A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS AND HANDBOOK

SALLY M. MILLER

University of the Pacific

1987

[Editor’s Note: Croatian diacritical markings found in the original text have not been reproduced for technical reasons.]

The Croatians are one of six South Slavic peoples who have inhabited the Western parts of the Balkan peninsula since the seventh century. (1) After the fall of their medieval state, the Croatians lived in personal union with Hungary and then under Habsburg rule until 1918. From 1918 until 1941 Croatia existed within the Serbian-dominated Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Following four years of inde-pendence during World War II, Croatia was incorporated into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Today, every third Croatian lives outside the Croatian homeland. (2) It is estimated that over 1.5 million Croatians, of all gen-erations, live in the United States.

THE EARLY CROATIAN PRESS

In America, Croatian immigrants had the opportunity to found their first free press. The first Croatian newspaper in America was Slavenska Sloga (Slavic unity), founded in San Francisco in l884. (3) In 1892, Vjekoslav Piskulic, a native of Dubrovnik, founded Dalmatinska Zora (Dalmatian dawn), also in San Fran-cisco. In nearby Oakland, California, another early publication was Sloboda (Liberty), followed by Trojedna Kraljevina (The triune kingdom). Most early Croatian immigrants were male Roman Catholics of peasant stock. Since one in three was illiterate, all early Croatian publications were struggling enterprises. (4)

In Hoboken, New Jersey, A. G. Skrivanic founded the first Croatian news-paper on the East Coast, Napredak (Progress), on November 21, 1891. In Chi-cago, where many Croatians settled in the late nineteenth century, Hrvatska Zora (Croatian dawn) appeared on August 4, 1892. Owned and edited by political exile Janko Kovacevic, this publication lasted only a year.

A former member of the Croatian Sabor (Parliament), Nikola Polic, founded the weekly Chicago in that city on October 21, 1892. In July 1893 he issued Sloboda-Liberty and later merged the two as Chicago-Sloboda in 1896. Ignoring old country politics, he urged his readers to learn the English language and become American citizens. In 1902 Reverend Nikola Grskovic, formerly a newspaper editor in Croatia, purchased Polic’s newspaper, renamed it Hrvatska Slo-boda (Croatian liberty), and moved the paper to Cleveland, where it was published until l904. (5)

THE FRATERNALISTS

A young university student named Zdravko Muzina worked for Polic in Chi-cago before moving to Pittsburgh in late 1893. At that time some 9,000 Croatians were concentrated in the local steel industry's low-paying, high-risk, unskilled labor pool. Muzina saw the need for a mutual benefit society to insure medical expenses or at least a decent funeral for Croatian workers. In the first issue of his paper Danica (The morning star), dated January 4, 1894, he appealed to Croatian workers to establish a strong fraternal society. On January 13, the Croatian Workers' Benefit Society was founded in Pittsburgh, and similar so-cieties were soon established in other cities. On September 2, 1894, fourteen delegates of such organizations formed the Croatian Union in the United States. In 1926 the organization was renamed the Croatian Fraternal Union.

In 1895 Muzina printed the first Croatian almanac in the United States, the Hrvatsko-amerikanska Danica Kalendar (Croatian-American morning star cal-endar). The growth of the Croatian press was aided by the arrival of the first Croatian typographers in America, Josip Marohnic and Kruno Maljevac. Ma-rohnic, known as the father of Croatian publishing in America, arrived in Pitts-burgh in 1894. He joined the activists of the Croatian Union and established a printing business and America's first Croatian bookstore. On January 1, 1899, he published the first issue of the monthly Brico (The barber). (6)

In September 1896, Napredak (Progress) became the official newspaper of the Croatian Union, followed in 1904 by the new monthly (later weekly) Za-jednicar (The fraternalist). Each member of the National Croatian Society and later the Croatian Fraternal Union received Zajednicar. It soon reached more Croatian-Americans than any other publication. The Junior "Nests" of the so-ciety began publication of Pomladak Narodne Hrvatske Zajedice (The junior order of the National Croatian Society) in 1916, which continues today as the bimonthly Junior Magazine. In 1984 the Croatian Fraternal Union, with hundreds of lodges throughout North America and assets in excess of $57 million, cele-brated its ninetieth anniversary. Zajednicar, in its eightieth year, continues as North America's largest Croatian newspaper. (7)

THE SECOND GENERATION

With a few notable exceptions, most early Croatian newspapers were short-lived. The first Croatian priest in Pennsylvania, Dobroslav Bozic, founded Novi Svijet (The new world) in Allegheny on December 20, 1897. In March 1898 he founded the first Croatian humor monthly, Puco (The shooter), while Reverend Franjo Glojnaric of Bennet, Pennsylvania, first issued Glas Istine (The voice of truth) in 1901. All survived only months or a few years at most. (8)

