Croatian Emigrants in the U.S.

Like so many other immigrants throughout the years, Croats have come to the United States in search of the promise of the New World and the American dream. Whether fleeing political persecution or simply seeking economic opportunity, Croatian emigrants have settled all over the globe, but nowhere as much as the United States.

 Many legends surround the earliest Croat settlers in the Americas. The first Croatians who arrived in the New World came from towns along the Adriatic Sea, particularly from the city of Dubrovnik. Some historians contend that Croatian sailors were among those on Columbus's historic voyage in 1492. It is known that in 1494 Dubrovnik signed an important trade agreement with Spain, and thus began sending her ships on the new trading routes to American Spanish colonies. Records in the Dubrovnik archives show that the first emigrants left Dubrovnik to settle in America in 1526. Many Croats know well the May 1783 letter from the Dubrovnik Senate to its diplomat in Paris Francesco Favi, instructing him to visit the ministers of the American Colonies and "exchange courtesies with them on our behalf, recommend our shipping and our Flag to them, and ask if access to their harbors would be open for our ships." Favi wrote back in July that he had paid the visits, and that the Americans had answered that Dubrovnik ships were welcome in their ports.

 Another legend is that the Croatan Indians, who lived in what is today North Carolina, were partially of Croatian origin. Historians prescribing to this theory submit the story of Croatian sailors shipwrecked of Cape Hatteras in 1498 who remained to live in the vicinity, assimilating with the native Americans in the area. They also refer to the tree carving found by an English expedition in 1593, in what was at the time the Roanoke Colony. The tree had the inscription "croatoan," which is recognized among American historians as an Algonquin Indian name. All of these legends, however, substantiated or not, have contributed to the Croatian people's proclivity to look to the United States as a traditional friend, ally and leader to this day. 

 Large-scale overseas emigration from Croatia began in the 1880s. The first Croatian colonies in the U.S. were founded on the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana and in California. These immigrants were mainly from the Croatian coast-fishermen and fruit growers-and they sought areas of the United States which had similar climates, where they could find similar employment. The next wave of Croatian immigrants settled in large industrial centers, such as Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit, and found jobs as blue-collar workers in the mills and mines. These immigrants contributed to American folklore the tale of "Joe Magarac," the mythical giant made of steel who was to steelworkers what Paul Bunyan was to woodsmen. Croats maintained high visibility in other parts of the country as well, participating in the building of the transcontinental railways and the California Gold Rush. Although immigration flows to the U.S. ebbed during the inter-war years, owing mainly to the Great Depression, after World War II, emigration from Croatia increased yet again. Internal economic and political pressure under the communist Yugoslav regime led many to seek freedom abroad.

 During the past 130 years, Croatian Americans formed virtually hundreds of societies and fraternal, cultural and political organizations. The first such organization was founded in San Francisco in 1857, under the name Slavonian-Illyrian Mutual Charitable Society. The Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU) was founded in Pittsburgh in 1894, and is to this day, the largest organization of Croats in America and Canada. The CFU was followed in 1921 by the Croatian Catholic Union. In conjunction with the founding of such societies, Croatian Americans began to print their first immigrant newspapers, which played an important role in preserving their national identity and awareness. Most papers were weeklies, with the exception of the daily Narodni List (National Gazette), which was first published in New York in 1895. The diversity of quality, editorial policies and political views expressed in these papers is best illustrated by their number: Some 250 different newspapers, periodicals, almanacs, and magazines have emerged since 1884, when the first publication appeared. Many immigrants preserved their culture through the formation of folklore groups and Croatian schools for their children, and founded academic  groups such as the Croatian Academy of America, the Alumni and Friends of Croatian Universities (AMAC), and the Croatian Ethnic Institute to encourage scholarly pursuits relating to Croatia. The journalistic, cultural and intellectual work of Croatian emigrants devoted to the establishment of a Croatian state had particular significance in preserving the idea of statehood for Croatia until it was finally realized, with their help, in 1991.

 U.S. immigrants from Croatia have made their mark in their new homeland through contributions in the fields of science, art, politics and business. World-renown scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), emigrated to New York City in 1884 at age twenty-eight with only four cents in his pocket. He worked for Thomas Edison in Orange, New Jersey, with whom he frequently argued about the systems of direct and alternating current, and their respective virtues. Feeling limited by this fundamental disagreement, he left Edison, digging ditches for a year until he found the financial backing to establish the Tesla Laboratory and Tesla Electric Company. A series of inventions followed, including the Tesla motor and alternating current power transmission system in 1888, the Tesla coil or transformer in 1891, and a system of wireless transmission of information in 1893. Tesla's inventions brought on a new era; his method for the use of alternating current (AC) was not only practical, it was a more simple, efficient and economic method than using direct current (DC). However, one of his greatest contributions was not universally recognized until after his death. In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the "four tuned circuit" patents which had established Marconi as the "father of radio" invalid, on the basis of prior work by Tesla.

 While the post-war period marked a shift in immigration patterns, from the United States to Australia, many Croats continued to arrive on American shores, most changing their status from temporary workers to permanent residents. The most prominent Croatian sculptor of our century, Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962), emigrated to the United States during this period. At the suggestion of American sculptor Malvina Hoffman, who met Mestrovic in Paris during World War I, Syracuse University offered him a position as sculptor in residence in 1946, which he accepted. He became a citizen of the United States in 1954, and also taught at the University of Notre Dame. One can find his works on the campuses of both universities. Called "the greatest phenomenon among the sculptors" of his time by his friend, sculptor August Rodin, Metrovic was the first living artist in the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to be honored with a one-man show. Described as a "Patriot-Sculptor," his basic philosophy was that "nationalism in the hands of the creative becomes an instrument for the liberation of the Spirit and the mutual understanding of all mankind."

 In the tradition of all American immigrants, Croatian Americans and their descendants enriched the United States and have provided a bridge for mutual understanding between their old and new homelands. This is their greatest contribution, and the one which continues to benefit both countries to this day. They have been true ambassadors of Croatia.