Society and Survey Activities
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SOCIETY AND SURVEY ACTIVITIES Four meetings of the society were held during the first quarter of 1932, all in Stevenson Hall. At the meeting on January 5, the Honorable Louis E. Graham, United States attorney, read a paper on "Fort Mclntosh" ;on January 26, the annual meeting was held, reports were presented and officers and trustees elected, and a paper on "Christopher Gist" was read by Mr.Lawrence A. Orrillof Pittsburgh; on February 23, the Honorable Frederic A. Godcharles of Milton gave an address on "Washington" and a motion picture film,"The Gateway to the West/' was exhibited ; on March 29, Mr. J. Cutler Andrews, instructor in history at the Carnegie Institute— of Technology, read a paper on "The Pittsburgh Gazette A Pioneer Newspaper"; and "Extracts from Letters Written by John Thaw," contributed by his grand- son, Mr. Benjamin Thaw, were read by the director. All the meetings were well attended. The society also had a part in the Washington Bicentennial dinner given at the William Penn Hotel on February 22 under the auspices of the George Wash- ington Bicentennial Committee of Allegheny County. A group of tables was reserved by the society and they were occupied by over fiftymembers and friends. At the annual meeting of the society on January 26, the follow- ing officers were elected for three years: Hon. Robert M.Ewing, president; Omar S. Decker, first vice president; General Albert J. Logan, second vice president; Gregg L. Neel, secretary; and John E. Potter, treasurer. Trustees were elected as follows: Hon. Ambrose B.Reid, for five years; Albert A.Home, for four years ;Dr. John W. Oliver, for three years ;Thomas Mellon II, for two years ;and Frank L.Duggan, for one year. At a meet- ing of the council held immediately after the annual meeting of the society, the terms of the five former directors, who hold over as trustees under the new by-laws, were classified by lot as follows: Benjamin Thaw, for five years; Hon. Robert Garland, for four years; Charles W. Dahlinger, for three years; Captain 169 May 170 SOCIETY AND SURVEY ACTIVITIES James A.Henderson, for two years ;and Thomas Stephen Brown, for one year. The council elected Dr. Solon J. Buck director of the society for a term of three years. Twenty new members of the society were elected during the quarter :Garrett D. Bowne, Dr. Solon J. Buck, George Burgum, Alston G. Field, Dr. H.Edmund Friesell, Robert R. Gaw, Mason C. Gilpin, Mrs. James D. Heard, Dr. Brynjolf J. Hovde, Elmer McKown, Miss M. E. Patterson, Dr. Ralph V. Robinson, Mrs. Charles S. Shoemaker, Dr. Gaius J. Slosser, and Grace S. Wil- liams, of Pittsburgh; Hon. John S. Fisher of Indiana; John Chambers Thomas of Homer City; Marietta Dietrich of Sharps- burg; Mrs. Joseph Dury of Sewickley; and Mary M. Sterrett of Emsworth. The society lost seven members by death during the quarter: Henry R. Scully of Pittsburgh, January 4; John W. Lloyd of Pittsburgh, February 8; Samuel M.Kier of Salina, February 16; Dettmar L. Passavant of Zelienople, March 1; Chalmers T. Darsie of Pittsburgh, March 2; John W. Cunningham of Pitts- burgh, March 13; and John Woodwell of Pittsburgh, March 14. Atthe February meeting of the society the following resolution was adopted. Whereas: The Department of State of the United States, by authority of Congress, has undertaken the editing and publica- tion of the papers in the federal archives relating to the terri- tories, therefore, be it Resolved: By the Historical Society of Western Pennsyl- vania that we heartily approve of this project, that we believe it should be carried out on as comprehensive a scale as possible, and that we hope it willbe followed by the scholarly editing and publication by the government of other material of importance for the history of the country to be found in the federal archives. Plans are being made for an historical tour from Pittsburgh to Erie on July 15 and 16 under the auspices of the society and the summer session of the University of Pittsburgh. The tour- ists will visit sites associated with Washington's trip to Fort Le Bceuf in 1753 and other places of historic interest, and sessions willbe held at various points for the reading of papers. The tour will be open to anyone interested. Detailed information THE 1932 NEW IMMIGRATION 171 will be sent to all members of the society and to others upon request. Several of the officers of the society have been active outside the usual routine in furthering the cause of history in western Pennsylvania and elsewhere during the quarter. The president, the treasurer, and the director attended the sessions of the Penn- sylvania Federation of Historical Societies and of the Society of Pennsylvania Archaeology in Harrisburg on January 21;the director attended a meeting in Washington, March 11 and 