Slovenian (or Slovene) Americans are immigrants or descendants of people from Slovenia, a country in South Central Europe. Slovenia is bordered to the west by Italy and the Adriatic Sea, to the north by Austria, to the east by Hungary, and to the south and southeast by Croatia. Three major European geographic regions meet in Slovenia: the Alps, the Pannonian Plain and the Mediterranean. Slovenia's total land area is 7,827 square miles (20,273 square kilometers), slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey.

According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, the country had a population of 2,058,123 in 2012. More than half of the population was Catholic (57.8 percent), and there were small percentages of Muslims (2.4 percent), Orthodox (2.3 percent), and Protestants (0.9 percent). Another 3.5 percent were believers without any religious denomination, 22.8 percent declared no association with religion, and 10.1 percent identified themselves as nonbelievers. In 2012 Slovenia also counted almost 417,000 immigrants, most of them from former southern Yugoslav republics, especially Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, meaning that almost every fifth resident of Slovenia was an immigrant.

Slovenian immigrants have a history in the United States that extends to the period before the American Revolution, but the largest group arrived between 1870 and 1924. Most were poor peasant farmers who found work first in the mining communities of Michigan and Minnesota and later in industrialized cities such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Slovenians who came to the United States after World War II were mainly political refugees who were better educated and included more professionals than the economic immigrants of the earlier periods whose purpose in migrating to the United States was to seek employment and improve their financial position. Since Slovenia achieved its independence in 1991, immigration has slowed to a trickle. Between 1992 and 2002 average annual immigration to the United States was just seventy people.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates for 2006–2010, there were an estimated 174,784 Slovenian Americans residing in the United States, an amount close to the population of Salt Lake City. However, because Slovenians have self-identified under a variety of labels—including Slav, Slavic, Slavish, and Slavonian—the number of Americans of Slovenian descent is likely under-reported by a considerable margin. About a third of the reported Slovenian American population lives in Ohio. Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Minnesota—all historic settlement areas for Slovenian immigrants—also have substantial Slovenian American populations as do Wisconsin and California.

Early History Most historians believe that Slovenians settled in present-day Slovenian lands between 568 and 650 CE, but this has been challenged by a group of writers who argue that Slovenians are descendants of an ancient West Slavic people called (Slo) Veneti, Vendi, or Wends—a people that predated the Romans. All scholars agree, however, that Slovenians lived in present-day Slovenia by 650 CE. They enjoyed a brief independence at the dawn of their known history when they developed an early form of democracy, culminating in the famous ritual of the installation of the dukes of Karantania (Slovenian Carinthia). According to Harvard historian Crane Brinton, “the picturesque Slovenian ceremony was well known to political philosophers, and indeed through Bodin known to Thomas Jefferson … [being] a small but significant variable that went into the making of modern Western democratic institutions.” (Catholic Historical Review, 1969).

After allying themselves with the Bavarians against the warlike Avars and jointly defeating them in 743 CE, the northern Karantanian Slovenians lost independence to their Bavarian allies, who refused to leave, and a year or two later to the Franks, who subdued the Bavarians. Following the mysterious disappearance of Prince Kocelj, the Slovenians of Pannonia, too, came under the rule of Frankish overlords in 874. For more than a millennium the Slovenian people were under the political administration of their more powerful neighbors: the Bavarians, the Franks, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Austrian Empire. According to British author Bernard Newman, “It was manifestly impossible for a small people to gain and hold freedom Page 224  |  Top of Articlewhen surrounded by acquisitive great powers, but the Slovenes determined on cultural rather than political liberty. It was a miracle of survival almost without parallel.” (Unknown Yugoslavia, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1960, 199)

The Christianization of the Slovenians had been conducted by missionaries from Aquileia (now in northern Italy) and Salzburg (then an ethnically mixed territory). The most famous missionaries were the Irish bishop St. Modestus in the mid-eighth century, who labored in Karantania, and brothers St. Cyril and St. Methodius from Salonika, who spread the Christian faith and literacy in Slovenian Pannonia in the late 860s and 870s and established a seminary to educate Slovenian boys for the priesthood.

In addition to constant Germanization pressures, which began with the Christianization process, the Slovenians suffered almost two centuries of sporadic Turkish raids, especially from 1408 to 1578. An estimated 100,000 Slovenians perished, and an equal number of young boys and girls were taken to Turkey, where the boys were trained as Turkish soldiers (janissaries) and the girls were put into harems or domestic service. In 1593, however, Slovenian and Croatian forces united and decisively defeated the Turks in the battle of Sisak in Croatia. Under the leadership of Count Andrej Turjaški (Andreas of Turjak, Slovenia), the threat of subsequent Turkish raids on Slovenian and neighboring lands was considerably diminished. Slovenians were also involved in numerous uprisings against the exploitative foreign nobility, the most famous of which was the joint Slovenian-Croatian revolt of 1573, in which more than a third of the rebels perished in battle and many of the survivors were tortured and executed.

As Newman and other foreign observers noted, the Slovenians concentrated on cultural, rather than political, freedom and opportunities. Scholars have pointed out how Slovenians benefited not only Austria, with which they were for centuries associated, but also the world. Examples include Jurij (George) Slatkonia (1456–1522), from Ljubljana, Slovenia, who in 1498 founded and led the Vienna Court Musical Establishment, including the Vienna Boys Choir, and became the first resident bishop of Vienna in 1513. Joseph Stefan (1835–1983), a physicist and author of Stefan's fourth-power law, was also one of many Slovenian rectors of the University of Vienna. Frederic Pregl from Ljubljana (1869–1930), the father of microanalysis, won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His disciple, P. A. Levene, according to Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (1972), “brought Pregl's world-famous methods to the United States.” Described by some as a people of servants, the Slovenians also gave Germany, when it was Europe's most powerful state, its second chancellor (1890–1894), Leon von Caprivi (originally Kopriva).

Modern Era Slovenia was part of the Habsburg Empire from the fourteenth century until 1918, with the exception of a four-year period in which it was part of the Illyrian Provinces (comprising Krain, or central Slovenia, central Croatia, and Dalmatia), established by Napoleon in 1809 to fend off Austria. Despite this long occupation, Slovenia maintained its Slovenian language and culture. In 1918, at the end of World War I, Slovenia became a part of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. The uneasy union was terminated by the invasion of the Axis powers in 1941. After a brutal occupation by the Axis forces and a cruel Communist revolution (1941–45), Communist-dominated Yugoslavia was under the totalitarian rule of Josip Broz, known as Marshall Tito. Slovenia was Yugoslavia's most prosperous republic during this period, yet it was dominated by Communists (the only allowed political party) who never represented as much as 7 percent of the Slovenian population yet controlled nearly all politics, finances and economy, education, the judiciary branch, and, of course, the media.

