History of the Rusyns in Northeast Ohio
and Western Pennsylvania
Saturday, April 12, 1:30 p.m.
- Location -
Butler Institute of American Art
Wick Avenue
Youngstown, Ohio
The end of the 19th century saw the arrival in northeast Ohio and adjacent communities in western Pennsylvania of several thousand Carpatho-Rusyn, a distinct but stateless East Slavic people who originated in constellation of about 1,100 often remote villages located in what is today southeastern Poland, western Ukraine, eastern Slovakia and northeastern Hungary.
Predominantly farmers by background, they arrived in search of economic opportunities offered primarily by the steel industry. They settled in Youngstown, Warren, Struthers, Campbell, and Newton Falls, Ohio. The Rusyns also settled in Sharon, Farrwell and New Castle, Pennsylvania. Once established they built churches, schools, cemeteries, and cultural organizations.