Mission statement
The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society’s mission is to preserve Hungarian culture and the history of Hungarians in Northeast Ohio, so that present and future generations can draw upon its collection for education, inspiration and enrichment. To carry out its mission, the Society sponsors educational and research activities, and operates a museum and library as a repository and exhibition center for Hungarian historical, literary and artistic items.
News you can use
The Museum is open to visitors on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 11-3. If you would like to visit us on another day when we are not open, you can make an appointment by writing a message to our email address, museum@clevelandhungarianmuseum.org, and we will answer your email and arrange for your visit. Please give us at least a 4 day notice!
We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a grant by the Hungarian Government through the Bethlen Gábor Fund Management, in support of our efforts to share with the greater community our Hungarian culture and history and the Hungarian immigrant story of Northeast, Ohio.
Did you know that the Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society was incorporated as a non-profit corporation 40 years ago? We are going to celebrate this milestone with a wonderful party at the Museum on May 10th, and you are invited!! We will have music by Harmonia, wonderful Hungarian flavored sweet treats as well as savory treats, two very talented Hungarian folk dancers, and delicious Hungarian wines for you to taste. A new exhibit will highlight our 40 year history. The mission of the founders was to support a museum that would preserve the history of the Hungarian immigrant community in Northeast, Ohio, and would showcase Hungarian culture through its collection of fine art, folk art, books, and archival material. Since 1985, our collection has grown, our exhibits have embraced many topics, and our library has over 8000 volumes. Interactive computers enrich our exhibits, and our regular programming covers a broad range of topics. We have hosted children, high school students, college students, family reunions, political dignitaries, and the thousands of visitors who have come through our Székely gate to view our collection. With the support of our community, we have grown into a first class cultural gem located in downtown Cleveland, and we will be celebrating this milestone this year.
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Cleveland Hungarian Museum Celebrates 40th Anniversary
MAY 10, 2025 at 2 pm. PARTY with Hungarian Music and Wine and Memories
In the Museum, in the Galleria at Erieview, 1301 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH
Open to the Public – All are Welcome
We will be celebrating this milestone with a program of music by the renowned local band Harmonia, a performance by folk dancers from the Cleveland Hungarian Scout Folk Ensemble, and a panel discussion with members from our beginnings to now. An extensive exhibit will highlight the Museum’s forty-year history. And there will be Hungarian wines and Hungarian inspired sweet and savory delicacies for our guests
The forty-year history of this unique Cleveland organization should be of interest to the general public and we hope that you will consider featuring our story. We invite you to visit the Museum before the event, during, or any time after, to learn more about us.
Over the forty years, The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society has served its mission to preserve Hungarian culture and the history of Hungarians in Northeast Ohio so that present and future generations can draw upon its collection for education, inspiration and enrichment. And with the support of our community, the Museum has grown into a first-class cultural gem serving the greater Cleveland area.
Janos Szigeti, President
Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society
Cleveland Hungarian Museum
1301 East Ninth Street, Cleveland, OH 44122
Museum Phone: (216) 523-3900
April 12th program was well-received
On Saturday, April 12th, the Museum hosted a program featuring Nicholas Boros, whose presentation on Hungarian shrines in the United States proved to be a memorable presentation.
We had a sneaking suspicion that this program would be well-attended, and it was!! (You know that is the case when we have to bring in more old chairs from the storage room.) Nicholas (Miklós) Boros met every expectation that we had for this program. Beautifully researched, expertly delivered, he managed to summarize the history of so many of the Hungarian shrines that many of us have visited: The Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Orange Village, the Máriapócs Shrines in Burton, Ohio and Matawan, New Jersey, the Shrine of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted in Youngstown, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Cleveland, Ohio.
The audience was able not only to see the photos of the various shrines, but also viewed the many historical newspaper articles and anniversary booklets illustrating the dedications of the shrines, describing how they were established, how some are shrines that are no longer served by Hungarian clergy, and how some are no longer in existence.
We had a good Q & A session following his presentation and we could see that people were engaged in conversation with Nicholas well after the program ended. We are not sure he had a chance to taste any of the treats on the refreshment table!
Read more...March 8th, "Being Hungarian in America", our Hungarian language program at the Museum
On Saturday afternoon, March 8th, we had a Hungarian language program at the Museum. It was well-attended and well-received! Our speaker, Ildikó Antal-Ferencz, is a freelance journalist who spent almost 3 years in the U.S. Her husband's job landed the family in New Jersey, and she spent a significant portion of those years interviewing Hungarians living in the diaspora. Their stories encompass three volumes in Hungarian, and 2 volumes in English, containing roughly 106 interviews with Hungarian-Americans residing anywhere from east coast, west coast and many states in between. Many of us sitting in the seats thought we knew how other members of the diaspora lived their magyar identity, but listening to Ildikó, you realized that our magyar communities have active members of different ages and interests. We had some out of town attendees, who were very complimentary of our Museum and its collection, library. Questions and answers were followed by refreshments and a book signing by Ildikó.
Read more...Recent Posts
- Cleveland Hungarian Museum Celebrates 40th Anniversary
- April 12th program was well-received
- 2025 Annual Meeting
- March 8th, “Being Hungarian in America”, our Hungarian language program at the Museum
- April’s lecture will feature Hungarian Catholic Shrines in America
- Romance in Hungarian literature, Valentine’s Day Hungarian style!
- Spring Lecture: Unveiling ‘Magyarnak lenni Amerikában III.’ with Ildikó Antal-Ferencz
- February’s program features romance and literature!
- September’s program was well-received
We have launched our Online Collections Catalog
and we are excited to share them with the world!
~ WELCOME to our ONLINE COLLECTIONS DATABASE ~
You can see the many wonderful items that have been entrusted into our care ** no matter where you are **
Click here to visit the Museum’s exciting new resource! There’s a lot more to come, so check back often!!
In February, 2020, the Museum received a grant from the Ohio History Connection, which allowed us to purchase software that will enhance our ability to catalog our collection, and incorporate donor and support information into one database. As a recipient organization, we are please to announce that this project is made possible in part by the Ohio History Fund, a grant program of the Ohio History Connection. The Ohio History Fund is made possible by voluntary donations of state income tax refunds, sales of Ohio History “mastodon” license plates, and other donations.