On finding my work cited in a young historian's annotated bibliography

So here I was at the state level of the National History Day competition. 

Did I mention that I love National History Day?

Back to my story...

The time had come (following the interview and judging period) when the doors open into the museum hall so that visitors can take a look at the year's entries in both senior and junior divisions of the historical exhibit category. So I wandered the rows, viewing projects on this year's theme: Turning Points in History. I saw projects on everything from apartheid to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to Napolean Bonaparte to the first transcontinental railroad. 

Suddenly, an exhibit struck my eye. The topic: the Cristero rebellion in 1920s Mexico. Now here was a topic I knew something about. I had written an article about it for The Catholic Gene blog. It was a troubling period just decades ago in Mexico's history featuring the almost incomprehensible struggle for religious liberties and civil rights fought by the Mexican people.

I took time to read this project a little more closely than the others, picking up the annotated bibliography on the table in front of the exhibit. I flipped open a page, and - surprise! - there was my article, cited and annotated by the students who created the project. 

I was happy to see that they had used my work as a source, and it was a good reminder of the importance of solid research and writing. I work hard to do complete research and write accurate articles about the topics I cover.  Yet, seeing that these students had relied on my work as a central resource for their historical research project gave me additional inspiration to continue to ensure the integrity of what I publish here on the web and elsewhere.

~

One of my greatest hopes is that I can help in some small way to inspire young people to delve into and begin to love the study of history. So many adults, sadly, avoid anything with the H-word stamped onto it, having flashbacks of failing to memorize a timeline or to learn names and dates for a test during their school years. 

The nation's top young historians will gather this week to
compete in the National History Day competition at the
University of Maryland, College Park 

National History Day is encouraging young students to see beyond the names and dates and learn what history is all about through in-depth investigations using primary sources. They are given a chance to become young historians, doing meaningful research and presenting their conclusions within museum-like exhibits and other formats much like a professional historian might have the opportunity to do. What a thrill for me to find my name and work within the bibliography produced by a group of these young historians!

This year's National History Day competition will take place this coming week at the University of Maryland, College Park: June 9-13, 2013. The theme is Turning Points in History. If you are in the area, I encourage you to stop by and view some of the nation's best student-created historical exhibits, documentaries, websites, papers and performances of the year. I'll be cheering on some of those talented students during this year's competition!

Get National History Day updates on Twitter by following them at @NationalHistory or myself at @smallestleaf.

Disappearing Churches, Part 1: Manhattan's Immaculate Conception

Several photographs clued me in to the fact that my grandmother and her siblings had attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Manhattan's Lower East Side during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The family worshipped at St. Stephen of Hungary parish, but since that church had no school the children joined several thousand other students from immigrant families and attended school at what was then one of the busiest Catholic churches in New York City: Immaculate Conception.

The first Immaculate
Conception at
505 East 14th Street

It took me a bit of sleuthing to learn the full history of Immaculate Conception and to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of its original church building.

As the story goes, New York's Archbishop John Hughes was standing a few feet away from Pope Pius IX in Rome when the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was first promulgated on December 8, 1854. "Just at that moment," Hughes later recalled, "I resolved, on my return to New York, to erect a church to commemorate the event." The cornerstone for Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was laid on December 8, 1855: exactly one year after Archbishop Hughes' had decided to build the parish. The beautiful Romanesque building was finally dedicated on May 16, 1858 by the archbishop, who declared it to be "the first church on earth set apart to honor the immaculate nature of the Mother of Christ."

The first Immaculate Conception Catholic Church as it looked in 1914

Several of the Ujlaky children, including oldest brother Frankie circled in the pictures below, attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School during the second decade of the twentieth century along with about 3,000 other children, mostly from immigrant families. At that time the Sisters of Charity taught the girls; and the Christian Brothers, including Brother Aloysius pictured below with Frankie's class, taught the boys.

Brother Aloysius' class at Immaculate Conception Catholic School, abt. 1917-1919

The first Immaculate Conception church building, its rectory, convent and school buildings were destroyed in the 1940s along with two other churches and many other buildings within the city blocks of 14th and 23rd streets from First Avenue to Avenue C. The reason: the building of Stuyvesant Town, the post-World War II urban housing development which remains today.

