http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010717serb0717p6.asp Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 4,000 Serbs celebrate a century in U.S. Tuesday, July 17, 2001 By Ervin Dyer, Post-Gazette Staff Writer More than 4,000 people are expected to attend the 100th anniversary celebration of the Serb National Federation in the city this week. The federation, which last celebrated 10 years ago when it purchased a building on Penn Avenue, Downtown, kicked off the event Sunday. There are more than 30,000 culturally active Serbs in the Pittsburgh region. Like members of other European immigrant groups in the region, most Serbs were lured to Pittsburgh by jobs in steel mills and coal mines. Once one family got settled, it arranged for another to come, and that one arranged for another. Eventually, this circle of families formed the Serb National Federation, which began in McKeesport a century ago. "Pittsburgh was a hotbed," said Roy Cheran, a second-generation Serbian-American. The Serb National Foundation is the largest secular Serbian organization outside of Yugoslavia. Since its inception, the group has worked to help Serbian immigrants adjust to life in the United States and to provide financial support to Serbian churches. One of the main goals of the federation was to provide life insurance to members of the Serbian community, which, during their early days in the United States, was critical to giving them a sense of security. The federation also worked to foster pro-American sentiments. In fact, during World War II, the group raised enough money to purchase two bombers for the Army Air Forces. In 1901, the federation published one of the first Serbian papers in the United States. That paper, still in existence, came be known as the Srbobran, which means Serbian defender. The weeklong celebration will showcase the Serbian heritage of the tri-state area, which includes 13 Serbian Orthodox churches, hundreds of lodges, choirs, women's groups and other organizations. Highlights include: A golf tournament at Quicksilver Golf Club in Washington County that runs through Thursday. A Friday outing to Kennywood Park, which includes a cultural program at 5:30 p.m. in the main pavilion. Visits Friday by His Holiness Patriarch Pavle, the spiritual leader of more than a million Serbian-Americans, and the Serbian ambassador to the United States, Milan Protic. A centennial photo exhibit chronicling Serbian history in the United States that's been compiled by local historian Mim Bizic and will be unveiled Saturday in the second-floor rotunda of the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown. For more information, call 412-642-7372. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
