West Virginia University Professor Briane Turley on the topic of the Hungarian experience in the USA
Prof. Turley’s preliminary research results already challenge conventional wisdom, contesting the argument that the Hungarian presence and the Hungarian influence in the United States South are irrelevant. He unveiled solid evidence about Hungarian communities in the US Appalachian region, with reflections on religious building constructions (i.e., churches and synagogues), cultural festivities, societal habits, and the foundation of cities such as Budapest and Tokaj as far south as the Appalachian region in the state of Georgia. His main point is that a larger number of Hungarian immigrants than previously recognized settled their own communities in the US South instead of simply returning to Hungary at some point.
Prof. Turley showed those present a variety of maps that reflect his use of the most advanced ESRI Geographic Information System (GIS) software to map decadal changes in the Hungarian population between 1900 and 1930 in the Appalachian region. After securing the Hungarian National Libraries digitization of the entire fifty-year collection of Marton Himler’s weekly newspaper, The Magyar Banyaszlap, he and his colleagues at the University of Szeged are uncovering US labor history data that until now were never seen. Moreover, he and his colleague, Anna Fenyvesi, are evaluating thousands of Hungarian-language graves they have catalogued and are discovering.
Prof. Turley explained to those present that Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies (CIAS) made possible this rapidly expanding scholarly enterprise on the topic possible. Several American Universities and the US and Hungarian Fulbright programs are now supporting his team’s research, but the project would not have been made possible without initial support from CIAS.