On June 12, 2018, we welcomed Dr. Monika Fodor to the Museum as a special guest speaker.
The title of her presentation was My Life, My Story, My Identity: My Slice of Americana.
Dr. Fodor served as a Fulbright Scholar at Cleveland State University from the Fall of 2017 through the spring of 2018, and before she returned to Hungary, she shared with our audience her research project involving the histories of American-Hungarians in the Diaspora. Dr. Fodor is a professor at the University of Pecs.
Dr. Fodor’s timely topic and her authentic anecdotes regarding her research were well received; her observations regarding the various degrees of Hungarian identity retained within the Diaspora made for a most informative evening. We were amazed at her wonderful command of the English language, her near perfect Midwestern accent, and her keen sense of the power and relevance of “the story” in the lives of the immigrant community in the U.S.
She told us that many people were happy to share their “story” while others were very reluctant to speak of their Hungarian identity or lack thereof in the Diaspora. She contacted many Hungarian-Americans throughout the United States as part of her research for a new book to be published in 2019.
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