This map shows the sites of the original and current
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (click to enlarge)

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (and school) found a new home in the former Episcopal mission settlement called Grace Chapel, which was located on the south side of 14th Street, east of First Avenue at the address 406 East 14th Street. This church, just outside of the planned area for Stuyvesant Town, had lost its purpose as the neighborhood had largely become Catholic. It closed in 1942 and was left vacant until the church and its affiliated buildings were purchased by the Archdiocese of New York and renamed Immaculate Conception. This remains the home of the Immaculate Conception church and school today: over 150 years after the founding of its original church home.

The church website states:

"In many ways, New York City is America’s front door, even though
most of the newest residents come not only from Europe but from all over the world. This is the city’s gift to the parish: a remarkably multi-ethnic, multi-cultural population, whose hearts burn with the same ambition: to create a better life for themselves, their children and their descendants.

"Above the church door, there is a small but exquisite statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the first Immaculate Conception Church. The expression on her face is neither joyful nor sad; it is pensive. What could she be thinking? Is she calling all those men, women and children who have passed beneath her feet?"

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church today
(Notice the small statue of Mary from the original
church building above the church doors)

For more information about the history of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, visit the church's website or refer to From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship by David Dunlap.

This article is part of the "Doors of Faith" series on our ancestors' Catholic parishes. Visit The Catholic Gene to learn how you can share photos and stories of your family's "Doors of Faith" in honor of the upcoming Year of Faith 2012-2013.

What a surprise! Great-Great-Great-Grandfather's "Doors of Faith"

About a month ago I was happy to find the name of my 3rd great-grandfather in a history book about my ancestral village of Legrad, Croatia. The discovery that he had held the post of mayor during the middle of the 19th century confirmed a family story and gave me hope that I might eventually reveal more clues about my ancestor, who was supposedly a Jewish orphan raised by Catholic religious sisters.

Two weeks later, I planned and announced a special "Doors of Faith" blog carnival over at The Catholic Gene. Its purpose: to highlight articles by bloggers that tell stories and share photos of Catholic churches in which their ancestors worshipped. The round-up of all those articles will be published on the opening day of the new Year of Faith 2012-2013 declared by Pope Benedict XVI.

Only two days after I posted that announcement, I received an amazing bit of news about the very doors of my own ancestors' Catholic church in Legrad, Croatia.  Here's the story.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) is a beautiful late-Baroque one-nave parish church serving the village of Legrad. It was built around 1780, and by the middle of the 19th century the church needed renovation. That project was taken on in the year 1857. In addition to the renovation, a few other improvements were made.

Guess who provided for them? My 3rd great-grandfather, Josip Bence.

What were those improvements? The inside of the church was repaired, painted and tiled; two more bells were purchased for the church bell tower; and one more item was upgraded - you won't believe this: new entrance doors for the church.

I have loved this beautiful little church for many years, ever since I was given a picture postcard of it that was formerly in my great-grandmother's possession. Now I've learned that her grandfather was instrumental in preserving and updating the church. Talk about a family heirloom!

I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit Legrad, but you can be sure that once I make it to the village one of my very first stops will be to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) to visit the place where my ancestors worshipped for so many decades and to admire its beautiful interior, its bells, and of course, the church doors.

~

A very special thank-you to Mike, a current resident of Legrad, for sharing this bit of history with me and for providing these photographs of the church. The news about Josip Bence's contribution to the church was taken from Josip Đurkan's Legrad i Njegova Župa Kroz Stoljeća (Legrad and its Parish Through the Centuries), published in 2005. Here is the English translation along with the original text:

"In 1857, the tower of the parish church was renovated through gifts from the Legrad municipality and the Varaždin general command for the sum of 2,000 forints. That same year, a new entrance door to the church was made, by care of Legrad Captain Joseph Bence. Then two more bells were purchased and placed in the tower. One weighing 230, and another 170 kg. The church inside was painted, tiled, also cared for by gifts of the captain."

 "1857. godine toranj župne crkve obnovljen je darovima legradske općine i varaždinskog generalata za svotu od 2.000 forinti. Iste godine načinjena su nova ulazna vrata u crkvu, brigom legradskog kapetana Josipa Benceja. Potom su nabavljena još dva zvona i smještena u toranj. Jedno od 230, a drugo od 170 kg. Crkva je iznutra okrečena, popločena, također brigom i darovima kapetana."

