretarya, nd Iohn Nemisht o be treasurer. Members of the Commi(cid:127)ee at its formation were- Laszlo Abonyi,A lexanderB emath, Gabor Bodnar,L aszlo Dienes,D ezso F(cid:127):or, Dr. GeorgeF rederick(cid:127)e, Rev.J ulianF uzer,L ajosH ajdu- NemetDh,r .O (cid:127) ø Hamotsh, eR evi.'.(cid:127)'r -(cid:127)ndrewH arsanYthi,e R ev. StephenH o(cid:127)ath, the Rev. LaszloH unyady,L aszloK aroly,J ohn Kerekgyarttoh,e Rev.M atthewK isst,h e Rev.D r. (cid:127)drew Kosa, William Kukor,M rs. JohnM a(cid:127), the Rev. SzabolcsN a(cid:127), Bela Pandak,t he Rev. (cid:127)orge Pogany,G eorge Pregg, Lester Sabo, Paul SomodyL, asz!oS zabo,j osephT egze and the Rev. Francis Vitez. (cid:127)e Committeeh as been incorporate. Amongt he proiectso utlineda t the Committee'fsir st meeting was a Mobile Exhibit to be taken to the various comm(cid:127)ities throughoutht e Stateo f New lerseyd isplayintgh e con(cid:127)butions of Hungari(cid:127)s to the life of New Jerseyin the pasta ndi n the present. A(cid:127)o two printedp ublicafi.onosn, e entitledH u(cid:127)ari(cid:127)ns (cid:127) New Jerseyc, ontaininag det(cid:127)ed histo(cid:127) togethe(cid:127)trh a Who'sW ho AmongH ungariansin New lersey.T his latter pa(cid:127) wishest o in- dude not onlyp rominenpt ersonalitieNs.o, belP r(cid:127)e laureatesa nd other i(cid:127)ders (cid:127) (cid:127)e sciencesi,n arts, and in economicsb ut also - (cid:127)d moste mphatically- commonp eoplew ho are not common at all in the ethymologicasle nseo f the word becauseth ey have built their lives and labor into the (cid:127)owth and excellencoe f the Stateo f New JerseyT. heseC ommonp eoplem adeH ungarianas highlyr espectedet hnicg roupa mongt he many nationalitieisn Newl erseyIn. thisb ookw e& nvisiosenv erathl ousanodfs e ntries. The otherp ublicationis this booklet.T he main part consists of '*biographieosf Hungarianc hurchesa nd civic organizations presentloyp eratinign New JerseyT. he editorso f thisb ookleta sked everyc hurcha nd organizatiotnh ey knew of to submitt heir bi- ography. Most of them respondeda, nd the reader will find a fairly completec ollectiono f them. A few, like St. Stepben'sin Trenton and St. Elias in Carteret, did not consider themselves Hungarianc hurchesa ny longer.O thersh ave, in fact, lost their Hungarianc haracterS. omei,n spiteo f follow-upsd, id not give a positivere ply.A ll thesew ill be reviewedin the historicasl urvey of the forthcomingv olume. Ther esto f the contentosf thisb ookleti,n cludingth e pictorial sectionw, erea ddedt o giveo nlyg limpseosf Hungarianp articipa-. tion in New Jersey'sli fe and history.I t shoulda lso serve as a foretastteo a mored etailedh istoryo f Hungariansin this State. The editorsw ho put this booklett ogetherw ere Bela Bacskai, LaszloD ienest,h e Rev.D r. AndrewH arsanyiM, ichaelH egedus, andt heR ev.M atthewK issT. heya ll hadt heirs harein compiling the materiaal nd writingu p the articlesD. r. AndrewH arsanyi wasr esponsibfloer thef inal compositioann ds hapeo f the booklet. The editorsw ish to emphasize,h owever, that each church and civic organizationis responsiblefo r the material included as well asf or thev iewse xpresseind t heirr espectivbeio graphies. The art worko n the coverw asm adeb y JanosT okay.T he printingw ork was doneb y the Rev. AndrewH amza and Istvan HamzaT. o themt hee ditorws isht o exprestsh eirs inceraep preci- ation. ADDING OUR BRAWN AND BRAIN- SHAPING LIFE IN A NEW WORLD E pluribus unum- out of the many peoples who have found haven on American shores, there has formed a mighty Nation; just as out of manyS tatest ime and statesmanshfiopr geda single Country. What did a comparatively small band of newcomers from the fertile, yet tragic vale of Duna-Tisza, once protected by the Carpathian Range, contribute to the greatnesso f New Jerseya nd these United States? Legend has it that there may have been an odd .Magyar among the Vikings. S()mcs uspecta few of them midst the crew of Christopher Columbus... But there is no) doubt that the name America stems from 1rare; since there is no other with this name on record among those canonizedt han the first heir to Hungary's throne, St. Emericus. Consequentlye xplorer Amerigo Vespucci, godfather of the new continents must have been baptized with Imre as his patron. There are hints that George Washington may have had a maternal ancestorw ith a Magyar strain. But much before that, in 1583, it was a Hungarian his-(cid:127)orian, Oxford scholar