Narodni List-The National Gazette, a New York weekly established in 1898 by a Dalmatian immigrant named Frank Zotti, survived longer than most. Zotti, "King of the Croatians," was a successful banker, businessman, and owner of steamship agencies. His financial backing allowed Narodni List to endure until 1923. Zotti owned and controlled as many as eight newspapers during his prom-inent career. His publications were newsy, sensational, and patriotic, and ad-vocated an independent Croatia. Organized on a business basis, complete with a large corps of salesmen, Narodni List became America's first Croatian daily in 1902 and achieved a peak circulation of over 25,000. (9)

Zotti's fortunes changed in 1906 when he was ousted from the leadership of the National Croatian Society and a talented young journalist named Stjepan Brozovic split with Zotti to become the editor of Hrvatsko-Amerikanske Novine (Croatian-American newspaper). Zotti's rival, Franc Sakser, published the weekly (later daily) Hrvastski Svijet-The Croatian World. It continued, with several name changes, until 1956. The feud between Zotti and the National Croatian Society was reflected in the pages of Narodni List and Zajednicar, but Zotti's publications survived. The sixteenth anniversary edition of Narodni List noted some two dozen Croatian newspapers which had gone out of business. (10)

THE WORKERS' PRESS

Many early publications appealed to the working class. The first was the weekly Radnik (The worker), published in Chicago from 1898 until 1905. Rad-nicka Borba (Worker's struggle) appeared in Cleveland in 1907. Published by the Yugoslav Socialist Workers' Federation, it continued into the 1970s. In Chicago, America's first socialist Croatian newspaper, the weekly Radniacka Straza (Worker's sentinel), appeared on Christmas day 1907. Editor Milan Glu-mac, a skilled typographer from Zagreb, was joined in December 1908 by Todor Cvetkov, a native Bulgarian from Zagreb. Cvetkov became a lawyer and an activist in the socialist antiwar movement during World War I. A rival newspaper, Hrvatski Radnicki Pokret-Croatian Workers' Movement, appeared in Chicago on December 20, 1911. Edited by Frank Halaus, it claimed to be the "first and only independent Croatian workers' newspaper in America."

In the fall of 1917, Cvetkov's Radnicka Straza was forced to cease publication because of its socialist and antiwar viewpoint. It reappeared as Nova Misao (New thought) and later as Znanje-The Knowledge. Despite the Red Scare of 1919-1920, the publication continued in various forms for over twenty years as the official organ of the Workers' Educational Federation. In 1923 Cvetkov and Djuro Kutuzovic seceded with their socialist group from the South Slavic section of the Communist Party U.S.A. to form the Yugoslav Educational League. Znanje became its official paper, joined on August 7, 1923, by the bimonthly Novi Svijet (The New World). (11)

While there were the controversial, the manipulative, and the unscrupulous among them, most of the Croatian editors were tireless, idealistic activists at-tempting to better the lot of the Croatian people. Between 1890 and 1930 a number of crusading editors became well known to Croatian-Americans. In addition to those already mentioned, such as Muzina and Zotti, others included Gabriel Racki, Majija Sojat, Ivan Mladineo, Ivan Lupis-Vukic, Frano Akacic, Adam Sudetic, Slavoljub Pintar, Vjekoslav Meler, Ivan Kresic, Ivan Stipanovic, Milan Petrak, Filip Vukelic, Franjo Tolic, Stanko Boric, Louis Fisher, and Anton Tanaskovic. (12)

While Pittsburgh, Chicago, Calumet, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles were the centers of Croatian press activity, other publications appeared throughout the country during the first decades of the twentieth century. Steam-ship companies, engaged in fierce price wars, submitted articles depicting the wonders of America. Fraternal publications concentrated on organizational ac-tivities, the economy, and labor unrest. There were papers of every political stamp from extreme left to far right, as well as cultural, religious, and social publications. Special editions, such as those surrounding the conventions of the National Croatian Society in 1897, ran front pages with the Croatian flag and coat of arms in full color. The name Hrvatska (Croatia) and the adjective hrvatski appeared in the titles of many publications. It was often the practice to title a publication in both Croatian and English, such as A. G. Skrivanic's Hrvatska- Croatia, published in Pittsburgh in 1903.

Tracing the history of Croatian publications during this period of rapid growth is difficult. Some early newspapers published only a single issue. Many publi-cations "migrated" with changes in organizational support or, more often, with an editor seeking employment in another city. Finally, titles seemed to be con-sidered in the public domain. Popular names, such as Hrvatska (Croatia) and Americki Hrvat (The American-Croatian), appeared at different places at different times (and even at the same time), with no relationship to others of the same title. Editors would sometimes adopt the titles of popular Croatian publications from the old country, adding to the confusion.

