PRINTER'S NO. 1153
No. 83 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY ROBBINS, O'PAKE, MURPHY, LAVALLE, EARLL, DENT,
KUKOVICH, MUSTO, THOMPSON, WAGNER, BODACK, KASUNIC, ORIE,
M. WHITE, MOWERY, RHOADES, SCHWARTZ, TARTAGLIONE, WENGER,
TOMLINSON, BOSCOLA, ARMSTRONG, COSTA, GREENLEAF, ERICKSON AND
LOGAN, JUNE 11, 2001
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JUNE 11, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Declaring the week of July 23 through 29, 2001, as "Slovak
2 Heritage Week" in Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, Large-scale Slovak immigration to the United States
4 began in the late 1870s, when Slovakia was a part of the Austro-
5 Hungarian empire administered by Hungary; and
6 WHEREAS, Between 1880 and the mid-1920s approximately 500,000
7 Slovaks immigrated to the United States; and
8 WHEREAS, Most Slovaks immigrated for economic reasons,
9 seeking employment in regions where major industries such as
10 steel manufacturing and coal mining needed unskilled labor; and
11 WHEREAS, Their emigration from Slovakia before World War I is
12 a story of success, garnering the respect of all Americans and
13 laying the groundwork for future generations; and
14 WHEREAS, Slovaks are one of the largest ethnic groups in
15 North America; and
16 WHEREAS, More than half of Slovak immigrants settled in this
1 Commonwealth; and
2 WHEREAS, The majority of the Slovak-American community today
3 is comprised of descendants of immigrants who arrived in the
4 late 19th and early 20th centuries; and
5 WHEREAS, Slovak Americans maintain aspects of their ethnic
6 heritage through religious and family traditions; and
7 WHEREAS, Stefan Banic, a Slovak born in Smolenice in the
8 Trnava region of the Austro-Hungarian empire, emigrated to the
9 United States in 1907 and settled near Greenville, Mercer
10 County; and
11 WHEREAS, Stefan Banic, who worked in the bituminous coal
12 mines near Greenville, obtained the first patent for a
13 parachute; and
14 WHEREAS, Although Stefan Banic obtained a patent for his
15 parachute, he donated it to the United States Government in
16 exchange for an honorary membership in the Army Air Corps; and
17 WHEREAS, Stefan Banic returned to Czechoslovakia after World
18 War I and died there in 1941; and
19 WHEREAS, The 10th Annual Stefan Banic Skydiving Festival and
20 2nd Annual Pennsylvania State Parachuting Championships are
21 being held July 27 through 29, 2001, at the Greenville Municipal
22 Airport; therefore be it
23 RESOLVED, That the Senate honor the memory of Stefan Banic
24 and encourage the preservation, study, celebration and sharing
25 of Slovak heritage; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That the Senate declare the week of July 23 through
27 29, 2001, as "Slovak Heritage Week" in Pennsylvania.
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