~

Legrad's Holy Spirit Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) is once again undergoing renovation as funds become available. An upcoming article here at 100 Years in America will highlight the details of the current restoration project. In the mean time, you may view some of the conservation work done on the St. Joseph altar by the Department of Conservation at Zagreb University. Visit their Facebook page (Odsjek za restauriranje i konzerviranje umjetnina ALU Sveučilište u Zagrebu) or go directly to their photos of the restoration and assembly of the altar. If you'd like to make a donation to go toward the restoration, please contact the church: Župa Presvetog Trojstva.

~

More articles (including photos) here at 100 Years in America about Legrad's beautiful little Catholic church:

• A is for Assembly: "The angels were singing"
• The church on the postcard and the faith of my ancestors
• To the guardians of 100 Years in America: Happy 105th Anniversary!
  
• Međimurje: Meeting place of rivers and cultures
  
• Happy Easter from Croatia
  
• If only a church could tell stories

Doors of Faith: Catholic church "show and tell" at The Catholic Gene

Places of worship have played important roles within many of our lives and the lives of our ancestors. Pope Benedict XVI has declared a special Annus Fidei: the Year of Faith 2012-2013 beginning on October 11, 2012 (the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council) and ending on the Solemnity of Christ the King: November 24, 2013.

In honor of the beginning of this Year of Faith, The Catholic Gene is hosting a blog celebration entitled "Doors of Faith" that will highlight the photos and stories of Catholic churches that have helped to spark the light of faith in the lives of our ancestors over the centuries.

If you have Catholic ancestors and would like to share photos and/or stories about a Catholic church (or churches) that played a special role in your family members' faith lives, please visit The Catholic Gene for details about how you can participate. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 5, 2012. Please join us and also help spread the word!

On the hunt for roots in Hungary: The basics of Hungarian genealogy

If you have roots in Hungary, your research will center around the records of the Roman Catholic Church - no matter the faith of your ancestors.  That's one of the basic facts of Hungarian genealogy that I've shared in my latest article over at The Catholic Gene.

King St. Stephen presiding over Buda Castle, Budapest

It was over 1,000 years ago that the Hungarian state was founded under the leadership of Stephen I, later to be canonized and remembered as King St. Stephen.  Today as the Hungarian parliament has reaffirmed the nation's ties to its Catholic foundation with the creation of a new constitution, the faith of the Hungarian people continues into the 21st century. Anyone doing Hungarian genealogy will come face to face with the Catholic legacy of this nation. For more on this topic - including an overview of Hungarian research, tips and resources for the search, and examples from my own family tree - stop over to my article entitled Hungarian Genealogy: It All Goes Back to the Catholic Church.

Catholic Family History: The Rosary Through the Centuries

"Along with these mysteries we also weave our intentions, thoughts, imaginations, emotions, and desire for union with Christ." 

Thus wrote Alice Camille, M. Div. within her recent article Full of Grace: Reclaiming the Rosary, about the age-old Catholic devotion of praying the Rosary while meditating on the mysteries within the life of Christ.  In the case of my family, along with "weaving" those things as we pray the Rosary, we are weaving new strands into the same fabric of faith that has been passed down to us through many generations over the centuries.

My beloved great-grandmother's portrait
draped with one of her handcrafted Rosaries

The Rosary in its current form has been a part of the lives of faith-filled Catholics for over 500 years, and part of my family for many generations.  If you have Catholic ancestors, chances are that the Rosary played a role in their lives, too.  Visit my latest articles over at The Catholic Gene for a tribute to the Rosary as the Catholic church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.  Within my article Ave Maria in the Languages of Our Ancestors you'll find photographs of a Franciscan Monastery Rosary Portico where you can read the prayers of the Rosary in the languages of your ancestors.  Visit String of Prayer: The Rosary in the Lives of Our Ancestors to read the story of the age-old devotion Catholics call the Rosary - including the story of a dramatic naval battle - and to learn more about the tradition of Rosary-making being passed down within my family.

Given names and family mysteries - at The Catholic Gene

"The job of a genealogist is much like that of a police detective. Success in both pursuits depends on searching predictable hidden places where evidence would be expected. A true detective genius, however, finds traces of clues out in the open – signs within plain sight yet invisible to the average eye."

