Serb National Federation
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The Serb National Federation (also known as SNF; Serbian: Српски народни савез) is a non-profit organization established to help Serbian immigrants financially and build their spiritual home in the United States. Founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1901, the Serb National Federation is the oldest and largest Serbian-American Fraternal organization in the United States.[1][2]
Throughout its long history, the Serb National Federation has economically and financially helped its members, the homeland, students in high schools and universities, Serbian Orthodox Churches, children’s church camps, Serbian Kolo Sisters, Serbian charities and charitable causes, and sponsored athletic, cultural, and social events to preserve and perpetuate the Serbian tradition and heritage on the North American continent.
History[edit]
Early History[edit]
The base of the Serb National Federation was mainly consisted of immigrants engaged in agriculture, livestock, and fishing in their homeland. They did not realize that they would work in the mines and steel mills on the new continent. Most of the Serbian immigrants who arrived in Pittsburgh area came from the Krajina region (Lika, Kordun, and Banija) in Austria-Hungary and Montenegro, not necessarily from Serbia, at the end of the nineteenth century. There were also those who arrived even earlier also from Habsburg Empire and settled in New Orleans, Virginia City, Tombstone, Bisbee, througout California, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska before the turn of the 20th century. By arriving in America, Serbian immigrants carried in their rural purse folk songs and memories of the bravery and heroism of their ancestors, their willingness to work hard and sacrifice for the ideals of freedom. In his memoirs, SNF Founder Sava Hajdin said that the first Serbs who came to America from the Krajina region in Austro-Hungary were Nikola Vujnović from Gomirje in 1886, Milenko Maravić in 1887, and Petar Vignjević in 1888. After them, others came: Nikola Maravić, Stevo Trbović, Adam Maravić, Mićo Stipanović, Rade Mamula, and Lazo Mrvoš. They came from Dubrava, Plaški, Primišlje, Vojnić and other places. Hajdin came to America in 1892 at the age of sixteen. He and other pioneers who founded and built Serbian-American organizations and societies laid the foundations of the organizations that today represent the basis of Serbdom in America.
Industrialization of the “New Land” caused suffering and bitterness for Serbian immigrants arriving for the rest of their lives. Dr. Božidar Purić, the Consul of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in San Francisco and Chicago, in a conversation with one Herzegovinian, found out how immigrants felt about the New Land: “I have never seen anyone in this country feed a hungry person or a thirsty one. If you don’t have money, you will die like a dog on the street.” When the Serbian immigrants gathered at their rallies, they mostly talked about the homeland that they left behind. Separation from their home made them think about organizing societies that would remind them of the homeland.
As the number of Serbian immigrants grew, so did their awareness of establishing their societies for national, economic, and social reasons. Although most of the immigrants were illiterate, they began to organize their organizations and societies. Serbian-American clubs, organizations, and other societies were the main gathering places for Serbian immigrants. Since most did not speak English, these organizations became their spiritual home. The success of these organizations is based on the Serbian ideal of freedom, creativity, and working spirit woven into the Serbian ethnic being and supported by the American democratic tradition.
At the time, workers were neither organized into unions nor had health insurance. Due to significant accidents and difficult working conditions, workers and their families needed protection and financial security. Fraternal societies offered financial security and stability for workers and their families.[3] In 1901, Sava Hajdin traveled from Pittsburgh to New York to get support from Nikola Tesla, a recognized Serbian-American scientist and inventor, for founding such a society. With Tesla’s support, Hajdin founded the Serbian Orthodox Federation Srbobran (SOFS) and became its first President. When they founded the Serbian Orthodox Federation Srbobran, the inscription on the board of the organization was placed in Cyrillic. The society soon developed into “a strong tree that spreads its branches wherever there are Serbs in America and Canada.”
In the memoirs, Hajdin also pointed out that the SNF foundation is the American democratic ideal, working with people and for people. Hajdin saw the SNF as the center of Serbdom and St. Sava’s tradition in America.