An illustration of these factors at work begins in Calumet, Michigan, with the introduction of Rodoljub (The patriot) in 1902. It was followed in August 1905 by Hrvatski Radnik (Croatian worker), voice of the Slovenian-Croatian Union in Calumet. In 1912 the name was changed to Hrvatska Sloboda (Croatian liberty), and journalist Marija Sojat, who was also the main representative for the New York daily Hrvatski Svijet (Croatian world), joined the staff. In 1915 he bought Hrvatska Sloboda and published it as Hrvatska until 1928, when it was sold to Vjekoslav Meler, a recent arrival from Zagreb. Meler ended the relationship with the fraternal union and moved the paper to Chicago as thousands of workers moved from Calumet to newer industrial and mining regions. In April 1929 Meler sold Hrvatska to Stjepan Vrancic, who renamed it Jugoslavenski Glasnik (Yugoslav herald) and later Hrvatski Americki Glasnik (Croatian Amer-ican herald), which survived into the 1950s. (13)

In March 1903 Hrvat-The Croatian was published by Dr. Milan Kovacevic and the Croatian Christian Political Club of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and Velika Hrvatska-Great Croatia appeared in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, published by the banking firm of George Papa and Company. The humorous monthly Osa (The wasp) was published in New York City from 1898 until 1922. A. C. Jankovi6 owned and edited Branik-The Defender in Chicago from 1898 until 1908, when the name was changed to Savjetnik (The advisor). Chicago was also the home of Vatra I Plamen (Fire and flame), a magazine issued in 1901. The first of several publications titled Americki Hrvat (The American-Croatian) appeared in Cleveland in 1905. Josip Marohnic founded Hrvatski Glasnik-Croatian Herald in Pittsburgh in 1908. When Marohnic died in 1921, Ivan Lupis-Vukic moved the paper to Chicago, where it was published until 1932.

A major Croatian newspaper in Chicago from 1902 until 1917 was the weekly Hrvatska Zastava-Croatian Flag, edited by Ante Biankini, a popular physician and surgeon. It served as the semi-official publication of the Croatian League of Illinois and during World War I became an advocate of the South Slavic movement, as the daily Jugoslavenska Zastava (Yugoslav flag). The Croatian League of Illinois then undertook its own publication in 1916, Glasnik Hrvatske Zajednice Illinois (The messenger of the Croatian League of Illinois), which was discontinued with the merger of the league into the newly formed Croatian Fraternal Union in 1926.

Ivan Mladineo published the weekly Hrvatski Narod (Croatian people) in St. Louis from 1909 through 1915. He moved to New York and established himself as one of the better Croatian writers on the problems of immigration. Another active journalist and organizer was Hinko Sirovatka, who came to America in 1906. In 1907 he published a book in Zagreb about the Croatian-American press.(14)

A number of other short-lived publications appeared during the growth period of the early twentieth century. Glasnik Druzbe Sv. Cirila I Methoda (The mes-senger of Sts. Cyril and Methodius) was published in Kansas City in 1907. In Cleveland, Sloboda (Liberty) appeared in 1904, Nova Domovina (New home-land) in 1908, and Svijetlo (The light) from 1911 to 1914. In nearby Youngstown, Glas (The voice) and Hrvatska Stampa-Croatian Press appeared and disappeared during World War I. New York was briefly home to Glas Naroda-The Voice of the People in 1908, Volja (The will) in 1911, and Illustrovani List (Illustrated gazette) in 1915.

In Pittsburgh the American Citizen-Amerikanski Gradjanin was published be-tween 1913 and 1916; Iseljenik-The Emigrant in 1914 and 1915; and Hrvatske Seljacke Novine-Croatian Peasant Newspaper in 1915. Hrvatski Rodoljub-Croa-tian Patriot was published as a weekly in Pittsburgh beginning in June 1915 by B. F. Tolic, who sold the paper to Anton Basetic in 1916. Basetic moved the publication to Chicago, where it survived until 1919.

In the West, Croatian papers came and went with equal frequency. Nasa Sloga (Our unity) was printed in San Francisco until 1906. In 1908 Jadran-The Adriatic appeared weekly and flourished under the guidance of Frano Akacic until 1916. In 1925 Akacic founded a monthly titled Narod (The people) in nearby Oakland that survived through 1948. The fraternal order Croatian Unity of the Pacific published the monthly Sveza-The Unity in San Francisco from 1910 until 1938, when that organization merged with the Croatian Fraternal Union.