So begins my first article at The Catholic Gene, the new blog dedicated to genealogy and the Catholic faith.  Stop on over to The Catholic Family Detective: Finding Clues in Given Names to read more.  I've shared some stories about the significance of many of the first names within my Catholic family tree.  I hope you'll be inspired to look at your ancestors' names in ways you never have before.

The church on the postcard and the faith of my ancestors

The picture of this beautiful church was truly a gift to me.

Its yellowing photographic postcard passed down to me from my immigrant great-grandmother: a link to the past.

Its facade: a reminder of the connection that my ancestors and I share across language, cultural and geographic barriers - our mutual Catholic faith.

Postcard image of Legrad's Holy Trinity Catholic Church,
c. early 20th-century

Years ago when photographs of the little Catholic church in what is now Legrad, Croatia (in Koprivničko-Križevačka County) came into my possession, I didn't know much about the place. The church's name was a mystery, as was the Croatian handwriting.  With a little bit of time, research and help from a translator, I was able to unlock a few of the clues that gave me some insight into this beautiful little church that figures so largely in my ancestral history.

The village of Legrad, now in northern Croatia, has at
different times been part of both Austria-Hungary and Yugoslavia

The Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Legrad (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) is a charming late-Baroque one-nave parish church.  Built around 1780, it was the site of many sacramental rites of passage for my Ujlaki, Bence and related ancestors in the little village.  The photographic postcard, which was sent to my great-grandmother Ilona (Bence) Ujlaki by loved ones in the old country, shows the church as it looked in the early 20th century.  Here you can see how it looks today:

Legrad c. 2008
(Photos thanks to a current resident)

In addition to the postcard shown at the beginning of this article, I have in my possession a photograph of the church sent to my great-grandmother following World War II.  Inscribed on the back in the Croatian language is a plea for monetary help to assist in repairs because of damage to the church during the war.

A native Croatian speaker and Legrad resident kindly translated the inscription on the back of the photograph for me back in 2007. The blue writing reads:

Dear Lady Miss,

I'm sending you the picture of our lovely church, which was destroyed in World War II and is very damaged. No one is starting to do anything about it or starting repairs. We are afraid that the church tower is very damaged and that it can't stand in this condition longer. It can crumble any time and destroy four church bells and the organ. Please ask the generous Croatian people there who can send us some money for the first necessary repairs. I hope in God's and in your help.

According to the translator the church was still in need of some repairs back in 2007, although it certainly has recovered much since its difficult days during World War II.

According to the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Holy Trinity Catholic Church (called Župa Presvetog Trojstva in Croatian) has a "harmoniously fitted belfry rising from the main front", several late Baroque-classicist altars, and a "Holy Sepulchre". The wall paintings within its sanctuary date back to 1793, while its pulpit dates to around 1798.

Outside in Legrad's main square resides a group of five 18th-century columns.  The central column features the church's namesake: the Holy Trinity.  A column next to the center featuring St. Florian dates to 1735.

Legrad's Pilovi Svetog Trojstva

Legrad resident turned Canadian immigrant Maria Bango had a strong love for her home village and its church.  She returned home for several months each year and continued to be a part of the community until her death.  Within her charming children's books she has shared some sweet stories of the church and its holy celebrations from a child's eye view.  (I'll share more about those stories later.)

I enjoy thinking back to the many special family occasions that were celebrated within the walls of Legrad's Catholic church.  My great-grandparents Ferencz and Ilona (Bence) Ujlaki, the patrons of this blog (you see their faces on the banner of 100 Years in America), were married there on what was probably a frosty winter day in February 15, 1905.  Because of the step they took that day together in the sacrament of matrimony, and the gift they gave me by passing down their beloved Catholic faith, I am who I am today.  And I am passing the light of faith down to my own children - the same faith that was sparked in so many of my ancestors' lives within the walls of the little church of Legrad.

Legrad's Holy Trinity Catholic Church today
(Photo courtesy Filip Lucin)

This article was written for the 109th edition of Carnival of Genealogy.  The theme is Places Our Ancestors Worshipped and it is hosted for the first time at the brand new blog The Catholic Gene.