In the years immediately following Tito's death in 1980, Slovenia resisted Belgrade's plans to further concentrate federal political and economic power and developed an openness in cultural, civic, and economic areas that was rare in the Communist world. In September 1989 the General Assembly of the Yugoslav Republic of Slovenia asserted its right to secede from Yugoslavia by adopting an amendment to its constitution. On December 23, 1990, a referendum was held in which 88.5 percent of Slovenians voted for independence. On June 25, 1991, the Republic of Slovenia declared its independence, and after a ten-day war, Yugoslavia ended its attack and gradually withdrew its forces from Slovenia. On January 15, 1992, the European community recognized independent Slovenia, and other countries soon followed suit, including the United States on April 7, 1992.

With historical ties to Central Europe, Slovenia has become an independent modern state. On May 22, 1992, it became a permanent member of the United Nations. In 2004 the country became a member of NATO and the European Union. Three years later Slovenia joined the Eurozone—the seventeen-member union of European countries that have adopted the euro as common currency and sole legal tender. In 2008 Slovenia became the first postCommunist country to hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Yet, in contrast to other countries formerly under former Communist domination, Slovenia did not exclude Communist leaders from political and economic power, nor did it manage to substantially diminish their control of banks, the courts, and leading mass media. This has resulted in continued Communist abuses and strong polarization, Page 225  |  Top of Articlenot only in politics but also in the population at large. Not a single Communist war criminal or mass murderer was sentenced or imprisoned or blocked from power. Unlike the European Union States, Slovenia never officially condemned Communism. Communists were often favored with inflated pensions or “cultural” subsidies, and some have become notorious tycoons. In 2012 and 2013 the old guard used its power to increasingly obstruct democratic government. It encouraged or organized mass protests, often under Communist symbols such as red flags and red stars, to block needed financial and other reforms and to topple Slovenian Spring leaders, especially second-term prime minister Janez Janša—an imprisoned Communist dissenter who became secretary of defense during the 1991 War of Independence and who, as prime minister of Slovenia (2004–2008), was president of the European Council in 2008.

The first proven settler of mixed Slovenian-Croatian ancestry was Ivan Ratkaj, a Jesuit priest who reached the New World in 1680. He was followed by Mark Anton Kappus, who came to the New World in 1687 and distinguished himself as a missionary, educator, writer, poet, and explorer. In the 1730s Slovenians and Croatians established small agricultural settlements in Georgia. During the Revolutionary War a small number of Slovenian soldiers fought with George Washington's forces. Between 1831 and 1868 the Slovenian-born scholar, missionary, and bishop Frederic Baraga labored on a vast 80,000-square-mile area of virgin territory that included parts of what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada, where he and his followers built some of the first churches, schools, and orphanages. Four of his Slovenian fellow missionaries also became American bishops. This was also the time when early Slovenian settlements were established. Andreas Skopec (Skopez) reached Fryburg, Pennsylvania, in 1846 and was joined by several Slovenian compatriots. Slovenian settlements followed in the mining town of Calumet, Michigan, in 1856; the farming community of Brockway, Minnesota, in 1865; and several rural areas in Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa. Historian and biographer John Zaplotnik recorded the beginnings of Slovenian communities in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1868; Joliet, Illinois, in 1873; New York City in 1878; and Cleveland, Ohio, in 1881.

Following the missionaries and other trailblazers, the largest numbers of Slovenian immigrants reached the United States between 1880 and World War I, particularly from 1905 to 1913. The exact numbers are impossible to pinpoint, because Slovenians were often identified either as Austrians or jointly with Croatians, or under a number of other labels. These immigrants were mostly men from poorer areas of Slovenia hoping to find a better life in the United States—the land of opportunity—and arrange for their wives or sweethearts to follow as soon as they had saved enough money. Many of them found work in mines and steel mills, where initially they earned two dollars for a ten-hour day. Some grew discouraged and returned to their homeland, but others married and settled in Slovenian communities. Many single men were anxious to find wives of their own culture; they persuaded young Slovenian women to immigrate to the United States by offering them jobs in their boarding houses, restaurants, and saloons, hoping to marry them. The growing communities attracted new immigrants, who were pleased to find countrymen who shared their culture and spoke their language.

The 1910 U.S. Census reported 183,431 persons of Slovenian mother tongue: 123,631 “foreign-born” and 59,800 born in the United States. By 1920, the Slovenian population in the United States had reached

228,000. These numbers were disputed as an underestimate of the actual Slovenian American population, because often descendants of earlier settlers no longer knew Slovenian. Also, many Slovenians coming from Austria tried to escape widespread anti-Slavic prejudice by identifying themselves as Austrian, and many who should have been reported as Slovenian appeared under such headings as Slav, Slavic, Slavish, or Slavonian, a problem recognized by the U.S. Census officials. World War I and subsequent restrictive regulations of 1924 ended mass immigration of Slovenians to the United States. The next significant wave of Slovenian immigration occurred after World War II (1945–1956), with an influx of political rather than economic immigrants. Again, because of different labels given these immigrants, such as Yugoslav, the numbers are difficult to determine. Concerning all Slovenian Americans, some writers placed their number in the 1980s at 250,000 to 300,000. Others, assuming the Slovenian population growth between 1910 and 1980 was the same as that of the American population at large, suggested that Americans with some Slovenian parentage should number over 500,000, yet in many cases only a fraction of increasingly mixed ethnic roots would be Slovenian and such persons could justifiably identify with a more dominant ancestral category or

CENGAGE LEARNING, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED U.S. Census Bureau, 2006–2010 American Community Survey

with none at all. In the twenty-first century, an estimated 90 percent of Slovenian Americans are second generation or beyond.

From the very beginning, Slovenian immigrants have been widely scattered in many states. Despite the underestimates of their numbers, the U.S. Census probably correctly identifies the states with the highest concentration of Slovenian Americans. Ohio, where nearly 50 percent live, is the unrivaled leader, with greater Cleveland being the home of the largest Slovenian community in the United States and also the largest settlement of Slovenians living outside of Slovenia. Pennsylvania (14.5 percent) is next, followed by Illinois (11.7 percent). Minnesota and Wisconsin each have a little over 6 percent of the Slovenian population. California, Colorado, Michigan, Florida, New York, Texas, Indiana, Washington, Kansas, and Maryland all have even smaller numbers. According to the U.S. Census of 2000, there was no single U.S. state in which Slovenians were not represented. The 2000 U.S. Census also indicated that Slovenian Americans were the ancestral group with the smallest percentage living in poverty in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey estimates for 2006–2010, Ohio was the state with the largest population of Slovenian Americans. Other states with large numbers of Americans of Slovenian descent included Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, and Minnesota.

Slovenian is a Slavic language that uses the Latin alphabet. It is also the language of the oldest preserved written documents of any Slavic people, the so-called brižinski spomeniki (the Freising Monuments), dating from 1000 CE. Primož Trubar published the first printed books in Slovenian starting in 1551, less than a century after the invention of the Guttenberg press and at a time when Latin was the prevalent scholarly language. Through a millennium of incorporation into German-speaking lands, the Slovenian language was the pivotal vehicle of Slovenian culture, consciousness, identity, and national survival. Because the Slovenians were few in number, they were eager to preserve their mother tongue while simultaneously learning other languages.