During World War I, Croatian nationalism increased dramatically. R. E. Park, in The immigrant Press and Its Control, counted sixteen Croatian newspapers in the United States in 1915, fifteen in 1916, and thirteen in 1918, most with clear political viewpoints. As more and more Croatian publications reached a national audience, the quality and circulation of the newspapers increased while the actual number of publications decreased. The decline in numbers did not mean that no new publications were born during the period. In January 1915 Reverend Ivan Stipanovic inaugurated Rodoljub (The patriot) in Chicago, which soon changed its name to Hrvatski Katolicki List (Croatian Catholic gazette). Later that year, this weekly merged with Narodna Obrana (National defense) to form Glasnik Istine-The Herald of Truth.

In Los Angeles, Novo Vrijeme (New time) appeared in 1909, and two pub-lications, Dalmacija (Dalmatia) and Austrijska Zastava (Austrian flag) appeared in 1915. The latter reflected a pro-monarchist viewpoint, while Republika (The republic), first published in Los Angeles in 1918, was clearly republican. Pan--Slavism was reflected in Seattle's Sbobodna Tribuna (The free tribune), published by the local Yugoslav Committee from 1914 until 1925. (15)

During the Eleventh Convention of the National Croatian Society at Kansas City in September 1912, the Hrvatski Savez (Croatian league) was born. Led by Reverend Niko Grskovic, the league called for the destruction of the Austro--Hungarian Empire and the establishment of a South Slavic (Yugoslav) state. Grskovic's newspaper, Hrvatski Svijet (Croatian world), became the voice of the league, and "Don Niko," as the people called him, a leading activist of the time. By 1917 Hrvatski Svijet had become Jugoslavenski Svijet-South Slav Her-ald (Yugoslav world-South Slav herald), with a daily circulation of over 12,000. In 1922 the publication was renamed Svijet (The world) and later reverted to Hrvatski Svijet as the fortunes of Pan-Slavism faded. The famed Slovenian--American writer Louis Adamic wrote that Grskovkic's journalism was "a graceful balance between the Old and New World" and noted that he published "some of the best editorials in America in any language." (16)

Other editors, Frank Zotti and Martin Krmpotic among them, favored a reformed confederated Habsburg Empire with free Croatian and Slovenian states. A third group advocated complete independence for Croatia. An early leader of this movement was a former priest named Ivan Kresic who came to America in 1906. He worked for Frank Zotti and for Zotti's rival Franc Sakser before publishing his own Novi Hrvat (New Croatian) in New York during 1914-1915. In 1921 he founded Danica Hrvatska (The Croatian morning star) and in 1923 purchased Hrvatski List (Croatian gazette) from S. Brozovic, combining them as Hrvatski List I Danica Hrvatska, published three times per week.

Another movement of the time was the Sokol (Falcon) gymnastic and athletic organization, made up of dozens of independent units around the nation. Sokol publications included Sokol-American, Sokol Messenger, Sokol Republika, Sokol Vijesnik, and Sokol.

The South Slavic nation idealized by Grskovic and others became a grim reality in 1918 as a centralized kingdom ruled by Serbia. In January 1929, after the Croatian pacifist leader Stjepan Radic was murdered on the floor of Parlia-ment, King Alexander abolished political parties and most civil rights and de-clared himself king-dictator.

The Croatian press in America, seldom united on any issue, almost universally denounced the dictatorship. (17) The Chicago weekly Hrvatski Glasnik-Croatian Herald published a documentary book titled Umorstvo u beogradskoi skupstini (The murder in the Belgrade Parliament) about the assassination of Radic. Nasa Nada (Our hope), founded in 1921 by the Croatian Catholic Union of Gary, Indiana, and Zajednicar of the Croatian Fraternal Union both consistently de-nounced the new Yugoslav regime. Despite the Great Depression, most papers received funds to be used to support the liberation of Croatia. The Croatian Circle was founded in 1928 as the advocate of Croatian independence in America. Ivan Kresic soon became a leader in the movement and his paper, Hrvatski List Danica Hrvatska, its voice.

Most new publications of the period supported the "Croatian Cause." Chi-cago's Americki Hrvat-American Croatian, the publication of the Croatian par-ishes in America, and Hrvatska Republika-The Croatian Republic of Pittsburgh, both founded in 1922, were harsh critics of the regime. Narodni List and others were forced to cease publication as a result of Yugoslav diplomatic pressure, although their mission was continued by Hrvatski List I Danica Hrvatska.

The socialist Radnik (Worker), later Radnnicki Glasnik (Workers' herald), continued throughout the Depression to champion workers' rights and denounce the Yugoslav dictatorship. Originally published in Chicago by communists Lou Fisher and Steve Loyen, Radnicki Glasnik moved to Pittsburgh, reappearing as the daily Narodni Glasnik (People's herald) during World War II. The Croatian Bureau of the Communist Party, U.S.A., also published the semi-monthly Or-ganizator in Chicago during the late 1930s.

