Ference Gives Keynote Address toCzechoslovak Genealogical Society International Conference

SALISBURY, MD--Dr. Gregory C. Ference, professor of history in the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts at Salisbury State University, recently gave one of the keynote addresses to the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International Seventh Genealogical/Cultural Conference held in Lincoln, NE.

Ference's presentation, "Slovak Immigration to America and Life in the U.S. to 1920," discussed the rationale for Slovak emigration from the Habsburg monarchy and the lives the Slovaks set up for themselves in the United States including religious life, fraternal-beneficial societies, journalism and nationalism in America.

The CGSI is the world's largest non-profit organization, with over 4,000 members, devoted to the genealogy of ethnic groups that comprised the former nation of Czechoslovakia. The governor of Nebraska, Mike Johanns, and the mayor of Lincoln, Don Wesely, welcomed the more than 800 participants at three-day conference with the governor issuing a proclamation recognizing the week of October 10-16 as Nebraska Czech and Slovak Heritage Week in honor of the CGSI meeting.

In conjunction with the conference, the University of Nebraska displayed a photo exhibit, "American Czechs from the V. Naprstek Library and Museum" in Prague. The conference was funded in part by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Czech Airlines and CSA (Ceskoslovenske Spolky v Americe) Fraternal Life.