Indeed, Slovenians have long been noted for their exceptional linguistic skills. For example, many Slovenian missionaries in the United States preached in five or more languages. Several colleges and universities have from time to time taught the Slovenian language, including Kent State University (which also established an annual Slovenian Studies Award), Columbia University, the University of Illinois, Indiana University, the University of Kansas, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, and others. There are also several libraries with Slovenian language collections.

Among foreign-born Slovenians over the age of five in the United States in 2000, slightly more Page 227  |  Top of Articlethan 22 percent spoke only English in the home. Of the approximately 75 percent who spoke Slovenian in the home, almost 45 percent were also proficient in English. About 30 percent of all Slovenians in the United States are bilingual—English and some Slovenian—but the younger generation tends to use English to the exclusion of their ancestors' language.

The Slovenian writing system is phonetically precise in that a letter, with very few exceptions, always has the same sound. Most letters are the same as in English (except that Slovenian lacks the letters w and y), and many letters also have the same sound as in English. For the rest, the following pronunciation guide may be of help: a is pronounced as in art (never as in safe); e as in get (never as in eve); i as in ill (never as in like); o as in awe; u as in ruler (never as in use); c as in tsar (never as in cat); g as in go (never as in age); j as the y in yes (never as in just); lj as the lli in million; nj as the gn in monsignor; č as in church; š as in she; z as in zipper; and ž as the ge in garage.

Greetings and Popular Expressions Dobro jutro—good morning; dober dan—good day; dober večer—good evening; dobrodošli—welcome; jaz sem (Janez Zupan)—I am (John Zupan); to je gospod (gospa, gospodična) Stropnik—this is Mr. (Mrs., Miss) Stropnik; kako ste—how are you; hvala, dobro—thank you, well; na svidenje—so long; zbogom—good-bye; lahko noč—good night; prosim—please; hvala—thank you; na zdravje—to your health; dober tek—enjoy your meal; vse najboljše—the best of everything; oprostite— excuse me; čestitke—congratulations; kje je—where is; kje je restavracija (hotel)—where is a restaurant (hotel); kje je ta naslov—where is this address; me veseli—I am pleased; žal mi je—I am sorry; sem ameriški Slovenec (ameriška Slovenka)—I am an American Slovenian; vse je zelo lepo—everything is very nice; Slovenija je krasna—Slovenia is beautiful; še pridite—come again; srečno pot—have a safe trip.

Coming from a country with strong Catholic traditions and where hills and valleys are dotted with beautiful, centuries-old churches, many Slovenian Americans cling to their religious roots. They have built their own churches and other religious institutions all over the United States. Following the example of the missionaries, priests and seminarians came from Slovenia, and U.S.-born descendants of immigrants gradually joined the clergy. St. Vitus Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio is the largest Slovenian church in the United States; many visitors, including Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rode, have compared it to a cathedral. Since 1924 the Slovenian Franciscan Commissariat of the Holy Cross in Lemont, Illinois, has played a pivotal unifying role among Slovenian Catholics in the United States. It established the Mary Help of Christians Shrine (with a replica painting from Brezje, Slovenia) and represents the most popular Slovenian pilgrimage in North America. It comprises a monastery, a high school, a retreat house, and the Alvernia Manor for the Aged. It used to publish the annual Koledars (Almanacs) and still publishes the monthly magazine Ave Maria. In 1994 the spacious Slovenian Cultural and Pastoral Center was built in Lemont. Meanwhile, in 1971 the Slovenian Chapel of Our Lady of Brezje was dedicated inside the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., becoming another significant Slovenian religious landmark in the United States. Numerous pilgrims from throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries visit St. Peter's Cathedral in Marquette, Michigan, the resting place of its first bishop, Frederic Baraga.

Slovenian Americans, like other groups, have belonged to at least two ideologically distinct categories the Catholics (conservatives) and the freethinkers (progressives), or “rightists” and “leftists.” In the past, each had its own newspapers, magazines, and other institutions. Depending on times and people involved, relations between the two factions have ranged from hostile to tolerant to friendly competition. Some friction also developed between the freethinkers and socialists, who were descendants of earlier Slovenian immigrants, and the Slovenian Catholics, who immigrated to the United States after World War II. The new immigrants resented the freethinkers' support of Communist dictator Josip Broz Tito, whom they viewed as a mass murderer, while progressives looked with suspicion at the newly arrived refugees. In general, the friction has subsided.

A greater threat for religion developed in the late twentieth century. Many Slovenian parishes struggled for survival as the older generation died off, the Slovenian population migrated to the suburbs, the younger generation experienced increased Americanization and secularization, and the parishes found themselves with a lack of Slovenian priests. Some churches closed, and while others—such as St. George's in Chicago—remained active, the predominant ethnicity of the congregation changed from Slovenian to Latino. Some, like St. Joseph's Church in Joliet, Illinois, have continued to be the center of a thriving Slovenian community. In rare instances, ethnic churches that have closed have been replaced by new ones in new neighborhoods, as happened in Milwaukee-West Allis, Wisconsin, and in Bridgeport-Fairfield, Connecticut. In Cleveland two thriving Slovenian parishes remain, St. Vitus and St. Mary of the Assumption, each of which is more than a hundred years old.

Many Slovenians worship in other American Catholic parishes, while an extremely small number have joined other religions. The children of young couples are frequently enrolled in local Catholic schools, which means that their parents also join such non-Slovenian parishes. Many of these people still Page 228  |  Top of Articlereturn to Slovenian parishes at least on special occasions—at Christmas and Easter, for annual festivals, celebrations of holidays, Corpus Christi processions, Palm Sunday festivities with Slovenian butare (ornamented bundles of branches), and so on. St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Cleveland even presents the Passion liturgy in Slovenian, conducted by schoolchildren in biblical attire (ranging from Roman soldiers to Mary and Christ). According to the Slovenian Ethnic Parish Survey of 1976, to which twenty-seven parishes responded, the use of Slovenian languages in what were once predominantly Slovenian parishes is on the decline. Only stronger parishes remain bilingual, often with one Sunday Mass in English and another in Slovenian, which is paralleled by the church choirs. Yet it is not unusual for ethnic identity to persist to some extent even when ethnic languages are no longer used. The shortage of Slovenian priests has become a serious problem, as exemplified for instance in the once-thriving Slovenian St. Joseph parish in Calumet, Michigan, in San Francisco, and elsewhere. These trends have continued in the decades since the parish survey due to a number of factors, including an overall decline in the number of people joining the priesthood and a tendency of Catholic parishes to lose their ethnic character as subsequent generations of an immigrant group become more Americanized.

There is a group of Slovenian Protestants who refer to themselves as Windish. Although numerically small, this community has long used a Slovenian regional dialect in interaction, its services, and its press and has displayed considerable ethnic and religious vitality, especially in St. John's Windish Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a few other Slovenian Protestant institutions.