A handful of publications espoused the Yugoslav government line, and some were openly financed by Yugoslavia. Novi Rod-New Generation was one such magazine; it was founded in 1922 by Reverend Brozo Milosevic in Chicago. Following the assassination of Radic in 1929, the title changed to Panslavian Review and Milosevic moved to New York, where he continued on a more Pan-Slavic and somewhat less pro-regime course. (18) The monthly Slavjanski Jug-The Slavonic South, also of New York, called for strong measures against Croatian "separatism" in Yugoslavia. (19) From 1933 through 1940 the monthly Jugosloven (The Yugoslav) was published in Detroit, and during the late 1930s the Jugos-lavenski Glasnik (Yugoslav messenger) appeared in Chicago. Filip Vukelic, who later became the Croatian—language editor of the Croatian Fraternal Union's Zajednicar, briefly published a pro-Yugoslav semimonthly in Chicago.

In response to the dictatorship, Ante Pavelic, the vice-president of the Croatian Bar and Deputy for Zagreb in Parliament, founded the Ustase (Uprisers or Revolutionaries) movement, which called for the overthrow of the regime and freedom for Croatia. The movement gained support in the United States and in the pages of several new publications, including Hrvatsko Narodno Pravo-Croa-tian National Right published in San Francisco from 1930 to 1935.

America's first Croatian journal, Croatian Review-Hrvatska Smotra, appeared in New York in April 1931. (20) In an attempt to reach the American people, the Croatian National Council and the Croatian Circle published a major memoran-dum on human rights in 1933 which was reprinted by many Croatian and Amer-ican newspapers and served as a model for future declarations.

In 1933 Hrvatski Domobran (Croatian Home Defenders), the Ustase organi-zation in America, founded the weekly Nezavisna Hrvatska Drzava-The Inde-pendent State of Croatia. The Domobran published the first issue of the English- language monthly Croatiapress, an "Information Bulletin of Politics, Economy and Culture," in San Francisco in August 1934. In 1936 it moved to Pittsburgh to join the rest of the Domobran press, which now included a yearly almanac. Pittsburgh was also the home of another nationalist publication, Hrvatska Rijec--Croatian Word, from 1935 to 1937.

Each of the major movements, revolutionary, peasant, and communist, sent a steady stream of emissaries to the fertile Croatian colony in North America, fueling controversy and insuring a vigorous press. On the eve of World War II there were at least twenty-three Croatian newspapers active in the United States. (21)

WORLD WAR II

When World War II came to Yugoslavia in April 1941, Belgrade fell in six days. The royal government-in-exile immediately launched a vicious campaign in the British, American, and Serbian-American press blaming the Croatians for the fall of Yugoslavia.

(22) The Croatians established the Independent State of Croatia on April 10, 1941; it was immediately occupied by German and Italian forces. Nezavisna Hrvatska Drzava-The Independent State of Croatia, published by the Ustase movement, which now ruled Croatia, welcomed the new state with a special red, white, and blue edition on April 19, 1941. The edition chronicled the history of the Croatian independence movement and ran on the masthead an American flag with the slogan "Long May It Wave." But symbols and patriotic statements did little to ease suspicion concerning the loyalties of Croatian-Americans.

When America entered the war in December of that year, Nezavisna Hrvatska Drzava-The Independent State of Croatia ran the banner headline "Let's Do Our Part." The predominantly English-language issue praised Franklin Roosevelt and called upon Croatians to support America above all. A German-mandated declaration of war by Croatia on the United States the very next week ended all hope for the Croatian liberation movement in America during World War II.

The Croatian Circle took a cautious approach in the pages of Hrvatski List I Danica Hrvatska, while still calling for the complete independence of Croatia. In the October 30, 1941 edition, the editors published a front-page editorial noting that the "chains of yesterday were broken only to be replaced by new ones." During 1944 the newspaper ran a series by Mirko Dominis titled "Land of Blood and Tears" which attempted to explain the "Croatian Question" to an American populace preoccupied with the fate of their own nation. (23) The Croatian Circle disbanded in 1948. (24)

As a demonstration of loyalty, some publications attempted to follow the U.S. government line, which was often difficult. The United States maintained a consulate in the Independent State of Croatia during the first few months of the war, then supported the pro-royalist Chetniks and finally the communist Partisans by 1944. Pro-communist publications such as Narodni Glasnik also attempted to follow unpredictable changes in party line. The popular Croatian Fraternal Union newspaper Zajednicar pursued an ambivalent policy of promoting Yu-goslav freedom and unity in its English-language section while often advocating Croatian independence in its Croatian section. (25)

When Tito' s communists emerged victorious in 1945, hundreds of thousands of Croatians fled to Western Europe, Australia, South America, Canada, and the United States. The dispersal of leaders, parties, and publishers, aided by modern wire services and the advent of dependable and inexpensive air mail, led to a truly international Croatian press during the postwar period. Recent emigres were as likely to subscribe to Croatian-language periodicals from abroad as any of the traditional Croatian newspapers in the United States.