12, of the joint committee on materials for research of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council, of which committee he is a member; the president, the director, and at least one other member of the council spoke before various organizations on phases of Washington's career; the director discussed local history work and especially the activi- ties of the society and the survey before a woman's club and at the History Conference of the University of Pittsburgh; and the president, treasurer, and director are serving on the George Washington Bicentennial Committee of Allegheny County, the president being a member of the executive committee and the treasurer serving as treasurer of the committee. The Westmoreland-Fayette County Branch of the society held its regular winter meeting in Uniontown on March 5. At this meeting Mr.Lawrence A. Orrillof Pittsburgh read his paper on "Christopher Gist." Dr. Alfred P. James, research associate on the survey, has an article entitled "Education and World Unity" in the January issue of World Unity. The Equitable Gas Company has used pictures of the His- torical Building and its heating system to illustrate an advertise- ment, "Civic Building Heating," published as the March number of the company's Gas Heating Helps. The publication also con- tains a brief statement of the uses of the building. The New Immigration In the article entitled "A Program for Research in Western Pennsylvania History," in the February number of the magazine, May 172 SOCIETY AND SURVEY ACTIVITIES reference was made to the necessity of studying the history of the later immigration and of the immigrant peoples in the region. The survey has now inaugurated a special project in this field. A grant from the University of Pittsburgh made possible the appointment of Mr.Andrew A.Marchbin as a part-time assistant for five months; and, with the cooperation of Mrs. Ruth Craw- ford Mitchell, who has been working with the committees that are developing the nationality rooms project for the Cathedral of Learning, considerable progress has been made. Mr. March- bin is making a study of the origins and distribution of the foreign elements in the population of the region from 1870 on, largely on the basis of United States census material; but the principal activity thus far has necessarily been directed toward the collection of material. No serious effort appears to have been made in the past to assemble and preserve the newspapers and other publications, church and society records, and private and official documents that must constitute the basis of any historical study of these peoples. The amount of such material in existence is undoubtedly great, although much has already been destroyed, and it is to be found not only in the region but also elsewhere in the United States and in the countries of origin of the immigrants. The success of any such project must obviously depend on the cooperation of the immigrants themselves and their descendants, and that seems to be assured so far at least as concerns a number of racial groups. A meeting of representatives of several of these groups and other interested persons was held in the His- torical Building on February 19, at which the project was dis- cussed and plans were made for organizing the work of collecting. At this meeting a resolution was adopted endorsing the project and pledging the cooperation of those present. On March 2, an Hungarian Historical Committee was formed "to cooperate with the Western Pennsylvania Historical Survey in collecting material for, and promoting research on, the history of the Hungarian people in western Pennsylvania." Mr. George Szecskay of Pittsburgh is chairman of the committee and the other members are the Honorable Henry Hobek, Hungarian consular agent at Pittsburgh, Dr. Samuel Gomory of Pittsburgh, the Reverend N. Komlossy of Beaver Falls, the Reverend Endre 1932 THE NEW IMMIGRATION 173 Sebestyen of Duquesne, and Messrs. Paul Szarvas and John Bencze of Pittsburgh. A long editorial describing the project, indicating the types of material desired, and urging cooperation was contributed by the chairman of the committee to the March 14 issue of Amerikai Magyar Nepszava (American Hungarian Voice), a newspaper of extensive circulation in the region; an editorial by Mr. Szarvas calling attention to the project also appeared in the March 15 issue of Szabadsdg (Liberty), of which Mr. Szarvas is the Pittsburgh editor; and the committee is considering plans for a public meeting in the Historical Build- ing on May 30 to honor the memory of Hungarians who took an active part in the American Revolution and the Civil War. The organization of a Polish Historical Committee was effected on April 1, with Mr.Victor L. Alskiof Pittsburgh as chairman and Dr. Jan Lech Byszewski, Polish consul at Pittsburgh, the Reverend St.