Until 1918 the bulk of Slovenian immigrants were Slovenian by ethnicity and Austrian by citizenship or statehood. Men usually had a working knowledge of German, which facilitated their adjustment in the American workplace where, at that time, many foremen and workers were from German-speaking countries. Yet, the American population began to differentiate between Germans, genuine German Austrians, and various non-German ethnic groups, including the Slovenians, who were looked down upon as inferior and often given such pejorative labels as “Polacks,” “Hunkies,” and “Bohunks.” Residents of cities with larger settlements of immigrants became aware of further subdivisions and reserved “Hunkies” for Hungarians, “Bohunks” for Czechs and Slovaks, and “Grainers” or “Grenish” (a corruption of the term “Krainers” from the Slovenian province of Krain, also known as Kranjska or Carniola) for Slovenians. Numerous accounts and studies suggest that for more than half a century after 1880 there was strong anti-Slavic and anti-Slovenian prejudice in the United States. Although Slovenians were not included among the forty “races” or ethnic groups whose hierarchical position in the United States has been studied since 1926 by means of the Bogardus Social Distance Scale, statistical scores and narrative reports in leading textbooks suggest there was an intense and widespread prejudice against all Slavic groups.

Initially most Slovenians coped with the problems of being low-status or despised strangers in a foreign land by establishing their own ethnic communities, including churches, schools, and business establishments. They also organized self-help groups such as fraternal societies, social and political clubs, and national homes as their new community centers. A high degree of self-sufficiency among Slovenians helped them adjust relatively well within their own ethnic community and facilitated adjustment in the American workplace and in society at large. Many applied the leadership skills they had learned in their ethnic neighborhoods to wider American society, often rising from club or lodge officers to become ward leaders, city councilmen, mayors, and other American political, business, and civic leaders. This trend continued through World War II but has declined since then. With few exceptions, this gradual, piecemeal adjustment to the United States seemed to work remarkably well. Slovenians in general proudly avoided being on welfare; in times of crises they helped each other.

Many Slovenian immigrants have acquired English with relative speed and facility. This was especially true of the missionaries and priests who immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century and of post–World War II refugees. It was less true of working-class immigrants who arrived between 1880 and 1930. Slovenians have been anxious to own homes, often with vegetable and flower gardens. In the mid-1950s, approximately 48 percent of Slovenian refugees had become homeowners after being in the United States only ten years on average. Newspapers such as the Cleveland Press and the Cleveland Plain Dealer often mentioned clean, family-owned homes, with attached vegetable and flower gardens, as a characteristic of Slovenian ethnic communities. As the emphasis in the United States has shifted from Anglo-conformity to pluralism, large numbers of Slovenian immigrants and their descendants are eager to learn and preserve the best elements of their ethnic culture and blend them into their American heritage.

Traditions and Customs The belief that the American and Slovenian cultures at their best are not only compatible but complement and enrich each Page 229  |  Top of Articleother seems to appeal to large numbers of Slovenian Americans, especially those who have visited the country of their ancestors (and are therefore familiar with present-day Slovenia instead of just the old country they had heard about from their parents or grandparents). Although Slovenia is a relatively small country, many customs are regional. Picturesque Slovenian national costumes, worn only on festive occasions, enrich many traditional affairs and often add diversity and color to various American festivals and celebrations.

Slovenian traditions that are still practiced include several cultural festivals. Miklavževanje, the feast of St. Nicholas Sveti Miklavž), takes place on or around December 6. The good old saint, dressed as a bishop and accompanied by angels and parkelji (little devils), visits Slovenian parish halls and schools and, after solemnly exhorting the young to be good, distributes gifts. Maškarade, or Slovenian-style carnivals, are another opportunity for merrymaking. Attendees disguise themselves with masks and silly attire.

Funerals Slovenian American wakes and funerals are usually attended by large numbers of mourners, including relatives, friends, and members of organizations to which the deceased belonged. Often, groups gather for private or club-scheduled prayers at the funeral homes; on rare occasions there are honor guards in uniforms or national costumes. After the funeral Mass and attendance at the cemetery, guests are invited to a meal as the bereaved family shows its appreciation for their attendance and those attending reinforce their solidarity with relatives of the deceased, helping ease the transition from sadness to normalcy.

In general, Slovenian American funerals tend to be similar to those of the U.S. population at large, with either a religious or secular tone. In addition to, or instead of, flowers, mourners often give money to help out the bereaved family or donate to a specified charity in memory of the deceased. Providing for a decent funeral was one of the first tasks of fraternal organizations' insurance in the years before Social Security and other safety nets.

Cuisine Slovenian and Slovenian American women are known for being excellent cooks and bakers. Many culinary specialties prepared by Slovenian American women (and sometimes men) have long been sold in ethnic communities at social gatherings and fundraisers. Some of the most popular goodies include potica (or poteetsah), a nut roll that is as Slovenian as apple pie is American. Among the usual varieties of poticas are walnut, raisin (or mixed), poppyseed, and tarragon. Apple, cherry, apricot, cheese, and other varieties of štrudel are also tempting delicacies, as are krofi, the Slovenian variety of doughnuts, and flancati, or angel wings, a flaky, deep-fried pastry. Savory dumplings (cmoki) and štruklji, meat-filled or liver-filled for soups, are also popular, as well as dumplings filled with apricots, plums, finely ground meat, or cheese, which can be served as the main meal, or baked and sweetened as dessert. In addition to all kinds of chicken, pork, and beef

dishes, including paprikash and goulash, Carniolan sausages (kranjske klobase) are also favorites. The Slovenian American astronaut Sunita Williams took some of these klobase on her space trip in 2006–2007, which received much publicity in the American news outlets.

Zganci (buckwheat crumbles) is a very popular food in Slovenia and is experiencing a revival in the United States as studies show how healthy it is. The same is true of such once-despised peasant meals as beans and sauerkraut, which former Ohio Governor Frank J. Lausche was known to consume right in the kitchen of the Capitol during his time in office (1945–1947 and 1949–1957). Somewhat exotic are rice or blood sausages, mentioned in several books by journalist Jim Klobuchar, the father of Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar. Imported award-winning Slovenian wines are supplemented by domestic wine from Slovenian American wineries, especially in Ohio and California, while some families, even those who no longer grow their own grapes, continue to make their own wine. Some old-timers also enjoy slivovitz, a strong plum brandy, imported or in some areas homemade, which others use only to “strengthen” and flavor their tea, and many would never taste.

Dances and Songs Early immigrants, often single men who worked hard and long hours during the week as miners, lumberjacks, or steel workers, loved to relax on weekends at Slovenian saloons, clubs, national halls, or picnic grounds. There they listened and danced to familiar tunes of joyful Slovenian polka music.

Polka dancing has long been a principal form of entertainment among a large section of Slovenian Americans. Many folk-dancing organizations, such as Eleanor Karlinger's at St. Vitus; SNPJ Circle 2 (the Slovenian Junior Chorus), Kres (Bonefire) Folklore Group, and Folklore Institute Dancers in Cleveland; Slovenian Radio Club Dancers in Chicago; and others in various Slovenian American communities, have been popular attractions for Slovenian and American audiences of all ages.

