istorija / history
The long and glorious Serbian-American story From Šagić, via Tesla to Pupin
Russians, Greeks and Syrians. The second period of Serbian immigration lasted from 1880 to the second decade of the 20 th century. Follow- ing the American Civil War (1861-1865), the U.S. be- gan its great industrial and economic growth, opening the door to all European immigrants. The new land gave them hope for economic prosperity, along with political and religious freedom. In this context, America was a promised land for them. Serbian immigrants came from Krajina (Lika, Kordun, and Banija), Bosnia and Herzego- vina, Montenegro and Vojvodina. The majority of immi- grants from Krajina settled in Pennsylvania; immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina settled in Chicago, De- troit, Milwaukee, Gary and St. Louis; immigrants from Montenegro settled in Montana, Pennsylvania and Il- linois, and immigrants from Vojvodina settled in Ohio (Cleveland and Akron). The first famous Serb, Đorđe Šagić, who later came to be known as George Fisher, arrived in the United States via the port of Philadelphia in 1815. His contribution to building American society was so important that to- day we can find Šagić’s picture mounted in the Nation- al Museum of Texas in Houston. Most Serbian immigrants arrived in the port of New York without money. For instance, distinguished Serbi- an-American scientist Mihajlo I. Pupin had arrived with
A ccording to Dr Krinka V. Petrov, the his- tory of Serbian immigration in the U.S. can be divided into several periods. Dur- ing the first period, from 1820 to 1880, Serbs arrived from Montenegro (Bay of Kotor) and Dalmatia. And because they’d lived in coast- al towns in their native lands, they settled in similar towns in the States, such as New Orleans, Galveston and San Francisco. They lived in small communities and the only way to satisfy their “heart and soul,” i.e., religious beliefs, was to build parishes and churches to- gether with their fellow-Orthodox neighbours, such as The history of Serbian immigration in the United States began with the adventurous spirit of individuals in the early 19 th century
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