From prehistoric time they were celebrated as a peaceful, industrious
people, fond of agricultural and pastoral life. The immigration has been
from the agricultural class, and at first settlement was made in the
mining regions of Pennsylvania. Farming had its inherited attractions,
however, and there are hundreds of Slovak farmers in Pennsylvania,
Connecticut, and Ohio; while in Minnesota, Arkansas, Virginia, and
Wisconsin there are colonies of them, where for many miles on every side
the land is entirely in their possession. Kossuth was a Slovak, to their
lasting pride. Over 100,000 of them have come to America since 1900, one
fourth of them illiterates. They had little opportunity to be otherwise
at home, but since coming here their advancement educationally has been
marked.
[Sidenote: Religious in Spirit]
"This is due," says Mr. Rovinanek, "largely to the intensely religious
spirit which prevails among the Slavic peoples, and to the fact that
here they have been able to combine schools with their churches." The
total number now in the country is estimated at 250,000, of whom 150,000
are in Pennsylvania. Two thirds of the immigrants are men.
[Sidenote: Industrial Enterprise]
They live usually in very poor and crowded quarters, one family having
sometimes from fifteen to twenty boarders, and under conditions far from
cleanly or sanitary.
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