Singing societies—some singing primarily for enjoyment and socializing, others striving for perfection—have been popular among Slovenian Americans for more than a century. A popular saying is that three Serbians make up an army; three Croatians, a political party; and three Slovenians, a singing society. Although preserving Slovenian songs has usually been the primary goal of these singing societies, an assortment of American patriotic and other songs are frequently included. Cleveland singing groups Zarja and Glasbena Matica, under such prominent professional directors as John Ivanusch and Anton Schubel, were also known for their excellent operas, glowingly reviewed by American music critics. Although the number of singing societies has decreased, an impressive amount are still active and popular.

Starting in Cleveland in the mid-1960s, Rudy Knez directed the large and very popular Slovenian Young Accordionists Orchestra. In addition to individual button box and piano accordionists, gradually and especially in recent decades a surprisingly large number of polka orchestras have been established throughout the United States. With the national popularity of musicians such as the Grammy Award-winning Frankie Yankovic, this Slovenian music, often with an added American beat, has gained an ever-larger audience. Eddie Simms (Simoncic) played Slovenian tunes in some Holywood movies. In 1987 the American Slovenian Polka Foundation, led by Polka Ambassador and radio personality Tony Petkovsek, established The National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.

In 1973 Father Frank Perkovich celebrated the first Polka Mass at the landmark Slovenian Resurrection Church in Eveleth, Minnesota. The Polka Mass, which combined Slovenian polka and waltz melodies with lyrics for liturgy, was soon celebrated all across Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range and in the Twin Cities. Later Father Perkovich went on tours, celebrating the unique Mass in churches across the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and, ultimately, in Pope John Paul II's presence in Rome, which helped silence various critics who objected to this type of music. The Polka Mass became a key event at several Slovenian festivals throughout North America, and Father Perkovich's recording sold more than 100,000 copies.

Holidays Christmas, until 1987 an ordinary working day under the Communist regime in Slovenia, is the most universally celebrated holiday by Slovenians and Slovenian Americans, not only by Catholics but also by other Slovenian groups. Easter is very important to Catholics, and Easter customs that have been passed on through generations among Slovenian Americans include the painting of pisanke (the Slovenian version of Easter eggs) and select Easter foods, such as želodec (stomach casings filled with meat, symbolizing the tomb) and hren (horseradish, symbolizing the nails used in the Crucifixion). Potica (walnut roll) is a must on any festive occasion, including Easter. Corpus Christi, occasionally with processions, and Assumption Day (August 15) are observed by churchgoing Slovenian Americans, although much less so than Christmas and Easter. Slovenian national days are celebrated by much smaller numbers of heritage-conscious Slovenian Americans, among them especially Prešeren Day (Slovenian Culture Day) on February 8, in honor of Slovenia's greatest poet, Dr. France Prešeren (1800–1849); Labor Day (May 1 and 2), especially by the so-called Progressive Slovenians; and Slovenian Statehood or Independence Day, commemorating the nation's independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991. While most Slovenian Americans celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, many Slovenian American communities, especially those with their own parishes and schools, also celebrate the Slovenian Materinski dan at the end of March, both at home and with public programs (songs, recitations, plays, and dances) staged by children in honor of their mothers. People commonly give their mothers a red carnation, the Slovenian national flower.

Health Care Issues and Practices Slovenian culture has long emphasized the value of good health. One of the most frequently quoted sayings is “Zdravje je največje bogastvo”—“Health is the greatest wealth.” Following the Czech lead, the most influential Slovenian youth organizations, which often included “youngsters” fifty or seventy years old, were the conservative Eagles (Orli) and liberal Falcons (Sokoli). They adopted an ancient Roman guideline as their own slogan, “Mens sana in corpore sano”—(A healthy mind in a healthy body), paying attention to development of both good character and physical fitness. Both Sokols and, to a lesser extent, Orli were also active in a number of Slovenian American communities, but these organizations no longer exist. Active participation in athletics, gymnastics, walking, hiking, mountain climbing, and a variety of sports, especially skiing, where trips and various competitions by age groups are still organized each year, are viewed as contributing to good mental and physical health. Alcohol consumption and smoking, on the other hand, have been among the unhealthy practices in which Slovenians on both sides of the ocean continue to indulge.

In the past, overcrowded boarding houses and life in depressing urban areas with air, water, and noise pollution contributed a new variety of health hazards for early workers. Occupational risks lurked in steel mills and coal mines, where workers experienced accidents and were exposed to increased air pollution, extremes of heat and cold, or coal dust that resulted in black lung disease, which drastically shortened the life of countless miners. In some mining towns, from Pennsylvania to Wyoming, there is an alarming absence of older men; their widows survive with nothing but their modest homes and low benefits to compensate them for their families' share in building a more prosperous United States.

As working and living conditions have generally improved, and some good health habits learned in childhood have persisted, the physical and mental health of Slovenian Americans is now comparable to that of other Americans. It is unclear whether or not home remedies, such as medicinal herbs, used in many Slovenian immigrant households have been among the contributing factors to better health. A conclusion of “slightly better” than “national health” was reached by Sylvia J. O'Kicki, who examined a group of Slovenian Americans in Pennsylvania with comparable cohorts selected from the National Health Interview Survey of 1985. She stated,

Extended families were common among early Slovenian immigrants, but nuclear families prevail today. Increasingly, children move away from their parental homes once they are permanently employed, as is common in the United States. However, many Slovenian American parents still prefer to have their children live at home until marriage, saving money for their own homes. The oldest child is often expected to be a responsible role model for younger children, and the youngest child is widely believed to be shown the most affection by all. Actual differences by order of birth are probably comparable to those of American families, although group-specific research is not available. Slovenian Americans have frowned upon putting their parents or elderly relatives into homes for the aged, but since employment of women has increased and families have become more mobile, the practice is becoming more common.

Gender Roles A 1993 study revealed that traditional attitudes toward gender roles have persisted in Slovenia after independence. Although the employment of women outside the home has increased,

Slovenian women still perform most of the household tasks, and too little value is attached to domestic tasks. Slovenian women are more liberal than men in their views of gender roles, and most indicate a preference for working outside the home even when the family's economic needs do not require them to do so. Slovenian men, regardless of age, tend to be more traditional in their attitudes toward gender. A decade-long study that ended in 2000 showed that college-age Slovenian males became more traditional over time, in comparison to female students in Slovenia.

Slovenian immigrants brought their traditional attitudes toward gender roles with them when they came to the United States, but beginning with late-nineteenth-century immigrants, women played an increasingly important economic role in the Slovenian American community. Ironically, that increased economic role was directly related to domestic responsibilities. Women were largely responsible for managing the boarding house operations that housed the single males who immigrated to work in the mines and mills. Often female relatives were brought over from the old country to help with the extra domestic work these boarding houses required. In 1926 the Slovenian Women's Union of America was founded in Chicago with the multiple purposes of preserving Slovenian heritage and encouraging Slovenian women to continue their education and to participate in public life. It is perhaps indicative of changing gender roles that in 2011 the venerable organization changed its name to the Slovenian Union of America, in part to encourage male members to join.