Many of the smaller Croatian newspapers did not survive the immediate post-war period. The monthly Kriz (The cross), Amerkcko Hrvatski Glasnik (American Croatian herald), and Hrvatski Svijet-Croatian World were among the casualties by 1956. (26) Postwar politics also hurt most of the socialist, pro-communist, and pro-Yugoslav publications during the early 1950s. Narodni Glasnik, founded in 1907, dropped its pro-Stalinist line and cut open communist ties, but continued as an "independent workers' newspaper." Many others, including Zajednicar, were condemned by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as being under "communist influence." (27)

Besides the two fraternal newspapers, Nasa Nada and Zajednicar, the great survivor in postwar America was Danica.(28) Ivan Kresic sold the paper to the Croatian Franciscan Fathers of Chicago in 1943. Father Ljubo Cuvalo edited the weekly in 1944 and 1945 and again from 1961 to 1973. Father Castimir Majic (editor 1951-1961 and 1978-), a professional staff of priests and sisters, and a lay technical staff continue to publish Danica in its fifty-fifth year (1985), an annual Hrvatski Kalendar (Croatian almanac) in its forty-second year, and Hrvat-ski Katolicki Glasnik (Croatian Catholic messenger), a religious monthly in its forty-fourth year. The Franciscans have also published a number of books in Croatian and English about Croatia and act as a printing firm for several other Croatian publications.(29)

A number of new postwar publications reflected the anti-communist nature of the new emigres. During 1952-1953 Za Boga I Hrvatsku (For God and Croatia) appeared in Erie, Pennsylvania. Vitez (The knight) was published from 1953 to 1956 by the Circle of Croatian Knights in Cleveland, Ohio. The Truth-Istina was founded in 1957 by the Central Council of Croatian Associations of U.S.A. and Canada, one of many political blanket organizations.

The American Croatian Historical Review, founded in 1946 by a group of Croatian intellectuals, survived only one year but was the forerunner of a new generation of scholarly journals.(30) Croatia Press, first published in Rome in 1947, appeared in Cleveland in 1952, and finally in New York in 1956. Under the leadership of Karlo Mirth, the publication evolved into a semi-annual (tech-nically a quarterly with combined issues) review of the world press by and about Croatians. (31) Now found in all major research libraries, Croatia Press is a major resource in Croatian studies. (32) The United American Croatians published a short-lived journal called the Croatian Review starting in 1958, only two years prior to the birth of America's premier Croatian-American scholarly journal, Journal of Croatian Studies. Published by the Croatian Academy of America, the annual review first appeared in 1960 with over 200 pages of scholarly articles and has been edited since its inception by Jerome Jareb and Karlo Mirth. With the West German-Spanish annual Hrvatska Revija and Argentina's Studia Croatica, (33) it is one of the foremost Croatian journals. (33)

As postwar immigrants became older and more settled in America, the Croatian press reflected subtle changes in the Croatian-American community. Zajednicar reversed its Croatian- and English-language sections in 1963, facing the reality that many of its 65,000 aging, mostly second or third generation subscribers could not read Croatian. It maintained a "neutral" but obviously pro-regime outlook toward Yugoslavia and was openly Democratic and pro-labor in the field of American politics. However, news of the Croatian Fraternal Union bowling tournament would take precedence over both national and international news in many issues. The Croatian Catholic Union's Nasa Nada, in its sixty-fourth year in 1985, is also a lodge and religious-oriented bulletin using English and Croatian throughout. It reaches almost 4,000 Croatian Catholic Union households in North America each month. (35)

Americki Hrvat-American Croat began as a four-page typewriter-set monthly bulletin in English and Croatian in January 1964. In 1968 it adopted a magazine format primarily in the English language. Publisher Petar Radielovic founded the Croatian Information Service in 1974 to publish American Croat, now a 130-page English-language annual, and has published over a dozen monographs and books dealing with current Croatian affairs. The Los Angeles-based organization has also entered into radio, television, and wire service news. In 1984 Radielovic was chosen by the Croatian National Congress, an international blanket orga-nization, to edit and publish CNC Report. This English-language monthly was designed to inform and influence opinion in English-speaking countries. (36) The official publication of the Croatian National Congress is Vjesnik (Messenger), a Croatian-language monthly sometimes edited in the United States but printed in London.

