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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 about the Museum: hours we are open and future programming!

Come visit us!

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 either calling the Museum telephone number, 216-523-3900 and leaving a message, or you can write a message to our email address, museum@clevelandhungarianmuseum.org, and we will reply and arrange for your visit.  Please give us at least a 4 day notice! Winters can be harsh in Northeast, Ohio, and we want to make sure our Volunteers do not travel in difficult weather. In the event we are forced to remain closed due to the weather, please call the Museum's telephone number after 11 o'clock to verify whether someone answers the phone and  will be there to welcome you.

Our next program at the Museum will be at the Museum on Saturday, February 11th at 2 o'clock.  The title of the Program is "We wrote to President Eisenhower urging immediate action." - The American Governmental Reactions to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Refugee Crisis. Our presenter will be Zsolt Máté. Read more for further details.

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Remembering a wonderful member of our Museum: Steve Szappanos

Steve Emeric (István Imre) Szappanos was an integral part of our Museum! He passed away at age 93 on December 12, 2022. To understand how much we all will miss him, we have provided an extensive list of all his contributions to our Museum. To say that he cared for this cultural institution would be an understatement! He invested an incredible amount of time, talent and energy to help us get to the level of excellence that we enjoy today. Thank you so much "Pista Bá" for your years of service!!

It seems almost an impossibility to accomplish all the tasks that Steve undertook over 22 years on behalf of our Museum! He shared with me a list of all the projects he completed, and we are all in awe-what one man's energy can accomplish is truly amazing! We share his contributions to the Museum below:

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Children's program was truly a gift of culture!!
The last program of the 2022 Fall Lecture Series was held at the Museum on Saturday, December 10th, with 29 children participating. Their parents and/or their grandparents came along, and  all of them were looking forward to visiting with Mikulás Bácsi. While the children waited for the good bishop to arrive, they had the opportunity to participate in a number of fun activities throughout the Museum, including listening to 2 folktales with accompanying activities, making ornaments at the craft table, playing board games from Hungary, putting together a puzzle of a Hungarian Christmas tree, and of course, decorating traditional mézeskalács cookies.
A big treat was a puppet show featuring another popular Hungarian folktale. All the children and the adults were caught up in the story as played out behind a blanket, featuring puppets. Mikulás Bácsi came to visit the children and met them in the center of the Galleria, his lovely chair right beside an enormous Christmas tree! Mikulás Bácsi, realizing that there were children who spoke Hungarian and those who did not, was able to converse with them in either language- because that's what Mikulás Bácsi does.
We finished with a game of musical chairs and then everyone went back inside the Museum to chat and feast on some wonderful treats!
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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.

The Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Society which sponsors the Museum and its Programs, is an Ohio state registered non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. Your donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.