Slovenian American women have played a pivotal role not only as homemakers but also in ethnic churches, language schools, charity projects, and, increasingly, in political campaigns. As the old Slovenian proverb states “Žena tri vogle podpira,” or “The woman supports three corners [of a four-corner home].”

Courtship and Weddings In general, Slovenian American parents are anxious for their children to marry someone from their own ethnic and religious group, although ethnic homogeny has been decreasing among members of American-born generations. Young people have adopted dating and other American customs, such as bridal showers. Those living in Slovenian communities often still prefer huge ethnic weddings with hundreds of guests in attendance (where the number of guests suggests the couple's importance or popularity), lots of food, open bars, and countless varieties of Slovenian pastries, plus a huge American wedding cake. In addition to Slovenian music and dancing, some couples reenact the traditional Slovenian unveiling ceremony. In this ceremony, which praises the bride's beauty and innocence, the bride's white veil is removed and a red carnation is pinned in her hair, symbolizing her transition from maidenhood into married life. In addition to other wedding gifts, it is customary to contribute envelopes with money to help the newlyweds start a family.

As in Slovenia before World War II, divorce among Slovenian Americans has been less common than among Americans in general, although it has recently increased, especially in ethnically and religiously mixed families. U.S. Census data for 2000 revealed that 8.2 percent of Slovenian Americans were divorced; by 2011 that number had increased to 9.7 percent (only slightly less than that of the overall U.S. population, which was 10.8 percent), according to the American Community Survey estimates for 2009–2011.

Education Beginning with the post–World War II immigrants, Slovenians entering the United States have usually been well educated. According to U.S. Census data, among the foreign-born Slovenians in the United States in 2000, more than 70 percent had a high school diploma (compared to a national average of 72 percent for the same period), nearly 30 percent held at least a bachelor's degree, and 13 percent had graduate or professional degrees. For second-generation immigrants and beyond, education, whether in parochial or public schools, has been an agent of change, helping young Slovenian Americans to navigate between their Slovenian identity that was linked to their homes and family customs and the public American identities they needed to succeed in the United States.

Cultural and educational exchanges have long existed on both sides of the ocean. Countless Slovenian orchestras, many singing groups, and some dancing ensembles have visited Slovenian American communities, as have such internationally prominent pianists as Dubravka Tomsic, the Slovenian Octet, symphony conductors, and famous opera singers such Bernarda Fink. Additionally, many Slovenian American groups, including Glasbena Matica, Korotan, Kres, Zarja, and Jadran, appeared in Slovenia and other European countries. Reciprocal student exchanges, ranging from high schools to universities, have been mutually beneficial. Slovenian university students have also competed at MIT in International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competitions with teams from some Page 233  |  Top of Article130 universities, including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Cambridge, winning the prestigious BioBrick Trophy in 2006, 2008, and 2010.

With the exception of missionaries, priests, and some 6,000 to 10,000 ideological political refugees escaping Marshall Tito's Communist reign after World War II, the bulk of Slovenians in the United States were economic immigrants; that is, they tended to come from the poorest areas and the most economically disadvantaged families. Most were craftsmen or of poor peasant stock, joined to a lesser extent by those who wanted to avoid being drafted, a few adventurers, and a very small number of socialists or other political dissenters.

Some of the earliest immigrants took advantage of the open lands and homesteading, establishing such Slovenian pioneer farming communities as St. Stephen's and St. Anthony's in Minnesota, and, later, in Traunik, Michigan. A substantial number also worked as lumberjacks. Although many immigrants initially intended to return to Slovenia after they had earned enough money to establish themselves in their native country, and some did just that, a large majority decided to remain in the United States. In the 1880s, when land became more difficult to obtain and earnings elsewhere had become more attractive, the major wave of Slovenian immigrants settled in industrial cities and mining towns, where their labor was in demand.

It is impossible to pinpoint an exact breakdown of employment because Slovenians were frequently identified as Austrians or Yugoslavs, or they were combined in categories with Croatians or South Slavs. Because Slovenians coming from under Austrian administration were better educated than other South Slav groups, the statistical distribution was probably more favorable for them than when shown in combination with other groups. The available data on the South Slavs in general are nevertheless suggestive. Thus, in 1921, 42 percent of the South Slavs were workers in steel, iron, and zinc mines, smelters, and refineries; 12 percent worked in the coal mines; 6.5 percent in the lumber industry; 6 percent in stockyards; and 5 percent in fruit growing. Chemical works, railroads, and electrical manufacturing employed 4 percent each; professions accounted for 3.5 percent; and farming for only 3 percent.

Considerable numbers of Slovenian immigrants, however, soon became skilled workers. In the early decades of the twentieth century many Slovenian Americans worked in the automobile industry in Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Using their skills from the old country, both men and women were also strongly represented in the straw-hat industry in New York. Other skills survived as useful hobbies: home-building and carpentry skills; butchering, sausage making, and meat-processing skills; wine making; and apiculture (bee keeping), which was very popular and helped many Slovenian immigrants provide honey for family and friends. Women were usually good cooks, bakers, dressmakers, and gardeners, and they canned large quantities of fruit and vegetables to provide basic necessities for their families, while some of them also used their skills, especially as dressmakers and cooks, in American industrial and business companies. Habits of hard work, honesty, frugality, and mutual help, particularly in times of hardship, helped Slovenian immigrants survive and succeed in a strange new land.

Today, Slovenian Americans can be found in almost all occupations. Many are professionals; others own businesses, agencies, factories and stores; still others are workers, foremen, or executives with large American companies. Among Slovenian immigrants in 2000, nearly 75 percent over the age of sixteen were employed in salaried positions. Management, professional, and related occupations accounted for 45.1 percent of salaried employees, with sales and office occupations representing an additional 20.7 percent. A large number of Slovenian Americans have achieved positions of leadership and prominence in American society.

In numerous towns, such as Ely, Eveleth, Chisholm, and Gilbert in Minnesota, Slovenian Americans have long been strongly represented on city councils and as mayors. They were also elected mayors in such larger communities as Euclid and Wickliffe, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and Indianapolis. In Cleveland, the city with the largest number of Slovenians in the United States, Slovenians have long served as ward leaders, council members, council presidents, and heads of various departments of municipal government.

