TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO PRESERVE
RUSYN
HISTORY AROUND LAKE MICHIGAN
In the latter part of the 19th Century, thousands of our
Carpatho-Rusyn ancestors came directly from their home villages in Europe to the
expanding steel, oil refining and auto industries in Northwest Indiana (NWI)
and the Chicago area. Others moved from
the coal mines of southern Illinois or the steel mills and mines of
Pennsylvania and Ohio to the towns surrounding Lake Michigan, causing
substantial growth in those areas.
Because their church was an important part of their
culture, our forefathers/mothers soon undertook saving money to build churches and
bring priests from “the Old Country” to America. Among those churches are/were:
BC-Byzantine Catholic, BU—Byzantine Ukrainian,
C-R—Carpatho-Rusyn, OCA—Orthodox Church in America
ILLINOIS: Holy Trinity
Cathedral OCA, Chicago (1892)
St.
Nicholas OCA, Joliet (1903)
St. Mary (Holy
Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary) BC, Seely Avenue, Chicago (1903), closed.
St. Michael
C-R, Niles (1914) (formerly Campbell Avenue, Chicago)
St. Mary
Assumption BC, Joliet (1915), closed
St. Peter
& St. Paul OCA, Chicago (1932), now in Burr Ridge
St.
Mary BC Mission Parish, Oak Lawn (1978) started by St. Mary/Seely
Ave. Annunciation
BC, Homer Glen (1998), combination of St. Mary
(Seely Ave.),St.
Mary Mission (Oak Lawn) and St. Mary (Joliet)
INDIANA: St. Mary BC., Whiting
(1899)
St.
Michael BC, Gary (1911) now in Merrillville
St.
Nicholas C-R, Gary (1911) now in Hobart
Descent of the
Holy Ghost (Spirit) C-R, East Chicago (1917) now in Schererville
St. Michael
BU, Mishawaka (1918)
Holy Ghost BC,
Indiana Harbor (1920) closed
St. Basil
BC, East Chicago
St.
Nicholas BC, Hammond (1922) now Munster, IN
WISCONSIN: Holy
Trinity OCA, Clayton (1902)
St.
Mary OCA, Cornucopia (1906)
St.
Nicholas OCA, Kenosha (1912)
Holy
Assumption OCA, Lublin (1908)
SS. Cyril
and Methodius OCA, Milwaukee (1927)
St. John the
Baptist OCA, Stanley (1906)
Unfortunately, documentary records of Rusyns and
their settlements are disappearing daily, often discarded by those who have no
knowledge of or interest in their Rusyn ancestors or history. Before any more documentation disappears, the
Carpatho-Rusyn Society/Lake Michigan Chapter is undertaking a project to
preserve our ancestors’ stories before they are lost forever.
However, we need the help of Rusyns in the four states
surrounding Lake Michigan who might have documents, photos, diaries, other
memorabilia and stories or other knowledge of these pioneers to share them with
our chapter. We would like you to share
your stories and/or the stories that Baba and Dido told you about their adventure
to America with us.
If you have ancestors with roots in the Lake Michigan area
(or anywhere in the US) or have answers to any of the following questions, we
would love to hear from you:
--what Old Country villages contributed to each community (found in metrical
records of churches);
--employment opportunities in various areas that attracted
immigrants;
--institutions/organizations established (churches, cemeteries, fraternal
organizations, musical/dance/theatrical groups;
--businesses owned by Rusyns (bars, groceries, funeral
directors, etc.);
--names of
fraternal organizations and lodge numbers;
--prominent/influential Rusyn community members and church founders;
--details of church court cases (e.g., East Chicago, goldmines of info, e.g., names
of those involved);
--program booklets from church/community events (i.e., "Greek Catholic
Rusin Day" held at Wicker Park in Whiting in the 1930s).
Our chapter plans to share the information and/or donated
artifacts from this project with the C-RS Cultural Center in Munhall, PA where
they will be preserved, displayed and/or archived. You may also email scanned
documents or photos (include names of people and their villages, name of event
if appropriate or any other information that may be helpful to future
generations searching for their Rusyn roots).
Our LMC Board would like to get others involved in this
project. If you would like to help
gather information and/or interview your family or people from your church or
have Rusyn items you’d like to donate, please respond to this email as soon as
you receive it.
Those interested in
helping us collect stories and artifacts are asked to meet at 6 pm Thursday, May 9
at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, 8103 Columbia Ave., Munster,
IN. The church is easily accessible off
I-80/94. Please RSVP to lakemichiganrusyns@gmail.com by Tuesday, May 7 if you
plan to attend the meeting in Munster.
John Schweich from the National C-RS board will be coming
from Pennsylvania next week to do some research on Carpatho-Rusyn churches in
the NW Indiana and Chicago areas for his presentation at the Czechoslovak Genealogical
International Society in Chicago this October. He will share his expertise on gathering
information from Rusyns at the meeting.
If you have further questions or would like to help or know
of someone we should interview, please email me at: lakemichiganrusyns@gmail.com.
Please feel free to share this project information with
other Carpatho-Rusyns who may be interested in their history and our project.
Hope to see you in Munster next week,
Charlotte Pribish
Conjelko
President
Carpatho-Rusyn Society/
Lake Michigan Chapter