Stephen Budai, who in classicL atin detailed an eyewitnessr eport on the first English expedition'sla nding. While Budai was swept over- board in a gale, his charts guided the Mayflower to shore 37 years later. While Colonel Kovdts was recruiting and organizing the American cavalry in the North, a large number of Hungarians arrived amongt he French expeditionaryfo rce, to relieve Wash- ington'st ired men in the crucial stageso f the conflict. Tht(cid:127) . inclusiono f Magyarsa mongt he French is due largely to the. promptingo f Ldszl6 BercsdnyiG, rand Marchal of France, who was able to guide abroad R(cid:127)tk6czi's crack cavalry, when he was in chargeo f the Kumc leader'sb odyguard. Our BICENTENNIAL prompts us to present a cavalcade in a nutshell. Some of our people's contributionsa re quite out- standingw, hile mosto f them little known and unpublicizedI.t is high time to offer a glimpseo f our sinceree ndeavor,e nrich- ing life in NexvJ erseyi n particular.O ur State, situated as it is at the epicenteorf the Boston-Washingmtoeng alopolpisr,o vides homea ndw orkplacfeo r a goodp ortiono f Hungarianim migrants. A resoureeEfunl glishmathne, f irstt o surveyth eN ewJ ersey coastlinei,s well known to all schoolchildrenf,o r he was founder of the originapl ermanenste ttlemenint historicJ amestowBn.u t where is i,t taught that this fabulousJ ohn Smih took a leaf from that greatc ommonekri ng, MatthiasC orvinus(w hose5 00-year- old,p ricelesbso okasr et reasurebdy Amerieam'so spt restigious universities), by pressing his Gentlemen Adventurers into physicalal bori n ordert hat the first VirginiaC olonym ay sur- vive. Popular miseoneeptions urmizes Smith to have been a sea-captain,p artly becausel ater he was made Admiral of New England, the region he thus named. But the fact is that he was madeC aptaino f the Hussarsin WesternH ungarya nd after havingd istinguishheidm selifn the defenseo f tha.tc ountryh, e meritedth e recommendatoiof nS igmunBd (cid:127)tthoryo f Transylvania, andw itht hath ew asa blet o joint he1 607e xpeditiobne,c oming i,t s leader. Hard workingm en and womenf ollowedi n the path of SmithT. heys ettledo n farmsl,a boredin minesa nd forestsa, nd even their young worked in factories.A merica's riehest have smokeedi garsr olledb y teenageM agyarg irlsb roughot vero n contractosf indenturefr, ee onlyw hent heir passagwe as worked off. When the combinedA ustrian and Russian armies over- whelmedL ouis Kossuth'sst rugglef or independencteh,e first political refugeesc ame in droves.T he Great Liberator him- selfm adea whirlwind.t our,a nd spokein New Jerseyc enters as well. Left behindw ere his followers,8 00 of whom became officerfso r .theU nionA rmy,m anyd istinguishitnhge mselveosn battlefieldsla, ter in Americanp ublie administratioann, d also in thef ledglinAgm ericadnip lomatcico rpasb road. NewJ erseiyn dustrrye liedo n the steadyw orkingd iligence of Hungariainm migrar(cid:127)tfso r overa centuryT. he crueld ismem- bermenotf Hungarayn dt he stillm ored isastrocuosn sequences of the WW II forcedt he emigrationo f a multitudew hicho ther- wise would have madeg oodi n their native environmenSt.o - phistieateadr tisansd,i splacepdr ofessionaalsn,d r esearchsc ientists thus roundedo ut the pioneeri mmigrantc omplementA. s a result, especiallys inceK ilmer becamea word knownt he world over, the Bicentennialf inds a wide spectrumo f Magyar talent and enterprise. All Hungariansi n New Jersey,i n every walk of life, sought the companyo f each other spirituallyc. ulturallya nd socially. Thise ndeavobrr oughfot rthc hurchessc, hooalsn ds ociacl lubs.'. Ir(cid:127) this age of abrupt changest, rials, and tribulations,w e are proud to adhere to the noblest American traditions, also to the heritageo f our œorebearTsh. is samplero f past performances attemptst o show that this segmento f our State'sc itizenry strives to do its level best. Our brochurea lso aims to strengthent he hope of young ando ld œoar brightf utureb, asedo n an impressivfoeu ndation. This may be a modest bouquet for a magnificent Bicentennial, but it is submitted as a token of what we are and what we of- fer as an appreciationf or a New Homeland. Long may it en(cid:127)oy peacea nd prosperity! HUNGARIAN LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS IN NEW JERSEY Hungarian emigrantst hat settled in New Jersey established their churches of differen(cid:127)t denominations and founded their re- ]igious, social, and