A young Slovenian American man who has lived and worked in New York for more than twenty years is among many people of Slovenian descent who have recently moved to the region looking for better opportunities in their careers. MANCA JUVAN / IN PICTURES / CORBIS

Frank J. Lausche, Ohio's only five-time governor and a senator from Ohio from 1957 to 1969, first won national attention as a fearless judge who, with the help of Gus Korach, a Slovenian worker, broke up widespread organized crime and corruption in a true-life drama that resulted in local and national publicity. A sizable number of Americans of Slovenian heritage have been elected to U.S. Congress. Tom Harkin, whose mother was an immigrant born in Slovenia, was elected in 1984 to represent Iowa in the Senate (he was previously a U.S. congressman); George Voinovich (Ohio), also Slovenian on his mother's side, was a member of the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2011; and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), descendant of Slovenian immigrants, had been in 2006 the first female elected U.S. senator from Minnesota and was elected to her second term in 2012. Slovenian American U.S. representatives have included John A. Blatnik (served 1947–1975) and James L. Oberstar (served 1975–2011) from Minnesota, Ray P. Kogovsek from Colorado (served 1979–1985), Philip Ruppe from Michigan (served 1967–1979), Joseph Skubitz from Kansas (served 1963–1978), and Paul Gosar from Arizona (elected 2011).

Most Slovenian Americans supported the Democratic party over the years, with the exception of a small socialist subgroup who were attracted to independent candidates such as Eugene Debs just before World War I and Norman Thomas in the 1930s. Republicans gained support during and after the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Since then, Slovenian preferences have reflected those of Americans at large.

Military Slovenian Americans have been well represented in the military. Slovenian immigrant Louis Dobnikar, serving on the destroyer Kearney, was the first Clevelander and one of the first eleven Americans killed during World War II. John Hribar, a volunteer marine from Krayn, Pennsylvania (named after Kranj, Slovenia), was one of several Slovenian American heroes of Iwo Jima. At least eleven Slovenian Americans became generals, including U.S. Air Force Lieutentant General Anthony Burshnick (also commandant of Cadets of the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1982 to 1984 and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Military Airlift Command for three years prior to his retirement in 1991); Frank Gorenc, born in Slovenia, who had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, culminating in 2013 when he was promoted to four-star general and was named commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa; and his brother, Stanley Gorenc, who retired in 2007 as chief of safety, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, holding the rank of major general. The same rank was also achieved by former astronaut and undersecretary of the United States Air Force Ronald Sega, and, earlier, by the first Slovenian four-star general of the U.S. Army, Ferdinand Chesarek. The Archives of the Slovenian Research Center of America also contain materials on six Slovenian American admirals, including Ronald Zlatoper, who received his fourth star in 1994 and served with distinction as commander of the Pacific Fleet, the largest and most powerful navy in the world. Edward H. Rupnik, rear admiral of Medical Corps, U.S. Navy, was the commander of the Naval Medical School, National Medical Naval Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Some Slovenian American women have risen to the ranks of colonel in the Army and captain in the Navy.

Relations with Slovenia Slovenian Americans have not established permanent lobbying organizations in Washington, D.C., but they frequently used existing societies and institutions, ad hoc committees, or temporary councils or unions to advocate or support various causes on behalf of their home country. These include the Slovenian League, Slovenian National Union, and Slovenian Republican Alliance during World War I; various relief committees, the Union of Slovenian Parishes, and Slovenian American National Council during World War II; and the Slovenian American Council, which substantially supported the first free elections that toppled the Communist dictatorship in Slovenia in 1990. A special ad hoc committee, Americans for Free Slovenia, together with scores of other organizations and institutions, especially the American Home newspaper, the Slovenian Research Center of America, and thousands of individuals, helped secure the American recognition of independent Slovenia in 1992. For several decades after World War II, the Slovenian language section of Voice of America Information Agency played an important role by bringing objective information to its listeners in Slovenia.

A large number of Slovenian Americans have achieved positions of leadership and prominence in American society.

Academia James J. Stukel, born in 1937 in Joliet, Illinois, earned his BS in engineering from Purdue University and a PhD in engineering from University of Illinois. There he rose through the ranks from research assistant to professor to chancellor. From 1995 to 2005 he served as the fifteenth president of University of Illinois. Chancellor and President Stukel conceived and developed the Great Cities Institute to improve the quality of life in Chicago through teaching, research, and service. After his retirement in 2005, a James J. Stukel Professorship and the James J. Stukel Twin Towers at the Chicago campus were named in his honor.

Frederick Stare (1910–2002) obtained doctorates in biochemistry and nutrition from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1934 and in medicine from University of Chicago in 1941. A year later he established the first Department of Nutrition at Harvard University and served as its chairman until 1976, seeing it grow from 3 to 150 members. A prolific author Page 235  |  Top of Articleof about a thousand publications, he was globally recognized as the most influential nutritionist of his time. A professorship of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University Public School of Health has been named in his honor.

Arthur Bergles, born in 1935 in New York City, earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering at MIT in 1962 and was chairman of its Engineering Projects Laboratory until 1969. He subsequently served as professor and chairman of the mechanical engineering department at Georgia Tech, as professor and chairman of the mechanical engineering department at Iowa State University, and as the Clark and Crossan Professor of Engineering and Director of the Heat Transfer Laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York until 1999, when he became research professor of engineering at University of Maryland. He has authored more than five hundred publications, served on editorial boards of eighteen journals, was president of the 120,000-member American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and won many distinctions and awards, including membership in the Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom, in the National Academy of Science in Italy, and in the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Walter J. Koroshetz obtained his M in 1979 from the University of Chicago, where he completed his two-year residency. He continued his research, teaching, and administrative activities at Massachusetts General Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. In 1990 he became director of the neurology residency program, then a researcher and a practicing neurologist, and a principal project investigator in stroke and Alzheimer's research. In 1994 he was appointed Director of the Neurointensive Care Service and Acute Stroke Service. In 2007 he was named deputy director at the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.

Mark Zupan, born in 1959 in Rochester, New York, obtained his B in economics from Harvard University in 1981 and became an award-winning teaching fellow there while working on his Ph, which he received from MIT in 1987. He received the Golden Apple Teaching Award at the University of Southern California in 1989 and the Burlington Resources Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Outstanding Scholarship in 1992. In 1997 he became dean and professor of economics at the Eller College of Business and Public Administration in Tucson, Arizona, and in 2004 he was appointed dean of William E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester.

Aeronautics August Raspet (1913–1960) was a noted inventor and designer of modern lightweight airplanes. Raspet was president of the American Aerophysics Institute from 1947 to 1949, when he left to take a position at Mississippi State College. He served

Téa Obreht is an American novelist of Bosniak/Slovenian descent. Her debut novel, The Tiger's Wife (2011), won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction. BEOWULF SHEEHAN / ZUMAPRESS / NEWSCOM

as the head of the aerophysics department there from 1953 to 1960. Raspet died in a plane crash in 1960.

Joe Sutter (1921–), the son of a Slovenian immigrant, led the team that designed the Boeing 747, which, according to Neil Armstrong, “forever changed long distance travel.” Sutter is known as “The Father of the 747” and has won numerous awards, including the United States Medal of Technology and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, given annually to an individual for contributions to the advancement of air travel.

