Title: A Very Long Visit

General Information about Item:

• Verbal Folklore

• English

• Hungary/United States

Informant Data:

• Sarah Rote ’18 is from Pennsylvania. This was collected on November 12^th, 2017.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This story was told to Sarah for a school project and has been passed down through her family.

• Cultural Context: This is an example of the effects of World War I on immigrants and their reasons for leaving their home country.

Item:

• “Joseph and Julia Toth came to the US sometime during the 1910s. They’re my great grandparents from Hungary, and they ended up settling in Pittsburgh when it was an industrial city driven by coal. They were coming to visit Julia’s father who already lived in the United States. Julia always insisted it was just for a visit, even years after the fact, but World War I broke out. Relations with Hungary were bad enough that it was virtually impossible for the Toth’s to return.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Sarah says that there are Ellis Island records of the two coming over.

Collector’s Name: Hannah Pinkerton ‘19

Tags/Keywords:

Immigration, Hungary, United States, World War I