To strengthen Serbian organizations and make them efficient, Mihajlo I. Pupin, a Serbian-American scientist and inventor, worked to unite them for years. As a result, on September 21, 1929, Sloga, Svesna Srbadija, Sloboda, and the Serbian Orthodox Federation Srbobran were merged into one organization named the Serb National Federation with 19,764 members and a monetary reserve of $780,188.23.[4]
At the convention in 1929, Pupin became its Honorary President and Nikola Tesla in 1935. When Tesla was elected Honorary President of the SNF, he replied in a short letter:
“It would be better if you choose someone more valuable. However, as you want, I have to accept it. Thank you, and I wish you the best of success.” Nikola Tesla
World War I and II[edit]
The Serb National Federation made great humanitarian, military, and financial contributions to the homeland in World Wars I and II. Twenty thousand Serbian volunteers organized by Mihajlo I. Pupin, SOF Srbobran, the American-Canadian Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and Serbian National Defense Council of America came to fight for their homeland in World War I. Most of them had never seen Serbia because they lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the connection with their homeland and sense of belonging to it was unbreakable.
Hajdin’s patriotism is also shown because, since he has no sons he sent his sixteen-year-old daughter Ružica to the Thessaloniki front to fight for the homeland. As members of the SOF Srbobran of Lodge 82 “Banović Strahinja,” ten Vajagić brothers from Gary, Indiana, voluntarily went to fight for Serbia against Austria-Hungary. The eldest brother was 40 and the youngest was 20 years old. The eldest brother, Risto Vajagic, received the highest Serbian decoration, Karadjordje’s Golden Star for Courage. According to Dr. Božidar Purić, twenty-five percent of the Serbian-American population in America went to volunteer to defend the homeland: “What other nations have that? Thanks to them, Kosovo’s sowing was reaped in distant America.” At that time, Serbian-Americans were the only free Serbs in the world, and that is why they stood by their people to fight for the liberation of the homeland. More than half of the Serbian-American volunteers did not return to their families who remained in America.
At the beginning of World War II, American president Franklin D. Roosevelt mentioned a few courageous nations who bravely fought against Nazi Germany, and the Serbs were among them. Serbian immigrants bravely participated in the American army against Nazi Germany and proved their loyalty to American democratic tradition and Serbian heritage. A great number of Serbian immigrants never came back from the war. Some of them who returned home were awarded Medals from the American Government. One of them was Mitchell Page who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In 1943, members of the SNF bought a bomber and donated it to the U.S. military to fight the Nazis. The bomber was called “American-Serbian.”[5]
Organization[edit]
Headquarter is in Pittsburgh, PA. The organization is structured by lodges throughout the United States and Canada. Every lodge has delegates for a Convention every four years. The SNF members discuss matters important for the future of the organization at a Convention.
The SNF has always had a close link to its Lodges throughout its history. These lodges, generally placed within church parishes, provide the SNF with a traditional, fraternal mission to support them. From 2010 - 2018 the SNF has helped these sponsoring lodges/parishes with over $1,140,000 for their benefit.
Membership[edit]
The SNF is a non-profit fraternal organization that provides life insurance and annuities following the needs of its members. The long traditions of selling life insurance and annuities and services have made the SNF a respected fraternal organization in the United States. Unlike commercial insurance companies, the SNF invests its income in preserving Serbian culture and tradition as it has for more than a hundred and twenty years. By investing in the SNF, its members are investing in the future of Serbian families and the preservation of the Serbian ethnic identity in America. The main idea is that Serbs in America have one umbrella organization that will protect its interests and help its members.[6]
Each of the local lodges are managed and maintained at the local level with promoting and maintaining membership, providing enrichment activities, events, programs, and outreach. The SNF Home Office oversees the Local Lodges and provides assistance and support. At the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the SNF in 1951, the SNF had 183 adult societies and 141 youth circles with 16,213 adult members and 6,484 youth members. The assets amounted to about $4 million.