Ronald Sega (1962–) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut. From 1995 to 1996 he served as NASA's director of operations in Russia, where he helped to train American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts for missions to the Russian space station Mir. He was flight engineer on the U.S.-Russian space shuttle mission STS-60 in 1994 and payload commander for the STS-76 mission in 1996.

Jerry M. Linenger (1955–), a retired Navy flight surgeon, flew on the STS-64 mission (1994) and launched again on the STS-81 mission on January 12, 1997, joining two Russian cosmonauts on space station Mir. Completing a nearly five-month mission, he logged approximately 50 million miles and more than 2,000 orbits around the Earth. After establishing a number of American records, he returned to Earth on May 24, 1997, having spent more continuous time in space than any male American.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams (1965–) was launched to the International Space Station on December 9, 2006, and returned to Earth on April 26, 2007. In 2008 she became NASA deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. She returned to space on July 15, 2012, as part of Expedition 32/33. She became the commander of the International Space Station on September 17, 2012, being the second woman to achieve this feat. As of November 2012, she had made seven spacewalks, achieved the record for longest single space flight for a woman, and was also the first astronaut to run the Boston Marathon from a space station (while strapped to a treadmill).

Art Gregory Prusheck (1887–1940) has frequently been described by art critics as “the best of modernistic painters of Chicago.” His art, recognized with numerous awards (including the Jenkins Prize and the Carr Prize), underwent gradual transformation from naturalism to abstract symbolism and expressionism. He exhibited widely throughout the United States and Europe, and his work has been preserved in several museums, art galleries, and personal collections. His original Slovenian name was Gregor Perusek.

Paul Kos (1942–) is one of the founders of the Bay Area Conceptual Art Movement, which thrived in the 1960s and 1970s. He was among the first artists to use video and sound in his installations. Kos received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts. His most famous installations include “The Sound of Ice Melting,” for which Kos arranged ten microphones around a 25-pound block of ice, and “Tower of Babel,” a large steel spiral with video monitors depicting people speaking fifty languages.

Bogdan Grom (1918–), who works in New Jersey and in Trieste, Italy, is a prominent sculptor, painter, and illustrator whose art has been displayed in New York's Rockefeller Center and in many museums around the world. Grom began his career working in watercolor and oil but ventured into many new areas, including graphics, sculpture, and multimedia. He has been featured in American and European art monographs and films.

Literature Louis Adamic (1899–1951) is a well-known Slovenian American writer who first won national recognition with The Native's Return in 1934. He authored many other highly influential books, including A Nation of Nations, From Many Lands, Dinner at the White House, Dynamite, and What's Your Name? During World War II he edited Common Ground, the first journal of multiethnic American literature.

Frank Mlakar (1913–1967), a “disciple” of Adamic, wrote the novel He, the Father (1950), which Time magazine described as a “powerful Dostoevskian story” (August 7, 1950). Many other Slovenian American writers and poets are featured in Anthology of Slovenian American Literature (1977).

Music Frankie Yankovic (1915–1998) was a Grammy Award-winning Slovenian American polka musician who became known as “America's polka king.” He began his career in Cleveland music halls, but his sophisticated blending of elements of classical music and jazz into the traditional polka reached a wider audience. This brand of music came to be known as the Slovenian-style polka, which is marked by its lively rhythm and swing.

Raymond Premru (1934–1998), professor at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, was an internationally prominent trombonist and composer of numerous works, including Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned in 1976 for the American Bicentennial by the Cleveland Orchestra, and Symphony No. 2, commissioned by the same orchestra in 1988.

Anton Schubel (1899–1965) was an opera singer in Europe and the United States as well as a musical pedagogue and promoter of cultural exchange. He was particularly known as a talent scout for Carnegie Hall who discovered many of the country's most talented singers and musicians.

Mickey Dolenz (1945–) the son of Slovenian-born actor George Dolenz, was the drummer and lead singer of the Monkees, a band that grew out of a television sitcom of the same name and achieved lasting fame due to hits such as “Last Train to Clarksville” and “I'm a Believer.” In 2010 Dolenz released “King for a Day,” a tribute to Carole King.

Politics Frank J. Lausche (1895–1990), the son of Slovenian immigrants, was a successful Ohio politician. A Democrat, he served as mayor of Cleveland from 1941 to 1944 and as governor of Ohio from 1945 to 1947 and 1949 to 1957. He also served two terms as a U.S. senator, representing Ohio from 1957 to 1969.

Tom Harkin (1939–) is a five-term U.S. senator from Iowa. Elected in 1984 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade, Harkin, a Democrat, was named chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in 2009. Harkin was a jet pilot in the United States Navy from 1962 to 1967.

George Voinovich (1936–), a popular Republican politician from Ohio, who served as a U.S. senator from 1999 to 2011. In the 2004 Senate race, Voinovich won every county in Ohio and earned more votes than any Senate candidate in the state's history. Voinovich also served as mayor of Cleveland (1979–1989) and governor of Ohio (1991–1998).

Amy Klobuchar (1960–), a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, was the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. She took office on January 3, 2007, and was reelected in 2012.

Sports Eric Heiden (1958–) won five speed-skating gold medals in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York. Before retiring from Page 237  |  Top of Articlecompetition, Heiden also achieved success in cycling and cross-country skiing. Heiden attended Stanford University Medical School and worked as an orthopedic surgeon in Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City. Eric's sister, Beth (1959–), won a bronze medal in speed skating in the 1980 Winter Olympics. After the Olympics, Beth attended the University of Vermont, where she was an All-American cross-country skier.

Gymnast Peter Vidmar (1961–) won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Anže Kopitar (1987–) played center for the Los Angeles Kings in the National Hockey League. The first Slovenian to play in the NHL, Kopitar led the Kings to the franchise's first Stanley Cup Championship (2012).

Stage and Screen Laura LaPlante (1904–1996) was a star of silent films. From 1921 to 1930 she was the leading female actor at Universal Studios. Her most famous film is the 1927 horror film The Cat and the Canary. LaPlante also starred in many comedies, including Skinner's Dress Suit (1926), and was known for bringing a touch of levity to all her roles, no matter the genre of the film.

Audrey Totter (1917–) was a Hollywood actor who starred in hard-boiled classics such as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and Lady in the Lake (1947). Her last recorded acting role was in a 1987 episode of Murder, She Wrote (CBS).

Frank Gorshin (1933–2005), film and television actor, comedian, and impersonator (for example, of Burt Lancaster, James Cagney, and Richard Burton), is perhaps best remembered as playing the Riddler on television's Batman series, starring Adam West and Burt Ward, that ran from 1966 to 1968. In his final years he portrayed comedian George Burns on Broadway in the one-man show Say Goodnight, Gracie, which was nominated for a 2003 Tony Award for best play.

Journalist Charles Kuralt (1934–1997) appeared on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite for a quarter century, airing segments called “On the Road.” He was also the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning. Kuralt won numerous awards, including two Emmys and two George Foster Peabody Awards. In 1983 he was named Broadcaster of the Year by the International Radio and Television Society.