Contemporary Ethnicity, Maintenance of Ethnic Culture and Ethnic Change: The Case of the Slovak Americans in Western Pennsylvania
Contemporary Ethnicity, Maintenance of Ethnic Culture and Ethnic Change: The Case of the Slovak Americans in Western Pennsylvania

Summary/Abstract: The western part of the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Pittsburgh as its industrial and administrative centre were the areas of an extensive influx of immigrants from the territory of Slovakia (formerly part of Austria-Hungary, and pre-WW II Czechoslovakia). The immigrants settled in this area created the basis of formation of Slovak ethnic communities, which have left their imprint on the lifestyle and cultural identification of the next generation of American-born descendants of the Slovak immigrants. According to the US federal censuses of 1980 and 1990 the area of Pittsburgh and adjacent counties is still, besides Cleveland, Oh. and Chicago, Ill. a territory with a significant portion of the population declaring Slovak ancestry.

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