Another California-based publisher is Adam S. Eterovich, who has published a number of quarterly bulletins, monographs, and books about Croatian, South Slavic, East European, and Balkan ethnicity and genealogy since the early 1960s. Eterovich's firm, Ragusan Press, has become a major name in ethnic research in America. (37)

The relative quiet of the 1960s came to an end with the violent suppression of the so-called Croatian Spring liberalization movement in December 1971. The mass purge created a new generation of exiles, born and educated under a communist system, who were often at odds with the older generation of postwar emigres. In addition to occupying a great deal of space in the existing Croatian press, the Croatian Spring resulted in a number of new publications.

Hrvatska Borba (Croatian struggle) appeared in Washington, D.C., under the direction of Rudolf Arapovic in 1971 as a typewriter-set monthly tabloid. By 1978 it had grown into a thirty-page quarterly. Hrvatski List (Croatian gazette) came to the United States from West Germany in April 1979 and merged under that name with Hrvatska Borba, which continues under the editorship of Arapovic with a monthly circulation of 5,000.(38) Otpor (Resistance) also began in West Germany in 1974 as the publication of an outlawed exile organization of the same name. Banned by the West German authorities in 1975, Otpor reemerged in New York City in 1975 and finally in Chicago in 1976. Its political message, almost always in Croatian, reaches some 3,000 to 4,000 subscribers worldwide. (39) Hrvatski Preporod (Croatian news magazine) took on the name of the outlawed organ of Matica Hrvatska, the ancient Croatian academy banned in 1972. Its New York office also served Newyorski Tjednik (New York weekly), which, despite its name, was an irregular tabloid. Both were published through 1978. Free Croatia-slobodna hrvatska, the "Official Bulletin of the Croatian Liberation Army," was one of several short-lived East European "liberation" bulletins to appear in January 1976 in New York. All were published by a group of anti-communists who had little affiliation with the nations they purported to represent.

One of the brightest newspapers of the 1970s was The Croatian Times, which published a total of twenty-four monthly issues between January 1977 and De-cember 1978. Edited by Joseph Vrbic in Omaha, Nebraska, the newspaper filled the void between the English-language fraternal publications and the Croatian-language political organs. While clearly anti-Yugoslav, the newspaper main-tained a neutral course within the complex world of Croatian politics. Despite a worldwide readership, including an Australian edition, The Croatian Times fell victim to lack of funding and boycotts by less moderate publications and organizations.

A more recent Croatian-American publication is Hrvatska Buducnost (Croatian future), founded in November 1981 as an unofficial voice of the Croatian Re-publican Party. Published by Mosor Publishing Company of Los Angeles, the Croatian-language monthly is edited by Tihomil Milas; its current circulation of 3,500 is almost evenly divided among the United States, Australia, and Europe. (40)

The Trumpeter, the official publication of the Croatian Philatelic Society, began as a ten-page mimeographed bulletin in late 1972 and went to a small magazine format in 1975. The quarterly is published in English and Croatian and distributed to the society's 700 members. (41)

The year 1984 marked the centennial of the Croatian press in America. While following many of the ebbs and flows affecting the American press as a whole, Croatian publishing in America is still dominated by "old country" politics. (42) Only the fraternal publications such as Zajednicar and Nasa Nada, and some specialized publications can be considered purely American. Most Croatian language publications, and even the English-language American Croat and CNC Report, are international publications printed in the United States. The Croatian press is a bridge between the old country and the new. It links Croatians through-out the world and gives notice that the Croatian people have not surrendered their national identity.

1.On South Slavic immigrants in America, see George I. Prpic, South Slavic Immigration in America (Boston: Twayne, 1978).

2. See George J. Prpic, The Croatian Immigrants in America (New York: Philophical Library, 1971) and Prpic, "The Croats," in Stephan Themstrom, ed., Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1980), pp. 247-256.

3. For detailed information on the establishment and development of the Croatian press see Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 199-215.

4. George J. Prpic, "The Croatian Newspapers in America before 1918," Croatia Press 15 (1961): 7-16; Prpic, "Croatian Papers and Periodicals in the United States 1884-1960, and appendix to Prpic, "Croatian Immigrants in the United States of America," in F. H. Eterovich and C. Spalatin, eds., Croatia: Land, People. Culture (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970), 2: 394-478; "Dalmatinska Zora," in Hrvatska Enciklopedija (Croatian Bibliographical Institute, Zagreb: 1942). 4: 496.

