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Slovenian Americans





HISTORY

The first Slovenians in the United States were Missionary Priest s. In the 1700s some Slovenians settled in small farming communities in Georgia . There were a few Slovenian soldiers who fought in the American Revolution . Slovenian priests built some of the first churches and schools in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and neighboring parts of Canada . Until the 1880s there was a small number of Slovene immigrants to the United States. The largest numbers of Slovenians immigrated to America between 1880 and World War I . Most of these came between 1905 and 1913, although the exact number is impossible to determine because Slovenians were often classified as Austrians , Croatians , or under other, broader labels, such as Slavonic or Slavic . These later arrivals migrated to the industrial cities or to mining towns in the Upper Midwest and American West .


DEMOGRAPHICS


Concentrations


According to the 2000 census, the five states with the largest Slovenian populations were:

  • Ohio – 58,402

  • Pennsylvania – 19,006

  • Illinois – 15,519

  • Minnesota – 10,420

  • California – 9,489


These five states are followed, in descending order, by Colorado , Michigan , Florida , New York , Texas , Indiana , Washington , Kansas , and Maryland . The state with the smallest Slovenian-American population is North Dakota (107). There is no American state that has no Slovenian descendants among its population.


Numbers

In the 2000 US Census , 176,691 Americans declared that they were of Slovenian origin (of those, 738 have attained the Ph.D. ). The number of reported Americans of Slovene descent undoubtedly is an underestimate. Some Slovenians coming from the Austro-Hungarian Empire avoided anti-Slavic prejudice by identifying themselves as Austrians. Many others were recorded as Slav, Slavic, Slavish, or Slavonian ( See Above ). The true number of Americans of Slovenian descent is probably between 200,000 and 300,000.


NOTABLE INDIVIDUALS



FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS

A number of Slovene fraternals in the United States are:

  • Slovenska Dobrodelna Zveza (Slovenian Mutual Benefit Association), founded 1910, became American Mutual Life Association ('''AMLA''') in 1966.

  • Kranjsko Slovenska Katoliška Jednota, founded in 1894, became Ameriška Slovenška Katoliška Jednota or American Slovenian Catholic Union (''' KSKJ ''').

  • Progressive Slovene Women of America ('''PSWA'''), founded in 1934.

  • Slovenska Ženska Zveza Amerike, founded in 1926, became Slovenian Women's Union of America ('''SWU''').

  • Slovenska Narodna Podporna Jednota, founded in 1904, became Slovene National Benefit Society (''' SNPJ ''').

  • Zapadna Slovanska Veza, founded in 1908, became Western Slavonic Association ('''WSA''').


For a longer discussion of the history of Slovene fraternalism in the United States, see the following article: Fraternal Benefit Societies and Slovene Immigrants in the USA .

The Slovenian Genealogy Society, International {Link without Title} helps members to trace their Slovenian roots.


SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS