During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an estimated 300,000 Lithuanians journeyed to America. This number is hard to document fully because census records did not officially recognize Lithuanians as a separate nationality until the twentieth century, and the country’s people may have been reported as Russian, Polish, or Jewish. Several cities and large READ MORE >>
Ukranian Lemkos in the Minersville (Pa.) region. This two-part article was originally published in 2011 and gives an intimate glimpse into family memories and history shared by people in the area of Minersville and the surrounding “patches” of Primrose and Forrestville. In addition, part 2 features information on the Kramer, Olenick, Katchmar, and Pellish families. READ MORE >>
“This place is like a time capsule. You guys still talk about Lemkos and Galicia. We don’t even talk about that stuff,” said exchange student Lyudmyla Sonchak during an ethnic festival near Minersville, Pennsylvania. Anthracite Coal Region presents a unique historical demographic. Unlike larger American cities of the industrial heartland such as Chicago, New York, READ MORE >>
The disappearance of a Jewish community in a small mining town in Pennsylvania sheds light on the disappearance of many other small Jewish communities that once dotted the American landscape. Upon arriving in America in the late 1800s, many Jewish immigrants were faced with the same problem—earning a living. They were forced to peddle various READ MORE >>
Today’s Church of St, Patrick in Pottsville, Pa. was the first Catholic church in the lower anthracite coal region; the first between “John Potts and the coal mines” and the New York state boundaries to the east and to the north. It would become the mother church in which many other area Catholic parishes found READ MORE >>