5. Boniface Soric, Centennial. 1847-1947 (Pittsburgh: Privately printed, 1947), p. 69; Danica Koledar 1927 (New York: I. Kresic, 1926), pp. 17-26; American Almanac for 1950 (McKeesport, Pa.: B. Soric, 1949), pp. 101, 105.

6. Prpic, "Croatian Newspapers," p. 9; Soric, Centennial, p. 65.

7. Zajednicar and Junior Magazine are published by the Croatian Fraternal Union,100 Delaney Drive, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15235.

8. Prpic, "Croatian Newspapers," p. 9.

9. R. E. Park, The Immigrant Press and Its Control (New York: Harper, 1922), pp. 341-352. Also see Nada Kestercanek-Vujica, "Croatian Newspapers and Calendars in the United States," Master's thesis, Marywood College, Scranton, Pa. 1952.

10. Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, p. 204; Narodoni List, May 26, 1914.

11. American Almanac for 1950, pp. 117, 141; Veceslav Holjevac, Hrvati izvan domovine (Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska, 1968), pp. 154-174.

12. American Almanac for 1950, pp. 117, 141; Holjevac, Hrvati izvan domovine, pp. 154-174.

13. Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 166-169, 207-209; Danica Koledar 1927, pp. 23-24; American Almanac for 1950, p. 133.

14. Hinko Sirovatka, Kako je u Americi I kome se isplati onamo putovati (Zagreb: Privately printed), p. 48.

15. American Almanac for 1950, p. 137; Prpic, "Croatian Papers," 2: 475-478; Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 209-210.

16. Louis Adamic, My America (New York: Harper, 1938), p. 240.

17. Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 207, 214.

18. Ibid., pp. 262-263, 328.

19. Ibid., pp. 257, 286; Prpic, "Croatian Papers," 2: 475-478; American Almanac for 1950, p. 129.

20. Joseph Kraja, "The Croatian Circle, 1928-1946," Journal of Croatian Studies 5-6 (1965): 153-169.

21. Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 274-275; The Minutes of the Fourth Croatian Fraternal Union Convention in 1935 (Pittsburgh: Croatian Fraternal Union, 1935), pp. 245-249; American Almanac for 1950, pp. 149, 153; Ivan Mladineo, Narodni Adresar (New York: author, 1937). pp. 33-39; Gerald G. Govorchin, Americans from Yugoslavia (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1961), pp. 140, 292.

22. Louis Adamic, "The Yugoslav Nightmare Invades America," in My Native Land (New York: Harper & Bros., 1943) pp. 399-414.

23. Mirko Dominis, "Land of Blood and Tears,"' Hrvatski List and Danica Hrvatska, February 1-June 3, 1944.

24. Kraja, "Croation Circle," pp. 145-204.

25. Govorchin, Americans from Yugoslavia, p. 159.

26. Prpic, Croatian Immigrants, pp. 475-478, includes a comprehensive list of Croatian publications in America through 1960.

27. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Un-American Activities, Guide (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1950), p. 148.

28. Danica is published by the Croatian Franciscan Fathers, 4851 5. Drexel Blvd., Chicago, Ill. 60615.

29. Interview with Father Castimir Majic, Chicago, III., March 25, 1984.

30. George I. Prpic, Croatia and the Croatians (Scottsdale, Ariz.: Associated Book Publishers, 1982), p. 247.

31.George Orlica, "Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Croatia Press," Journal of Croatian Studies 17 (1976): 166-178.

32. Croatia Press, P.O. Box 1767, Grand Central, New York, N.Y. 10017.

33. Hrvatska Revija, Postfach 27, D8-Munchen 1, B.R. Deutschland, or Apartado Correos 14030, Barcelona 17, Espana, published in Croatian since 1951. Studia Croatica is the journal of El Instituto Croata Latinamericano de Cultura, Carlos Pellegrini 743, p.3/18, Buenos Aires, Argentina, published in Spanish since 1959.

34. Journal of Croatian Studies is the annual review of the Croatian Academy of America, P.O. Box 1767, Grand Central, New York, N.Y. 10017.

35.Nasa Nada, Croatian Catholic monthly, One West Old Ridge Rd., Hobart, Ind. 46342.

36. American Croat, an independent magazine, and CNC Report, an official publication of the Croatian National Council, are published by the Croatian Information Service, P.O. Box 3025, Arcadia, Calif. 91006.

37. Ragusan Press, 2527 San Carlos Avenue, San Carlos, Calif. 94070.

38. Hrvatski List, P.O. Box 4810, Washington, D.C. 20008.

39. Otpor, 528W. Surf St., Chicago, III. 60657.

40. Hrvatska Buducnost, Post Office Box 338, Canoga Park, Calif. 91305.

41. The Trumpeter, publication of the Croatian Philatelic Society, 1512 Lancelot, Borger, Tex. 79007.