Benefits and Activities[edit]
In 1901, the SNF began is Fraternal mission to help those who wished to assimilate into the American culture while learning it. Like many other fraternals at that time, the SNF was staffed with dedicated, bi-lingual people that were able to communicate with them and assure them that the SNF purpose was to help them by providing them with traditional life insurance protection and secure financial products with the fixed interest rate annuities. Today, the SNF continues to provide those bi-lingual services to its members. The SNF offers a wide variety of insurance plans and annuities.[7]
American Srbobran newspaper[edit]
After the founding of the Serbian Orthodox Federation Srbobran, its members soon realized that they could not make progress if they did not have a newspaper informing Serbian immigrants about their work, ideas, and calling on them for unity and cooperation. Therefore, to expand its influence in America and Canada, the SOF Srbobran began publishing in 1906 the American Srbobran, the oldest Serbian continuously published newspaper. The American Srbobran was initially published only in Cyrillic. From 1906 to 1916, the American Srbobran was a weekly newspaper; and from 1916, a daily newspaper. In the 1930s, an English section was added to the newspaper for the first generation of immigrants whose native language was English to become more acquainted with the Serbian culture and tradition. Today, the American Srbobran has Serbian and English sections, and is a semi-monthly newspaper.[8]
Many famous Serbian novelists have contributed to the American Srbobran such as Jovan Dučić, Proka Jovkić, Miloš Crnjanski, St. Nikolai Velimirović, Ratko Stanišić, Božidar Purić, Dragoslav Dragutinović, V. Rev. Dr. Stavrofor Mateja Matejić, Dragan Rajković, Sava Janković, Vasa Mihailovich, Dr. Aleksandar Petrov, Gojko Djogo, Aleksandar Slavković among others. In addition to authors who contributed to the American Srbobran, it has also been granted interviews with famous Serbs such as Mihajlo I. Pupin and Nikola Tesla, and Novak Djoković, World Tennis Champion among others. In 2001, the American Srbobran was awarded “Best Newspaper” at the Pennsylvania Fraternal Congress.
Athletic Program[edit]
The SNF has benefited its membership by sponsoring its annual sporting events. SNF members are able to participate in all sports programs including golf, bowling and basketball tournaments. The SNF offers one of the largest sports programs of any fraternal. In that sense, the SNF sponsors the oldest Serbian basketball tournament in the United States since 1936, two annual golf tournaments (Summer and Mid-Winter), and a bowling tournament. Through this program, over $100,000 has been donated to the SNF Scholarship Fund, and over $1.14 million has been donated to host SNF lodges/parishes/communities. Meeting other members from North America and visiting new places - embracing friendships too.
Cultural Program[edit]
The activity of the SNF is based on preserving Serbian culture and tradition by organizing cultural, athletic, and social events where participants have the opportunity to socialize, learn more about their culture, origin, and language. The event SNF 3Day, initiated as Serbian Day by Mihajlo I. Pupin to raise funds for orphans in Serbia during World War I, has traditionally been organized since 1917. In 2016, this event was declared the oldest ethnic event in Kennywood Park by the municipality of Pittsburgh.[9]
In 2020, “Serbian Heritage Night” was held in the basketball arena in Cleveland to support Serbian basketball player Nikola Jokic, who plays for the Denver Nuggets. The SNF also gives support to Novak Djokovic, the famous Serbian Tennis Player, on his American-summer tour every year. He became an Honorary Member of the SNF in 2015.
The SNF sponsors a Serbian Movie Festival at the University of Pittsburgh, which expanded in other towns in the United States of America. In addition, the SNF supported the promotion of the film “Tesla Nation,” directed by Zeljko Mirković in Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. This movie shows what Serbian immigrants have contributed to the United States and the world over 200 years. Thanks to the SNF, this film has been archived in many American and world libraries including the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences located in Beverly Hills, Harvard, Yale, New York, Columbia, Princeton, Oxford, Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Pennsylvania University, Duquesne University, Ohio State University and other universities, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and others.
SNF Scholarship Program[edit]
The SNF assists younger members with higher education costs through the SNF Scholarship Programs. The SNF currently offer $70,000 in scholarships, which are awarded to our outstanding college-bound and post-high school members.[10]
Honorary Presidents and Members[edit]
Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin (1929), Serbian-American Scientist and Inventor
Nikola Tesla (1935), Serbian-American Scientist and Inventor
Simo Werlinich (Presidency from 1929 -1943, and later became Honorary President)
Novak Djoković (Honorary Member in 2015), World Tennis Champion
External Links[edit]
Serb National Federation https://www.snf4u.com/
The American Srbobran https://www.snfpaper.org/
References[edit]
Serb National Federation - First 100 Years, edited by Dr. Krinka V. Petrov, Graphics Management Press, Los Angeles, CA, 2001.
Споменица Српског народног савеза, edited by Nikola J. Vurdelj and Sava N. Vujnović, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1951.
Archive material of the American Srbobran.
- ↑ https://www.sava-pac.org/blog/serbian-american-organizations-in-the-usa/
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=SOvskj0HNt8C&dq=serbian+churches+in+washington+state&pg=PT997
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/
- ↑ https://www.snfpaper.org/
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/benefits-events
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/american-srbobran
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/benefits-events
- ↑ https://www.snf4u.com/scholarships
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