t(cid:127)raterna! insurances ocietiesa s œarb ack as the 1890s. It was not until 1906, however, that the first printed Hungarian languagew eekly newspapera ppeared on the scene. It was the Passaic Free Press (Szabad Sa/t(cid:127)) which later was merged with a paper called Passaic and Vicinity (Passaic (cid:127)s Kiirny(cid:127)ke). The Free Press was published individually œoro ver 60 consecutivey ears. Among its editors were the following: Her- ma,(cid:127) Virag, the first editor-publisher,C orneliusC songrady,C harles D. Papp, Stephen Huebner, Tibor Bartok, Eugene Lang, Nandor Karl, Paul Nadanyi, Izso Szekely, Euge,(cid:127)e Markos ma,(cid:127)aging-editor(cid:127) and Laszlo I. Dienes, editor-publisher.A nother Hungarian weekly publication,t he Hungarian Republic (Magyar Ki(cid:127)'ztcirsasdg)w as launched in Trenton in the same year, edited by Dr. Eugene Antal, but it ceased publication shortly aRer. in 1908 the Magyar Herald (Magyar Hirn(cid:127)'k) was established in New Brunswick, edit.e d and published by Mr. Pogany. Into this weekly merged several other New JerseyH ungarian publica- tionsu ntil finally, in 1973, all the existingJ erseyp apersm erged into one united Hungarian weekly, the Magyar Herald (Magyar Hirad(cid:127)). The Magyar Herald's editor was i:or several decades Hugo Kormos of Highland Park, whose sympathy and connec- tions with leftist groups was well known. Upon his death the paper was purchasedb y Lasz!o I. Dienes, who merged it with his otherN ew Brunswickw eekly,t he,H ungarianY ourhal( Magyar HirlaI(cid:127)) acceptedb y all Hungarianc hurchesa nd organizationosf that area. Chronologicallyt he next Hungarian publication in the state xvast he Trenton and Vicinity (Trenton (cid:127)s Ki)'rny(cid:127)ke) in 1909, whicha ppearedo nly for a œewm onths.I n 1911 anotherw eekly wass tartedin Trenton,t he HungarianY ourhal( Magyar Hirlap), edited by John Walko, publishedb y AnthonyV arady. In 1913 the Independence(F iiggetlensdgw) as foundedb y a young Hungarian newspaperm an from the old country, Alex- ander O. Zambory who on November2 7th of that year published the first issuem ade on a proof-machineH. e edited and published this weekly until 1920 when he sold it (cid:127)to Anthony J. Orosz. The new editor and publisher, a young former Hungarian army of- ricer fresh from the war, took his job very seriouslyw, orked hard, and for the 15th Anniversaryo f the paper published a large-size Jubilee Album with a sub-title The History of the Tren'ton and Roebling Hungarians - 1876-1928. The 114-page Album is a master-pieceo f its sort, with an overwhelminga mount of valuable information regarding the history of Hungarian churches and societieso f Trenton and Roeb!ing.I f all the editors of Hungarian newspapersh ad done the same kind of thorough job in publish- ing similar Albums,w e would now have a full history of the Hungarians in New Jersey. In 1919 a newspaperc alled Reformed Church Informer (Re- formtltusE gyhdzil (cid:127),gesit3) was publishedb y the Rev. Geza Ko- rocz, also of Trenton. This paper merged with the Independence in 1922. In 1921 Alexander Zambory moved to Perth Areboy where with the help of Louis Csipo he started a new paper, the Perth Areboy Herald (Hiradd). He edited and publishedt his weekly for the following 19 yearsu ntil 1940 when he sold it to Laszlo I. Dienes, whom he invited to be his managing edi.tor from Bethlehem,P a. after he was named secretaryt o the Perth Amboy Housing Authority and director of the newly built, federally financed William Dunlap Homes. Even after he took his new position,Z amboryr emainedw ith the paper as editor in chief, contributingh is editorialsa nd joke columnst o the Hiradd for severaly ears thereafter.H e was the Grand Old Man of the Hungarianp ress.H e took active part in the Hungarian life to the day of his death in 1958. He was honoredb y the City of Perth Amboyb y naminga streeta t the site of the HousingP ro- ject ZamboryS treet. Prior to his Perth Amboy activities,Z ambory started another weekly in Trenton with the help of a print-shopo wner, Maurus Gerenday.T he Iersey Herald (Jersey Hiradd) was launched early in 1921. Gerendaya nd later his son, NicholasG erenday, edited the paper for over 35 years.U pon the death of the Ge- rendays,t he paper was publishedf or a while by an Italian publishingfi rm. In 1964 it was mergedw ith the Independence. The IndependenceO, rosz'p aper, was edited for severaly ears